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FIFA Women's World Cup 2023 What does the future hold for our athletes on and off the field of play
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00:00A Relay Passage
00:07Good morning, good morning everybody and welcome to the future of sports.
00:11This is massive. Last year wasn't as big, but I'm guessing it's this big because it's all because of women's
00:17sports.
00:18Thank you for joining us. I'm really, really excited to have you all here.
00:22We're talking about Women's World Cup.
00:26We're only less than a month away, Ben, am I right? Less than a month away for Women's World Cup?
00:32But we're talking about what the future holds for women on and off the field of play.
00:38The past decade has seen the growth of women's sports, especially football, go up really, really high.
00:44Since the first FIFA Women's World Cup in 1991, the tournament has grown.
00:49From 12 teams back then to this summer, welcoming 32 teams to Australia and New Zealand.
00:56This marks us a testament to the global growth of women's sports and also mirrors the increased participation of women's
01:04sports worldwide.
01:05With four titles, the United States is still the most successful nation.
01:10With Germany, two wins, and obviously we have individual achievements with Marta with 17 goals in the World Cup.
01:19The last World Cup broke viewership records over 1 billion worldwide.
01:25And then the last game of the Women's World Cup had a unique audience of 263.62 million views.
01:33These numbers are massive, and this is evidence that shows the interest and the growth of the sports worldwide.
01:40But also, this is not just about viewership.
01:43It's about what the sport is doing off the field of play as well.
01:46And this extends to athletes becoming leaders, becoming ambassadors of change,
01:51but also symbol of resilience and advocates for equality.
01:56In this discussion, I am delighted to welcome some of our esteemed guests to talk about this more
02:02and find out what FIFA is doing, but also what are we doing within our teams.
02:08So, on the stage, please help me welcome the head of women's competition at FIFA, Sarah Booth, MBE.
02:16Also, the co-founder and the president of Angel City Football Club, Julie Heumann,
02:21and our young sports leader, Pauline.
02:24Please put your hands together.
02:36Sarah, an exciting month ahead of us for the, you know, FIFA Women's World Cup in Australia and in New
02:43Zealand.
02:44I was here in 2019 to see it, you know, travel around France.
02:48I was outside with the people.
02:50It was great to see dads, moms, everybody was out to support the girls.
02:55But how does the increase in viewership of women's football impact the popularity and the development of women's football globally?
03:03It's like waking up a Christmas morning right now every day as we count down to the Women's World Cup
03:08starting on the 20th of July.
03:11In terms of what viewership does, France was just a remarkable moment for us.
03:16You mentioned that we had over 1 billion views.
03:19It was actually 1.12 billion views watching the Women's World Cup.
03:23And what we saw after that was this incredible surge in popularity for the game.
03:29We had record attendances throughout the world, in Europe, but also around the world.
03:34We had record signings of players at unprecedented levels that we'd never experienced before.
03:39Sam Kerr going to Chelsea.
03:42Ada Hegeberg going to Olympic Lyon.
03:43And what we also had was record sponsorship deals, the Barclays Women's Super League in England, for example.
03:50So these are really important moments for us, and it's important that we have the eyeballs on the game.
03:55And it's great that we just had that EBU announcement last night with our 34 territories in Europe.
04:01This is really fundamental to us really getting accessibility and visibility for our sport.
04:06And the fact that we're going to have those views now in Europe, and a dedicated one-hour session, specifically
04:12for women's football, every week, is really important in those territories.
04:17So it's crucial that we grow the game through these broadcasts.
04:20I remember back in 2016, and I said to you backstage, you know, I started this fight, and I decided
04:26I'm going to fight with every broadcaster in the UK until they pay attention to women's football.
04:31You know, because back then, it was 4% across the board, TV, radio, online, it wasn't good enough.
04:37Now, everybody's everywhere, which is great.
04:39And I always get excited about the fact that, you know, in the build-up to the tournament, everybody's investing,
04:45but also what we do afterwards.
04:47But we will dig more into that a bit later on.
04:49I want to come to you, Julie.
04:51How can we, you know, how can the world of football better support athletes on and off the field of
04:56play, as business wins, as professionals?
04:59Because with what your team has done, amazing the way Angel City, you know, launched and came up.
05:06But most importantly, how you came together as the founders and investors in the team.
