News Summary

• “I’m not one who subscribes to the idea that every negative post in terms of women’s TV ratings or women’s sport is grounded in misogyny … but think a large part of it is people just don’t believe the game is worth it,” he said.
• Football Australia said part of the rationale for bringing the Women’s World Cup to Australia was to use it to grow the women’s game – backed by a 357 million Australian dollar ($232 million) FIFA legacy fund.
• That’s why Lassey’s sharing and analyzing as many viewing figures as he can – to prove that women’s sport can pull spectators, because he says numbers are the only way to boost investment.
• “The challenge now is keeping the support going after the World Cup, particularly in Australia, where women’s soccer typically has an average crowd of about 1,500,” said Lassey.
• Kevin Argus, a senior lecturer in Design Thinking and Marketing at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT), says the tide is turning for women’s sport as younger generations, who value social and environmental wellbeing, start to wield electoral influence.
• “A lot of people just frankly don’t want to believe women’s sport is doing well,” Lassey told CNN.