Participation in women’s sports will continue to increase following the success of the Women’s World Cup last year, according to Football Australia.
Drawing crowds of over 70,000, with 10 stadiums across Australia and New Zealand and 32 countries competing, the 2023 event was larger than the 2019 World Cup held in France which hosted 24 national teams.
The largest venue featured in last year’s World Cup competition was Stadium Australia which holds a capacity of 82,500. Australia’s game against Denmark filled the stadium to 91.3 per cent of its capacity, setting a new attendance record for the women’s World Cup.
(Source: Sporting News)
Comparatively, last year’s tournament held the highest average stadium attendance in over 16 years with an average of 30,904 people, roughly 9000 more than the 2019 World Cup, which had an average record of 21,756 attendees.
(Source: Statista)
Captain Sam Kerr said this is a monumental development for women’s sport.
Despite the strong showing on home soil, it has yet to be seen if anything of value can come from the Matildas’ courageous showing.
Speaking on the state of women’s football, Lilli Pilli Football representative Jodie Knight said it’s encouraging for young girls.
”I believe that girls watching older versions of themselves play for the Matildas and other women’s teams is very motivating,” Jodie said.