05:11How can we do more to support women?
05:13Yeah, no, thank you for having me.
05:15And the answer is obvious.
05:17One is building attention and awareness for the incredible athletes, for the countries they play at.
05:22The World Cup plays an amazing role in that.
05:24And as Sarah mentioned, the bounce that you saw after the World Cup, the impact it had on individual clubs
05:30and individual leads was significant.
05:32So the idea that, you know, we have 32 clubs this year in FIFA World Cup, which is more than
05:39it was in 2019.
05:40We're going to have new stars.
05:42We're going to develop new fans.
05:43And so the storytelling around the countries, their clubs, and the players is critical because that's who you follow.
05:50We built Angel City on the premise that fandom has fundamentally changed, where you follow players first, teams second, and
05:59leagues third.
05:59And so if you can create that emotional connection with the player, regardless of how much media coverage there is,
06:06whether it's 4% or 40%, you're going to follow that player back to their home country.
06:10You're going to follow them back to their home club, and you're going to become a fan.
06:13So one is about growing attention and awareness, and the second is obvious.
06:18It's pay, right?
06:19It's giving them the financial resources so that they can focus entirely on their sport and being the best athletes
06:25that they can be, to developing them on and off the pitch, to giving them the skills to be successful
06:30after the play, but supporting them in a way where they feel comfortable giving everything they can to the sport
06:36because the rest is taken care of.
06:38FIFA had the unprecedented CBA that was signed with the U.S. Women's National Team and U.S. Soccer, which
06:44was such an incredible step.
06:46FIFA has gone farther with, what, a $110 million prize purse this year, three times more than it was in
06:532019.
06:54All players are getting paid to play $30,000 for each club, and I think the championship team is $210
07:00,000.
07:01So that is meaningful, and it's as important as also telling the story.
07:05And I said to you again, Sarah, backstage, you know, $30,000, we talk about it in the Western terms,
07:12but then you have teams coming from the UAE, coming from Asia, coming from Africa.
07:16That $30,000 is a life-changing amount for an African athlete playing in the World Cup.
07:22Yeah, it's incredible, and it just shows the investment and the commitment that FIFA is putting into the women's game.
07:29Just to set a little bit of context for our audience here in the room, but online, we do a
07:35benchmarking report every year.
07:37So we look at the top clubs and the top leagues in the world, and we know on average the
07:42salary for a female football player is $14,000.
07:46And some don't even get paid.
07:48The majority are actually amateurs.
07:49So football is not their first source of income.
07:52They either work part-time, full-time, or actually we have a lot of students that also play.
07:56So for now, FIFA is giving, for the first time ever, this dedicated player allocation directly to the players.
08:03And this is going to be transformational.
08:06For the first time ever, they will receive, as Julie says, they'll get $30,000 if they exit at the
08:11group stage.
08:12And the winning captain will lift $270,000.
08:16I was talking to my colleague here who's actually from Australia.
08:20That equates if the Australians were to win it.
08:22That is $400,000.
08:24It's like an eighth of the average salary in Australia.
08:27We even talk, as you say, about African countries.
08:30This will be transformational for these players.
08:32And what it's going to do, it will stimulate the professionalization of the game, which is already traveling at warp
08:40speed, which we've seen.
08:41And now when you add player payment to that, it's incredible.
08:45In addition to the member associations also receiving more funding than they've ever received before.
08:51So it is going to be a great moment.
08:53And we're really excited about the future.
08:54And we're just starting, by the way.
08:56This 30K has got to go up even more.
08:59But I'm going to throw this to a young sportsmaker, Pauline.
09:04Do you have a question?
09:05Yeah.
09:06We've been talking about the gender income inequalities in football for women.
09:11But there are also other inequalities and barriers.
09:14So do you have concrete examples of other barriers that exist?
09:18And what action plan can we implement in order to break down those barriers?
09:24Well, from a club standpoint, it's not just the pay for players, but it's providing the best standards for their
09:30care, right?
09:30So when you think about facilities and operations, when you think about the staff to support the club, to develop
09:36the players, that's critically important.
09:38So we take the perspective at Angel City that we want to set higher expectations and develop these players on
09:43and off the pitch.
09:44So it's how can they be excellent doing what their day job is, but also how can we support them
09:49off the pitch so that they can continue to grow?
