Optus: Women’s World Cup changed sport streaming forever
Sport streaming has changed forever following the FIFA Women’s World Cup, according to Optus, Kayo, Nine and SBS, in the ‘panel of the century’ at the Mumbrella Sports Marketing Summit yesterday.
Clive Dickens, VP – television, content and product development at Optus, said the telco felt honoured to lead the charge in coverage, with the event changing the trajectory of streaming.
(L-R): Hunwick, McCloy, Dickens and Whelan with Mumbrella’s Diana Di Cecco
It was a crying shame that the vast majority of games were behind a paywall. Massively missed opportunity.
Hosting a world cup is not just about watching the local team or the big matches, it is about watching random teams and matches that you would never bother to tune into otherwise, and creating genuine buzz around the tournament that isn’t reliant on the host nation’s progress.
Stories of travelling fans (and expats) struggling to find a way to watch their team on TV highlight the mis-step.
Fortunately, the Matilda’s success ensured huge audiences and a real legacy, but if they had exited early I think that would have (sadly) been the end of the widespread interest for a global event on our doorstep.