This week’s Women’s World Cup is a golden opportunity to raise the profile of women’s sport in Australia, according to one of the country’s top competitors.
Former Australian cricket vice-captain, Rachael Haynes, who won six world championships as part of the women’s national team, said that the global soccer tournament that kicks off on Thursday is one of the biggest events that the country will ever host and comparable to the 2000 Sydney Olympics in terms of international profile.
Ahead of the 5th Women in Sport Summit, which begins on Tuesday on the Gold Coast, Haynes said that other sports in Australia can also “ride off some of the tail winds that will come from it”.
“It’s a really exciting opportunity,” said Haynes. “There will be excitement and buzz around the tournament and I think that’ll provide an opportunity for other sports to pick up on that and also sell their events and tap into the excitement around people wanting to support our women’s events and attend them as well.”
Haynes, who will speak on a panel for streaming service and event sponsor Kayo at the Summit, said that the rise of streaming and social media has been “game-changing” for women’s sports around the world, opening them up to a whole new audience in terms of accessibility and convenience.
“For a long time, we struggled to break through in the mainstream because there was limited opportunities and limited channels which people could access,” Haynes said.
“Society has evolved from 15 years ago from a digital point of view. Social media makes it so much more accessible. It’s just easier for people to be able to access different sporting events and athletes.”
Recent research undertaken by Foxtel Media has shown that viewing of women’s sport in Australian has risen by 18 per cent since last year, and viewing engagement is also up, with 36 per cent of Australians consuming an hour or more of women’s sports per week, even as overall sport consumption remained static.
The theme of the this year’s summit, organised by the Ministry of Sport, is “Face Your Identity” and will explore brand advocacy as the women in sport industry grows. Haynes points to the hugely successful The Hundred – a men’s and women’s T20 cricket competition in the UK that started in 2021 and was heavily backed by the English Cricket Board – as an example of “the power of storytelling to help people understand who these women are off the field and to inspire and create role models within the sport”.
“Now we’re seeing that play out with the matches being sold out, broadcast getting really excited about showcasing the sport and having different personalities as part of that.”
Haynes retired from cricket last year and transitioned into commentating for Fox Cricket and coaching the Gujarat Giants in this year’s Women’s Premier League in India.
She said the felt “a little bit helpless” watching the English fightback in the Ashes, before Australia finally retained them with a thrilling win overnight, but is resisting the urge to strap on the pads again.
“I got really nervous, but I haven’t had that urge to want to go and have a net or anything like that yet,” she said.
“I’m not sure if that will happen, but I certainly haven’t missed the run sessions and all those all those sort of harder tasks around the game, that’s for sure.”
Originally published as Aussie cricket champ Rachael Haynes reveals why soccer World Cup is good for all women’s sport