09:52And that can be in our community activations.
09:54It can be in their own desire to build their own brand.
09:57We have three moms at Angel City.
10:00We have entrepreneurs at Angel City.
10:01So how can we support their businesses?
10:03How can we help build attention and awareness for what they care about off the pitch?
10:08But it's a real commitment to the players.
10:10And in the way that we view that is true investment.
10:13And the investment that we make in our players and our club, you know, is significant.
10:17And that is something that's going to continue to grow year over year.
10:21And back to you, actually, Julie, because the unique structure of Angel City, you know, how has that helped impact
10:27a brand and also its appeal to the global market?
10:30Because when you launched, no one had ever done that before.
10:33For us in the UK, we were sitting back and going, wow, how do we get a group of women
10:38to do this in the UK?
10:39You know, why were you so intentional in the way in which Angel City was formed?
10:45It really goes back to the 2019 World Cup.
10:48The World Cup inspires athletes.
10:51It inspires youth.
10:52It inspires brands.
10:53And that inspired three incredible women.
10:56I'll put myself in the group.
10:57But really, my two other co-founders, Natalie Portman, the actress and activist, and Karen Norman, who's a venture capitalist,
11:02who realized that this is the best product in the world.
11:07These female athletes are the best at what they do.
11:10Specifically, as it relates to the U.S. Women's National Team, they proved it again, winning, you know, the World
11:14Cup in 2019 following 2015.
11:16And the reality is that a majority of them play in our backyard in the National Women's Soccer League, but
11:22most of the world doesn't know that.
11:25When I was approached by Karen Natalie to be the president of Angel City Football Club, before I even said
11:30yes, I literally said, wait, there's women's professional soccer in the U.S.?
11:35Like, I didn't understand that.
11:36And so, realizing as an entrepreneur that you're building something from scratch, but I actually have the best ingredients in
11:44the world to do that, it's not that I'm making something, right?
11:47I literally have the best ingredients, which are these incredible athletes, Alex Morgan, Kristen Press, Tobin Heath, Carly Lloyd, right?
11:53The list goes on.
11:55They're already in my network, right?
11:57So, how do I build the product around that?
11:59And so, Natalie and Karen and I approached building Angel City differently.
12:02We're three female founders.
12:04We have a majority female ownership group.
12:07We have a majority female team.
12:09And from the beginning, we wanted to build an organization where mission and capital could coexist, where we could make
12:14a positive impact in the community for our players on and off the pitch as we drive to be profitable.
12:19Because women's football and women's sports, more broadly, isn't a charity.
12:24You know, Sarah talked about the incredible money that FIFA has committed to that.
12:27The fact that Gianni held out and said, we are going to demand our value in media rights or you're
12:33not going to get the rights.
12:34And that's how you change, right?
12:36It's saying it's not good enough that you support because it makes you feel good.
12:40It's important that you support because you recognize its true value and the absolutely exponential growth that occurs every four
12:48years with the World Cup, with the Olympics,
12:50and then highlighting these incredible players in their clubs on the club level to be able to draw that attention
12:57and awareness.
12:59Women's sports is incredibly investable.
13:02It is the best investment I think you can make in the world of sports right now because there is
13:07so much upside.
13:09And when you have partners like FIFA and Angel City out there communicating our value and demanding our value, that's
13:16how it's going to grow.
13:17I always say that the greatest lie that's ever been told is that people don't care about women's sports.
13:24And that's a lie.
13:25We've seen it over the last couple of years in the growth of women's football.
13:29If you look in the past year, every big game that's happened has sold out.
13:33And you're sitting at home and you're looking at a screen.
13:35And I always say this to brands.
13:37If you didn't support them five years ago or 10 years ago and you're coming now, you're late.
13:42It's not charity.
13:43It's a business.
13:44So we demand the same amount you would pay for the men's game for the women's game.
13:49But with that said, in regards to FIFA, what more can we do to support equality for the women's game?
13:56Because it's growing.
13:58It's grown.
13:58And we've got more to do.
14:00What more can you do?
14:01Yeah.
14:02I mean, we've already talked about the financial investment, the financial commitment from FIFA for the Women's World Cup.
14:08But in addition, what we've done for this edition is for service level improvements.
14:15So whatever the male players experienced in Qatar, our female players will experience exactly the same thing in Australia and
14:21New Zealand.
14:21So that includes business class flights, single rooms, delegation size.
14:26All the things that the men have received, it has to be equal for the women.
14:29And that has to be the way moving forward.
14:31Also with the financial pay that we're doing for this edition of the World Cup, importantly for the future, what
14:38we're stepping towards is equal pay.
14:39From 2026, 2027, we want to make sure the men and women get paid exactly the same amounts of money.
14:46That's really important.
14:48Then at confederation level, then at member association level, then with our leagues and our clubs, what we try to
14:54do at FIFA is work with best practice.
14:56So what we're doing is we're trying to empower and trying to upskill, whether it's with leagues, whether it's with
15:02clubs.
15:03And then we hope that they will go away and do the same thing within their jurisdiction.
15:07We also have a number of new competitions coming on board.
15:10Julie will get very excited about it, but we will have a FIFA Club World Cup coming soon.
15:14We will also have a Women's Futsal Club World Cup and hopefully maybe even a beach soccer for any of
15:19the beach soccer enthusiasts out there.
15:21So these are important commitments and investments, and that's how we step towards equality, by really committing and stepping up
15:27and giving tangible investments into the game.
15:32And just to follow up, I'd read last night that BBC and ITV want to come together for the coverage
15:38of the women's game.
15:39And when you have broadcasters fighting over the coverage of the women's game, it's really interesting and it's quite fun
15:45to watch because you've got to pay the money.
15:48Pauline, do you have any questions?
15:50Yeah, actually, you've been talking about the investment that has to be done for women's football.
15:56So how to implement a sustainable business model in which we attract new sponsors, new broadcasters,
16:02and make the investments for the development of the sport and also the equality of women's in football?
16:11Yeah, I can take a first pass at that.
16:13So at Angel City Football Club, we have over 50 million in committed sponsorship revenue to date,
16:19and we're only our second year in existence.
16:21And that's because how we approach the market is so different from a position of purpose and having a positive
16:26impact
16:26and giving 10% of our sponsorship revenue back into the community.
16:30What I like to tell sponsors and brands is that there is truly no better investment in sports today than
16:36women's sports,
16:37and it's for three reasons.
16:38First, the investment level that you're going to make in women's sports, unfortunately,
16:43is a fraction of what you would spend in men's sports for that same asset,
16:46which is not to say that it's cheap or inexpensive, right?
16:49You may pay $40 million for signage on the front of a kid of an NBA shirt,
16:54and maybe that's $10 million for women's football.
16:57So you're getting the same product, even though you're paying a fraction of the price.
17:02That's one.
17:03Two, you're getting higher share of voice.
17:06Today, there are fewer brands and sponsors for women's football.
17:09So if you make that investment, which I just said was a good deal, right,
17:14you're getting greater share of voice.
17:15And the third thing that is actually more important than the two
17:18is the positive brand halo and equity you get for supporting women's sports.
17:22Nobody blinks an eye when you support men's sports,
17:24but when you support women's sports, you are making a statement about equality.
17:29You're making a statement about equity.
17:30You're making a statement about being on the right side of history
17:33and supporting equality in women's sports,
17:35an incredible product that is consistently growing.
17:38And we've seen brands lean into this in the last couple of years.
17:42Gatorade made a big statement when they stopped supporting the National Hockey League
17:46to invest more in women's sports.
17:48I guarantee you if the story was flipped, it would not have gotten the attention
17:51and I wouldn't have been talking about it right now.
17:53And that's the point I'm making.
17:54One of our sponsors is Sprouts Farmers Market,
17:57which is a grocery store chain in the United States.
18:01They've come out and said that they're going to support men and women equally,
18:04that the money they put to one is the same that they're going to put to the other.
18:07And so those are the changes that we're seeing.
18:09And it's those brands in this environment with younger demographics
18:13where you're connecting on a values basis, not just on a product basis,
18:17not just on the what you make, but why you do what you do,
18:20that is going to result in growth.
18:23And if you can get that with a fraction of the investment in men's sports
18:27with a higher share of voice and a positive brand equity,
18:29it's literally the best way you can spend your money today.
18:33And I guess for that, as a follow-up, Julie,
18:36I always say that a women's game allows us to be more innovative
18:40in how we engage, but also how we do business.
18:42We don't necessarily have to follow the format of the men.
18:45It allows us to do things very differently.
18:48When it comes to Angel City, and I see your investors and your support,
18:53your fan base, it's very innovative.
18:56Why is that important for you as well?
18:59One of the things that was important to us from the beginning
19:04is that we wanted to create an experience for all.
19:08When you think about women's football
19:10and you think about the audience for women's football,
19:12people naturally go to young girls and families
19:15because that's what they see on TV.
19:17But women's football inspires young men.
19:19It inspires young boys.
19:20It inspired me to start a company.
19:23And so the lens with which we took to build Angel City was,
19:26how can we build the most diverse, inclusive community?
19:29How can we create an experience for all?
19:31How can we make that game day experience be safe and welcoming,
19:35and create a sense of community and belonging where you want to come every weekend
19:39to experience the match with your friends,
19:41but then you also want to tell people about it?
19:43And I think it's being really intentional about building a product
19:46that will attract the LGBTQ community and will attract young boys.
19:52What is so moving to me as I walk around the stadium at Angel City football matches
19:56is the number of parents who walk up to me with young boys,
20:00ages really like 11 to 13, and they say,
20:03thank you, I want my boys to live in a world
20:06where they do not see gender in professional sports,
20:09where they support the best athlete at what they do,
20:12regardless if they're identified as a woman or man or non-binary.
20:16And so putting together Angel City, having four sellout crowds of 22,000 fans,
20:22an average of 20,000 fans, creating an experience that is like a male sporting event,
20:28but we believe significantly different because of the diversity and inclusion
20:32and the joy that happens at one of our matches,
20:34shows that our sport is equal, right?
20:38And it can be treated equal and should be treated equal.
20:40And for you, Sarah, and I guess for us at the Olympics,
20:44when it comes to the Olympics, women's football takes off.
20:47It takes, it's in a whole life by itself.
20:49With the Women's World Cup coming up in less than a month's time,
20:53and we're talking about participation, representation, but also grassroots.
20:57You know, what are we doing to ensure that we keep on continuously developing the talent
21:02right from the grassroots through to the national level,
21:04not just in the Western world, but also in Africa, in Asia, and also in the UAE?
21:10Yeah, I mean, one of the first things that we have to do,
21:13and we as FIFA are trying to do with our member associations,
21:17you've got to have the structure in place.
21:19You've got to have the building blocks that you can actually,
21:23when there's a World Cup or an Olympics or another confederation event,
21:26when you get this surge in participation,
21:28you need to make sure that you have those building blocks in place to cope with that.
21:33So what we do as FIFA, we have a number of development programs, eight in total.
21:38And one of the first ones is, you know, do you have a women's football strategy?
21:43Now we have 181 of our 211 member associations with a women's football strategy.
21:48So that's them putting the framework together to ensure that they can really benefit
21:52from these surges in participation when there's a competition.
21:56It's about having the right team in place.
21:58We do a benchmarking report, I've already mentioned it.
22:01We know that the best leagues in the world also have a strategy.
22:04We know that the best leagues, the best clubs in the world,
22:07they have dedicated full-time members of staff,
22:09and this is integral to the success and the growth of these clubs and leagues and national teams.
22:14The teams and the clubs that invest in the commercial side of the game,
22:18they bring in more revenue, they have better broadcast deals.
22:21So it's making sure that we help our member associations
22:24and all our confederations, including in Africa,
22:27to put these systems in place that they can really grow the game
22:30and make sure that we have stars of the future wanting to represent their country
22:34at the Women's World Cup.
22:35I mean, I grew up in London.
22:37I grew up within the Tottenham football club system
22:40where they come into schools from year seven all the way throughout,
22:43but also the commitment that Barclays Bank did for the Super League.
22:48It feels like four years ago now,
22:50where they were intentional and say that this amount of money we're going to put in,
22:54we want it to be focused on grassroots,
22:55we really want to grow it.
22:58And then looking at your work that you've done in Ireland before joining FIFA,
23:02you know, how does that compare from Ireland to then doing this on a much, much bigger scale?
23:10What a question.
23:11You've thrown me with that one.
23:13I wasn't expecting to talk about home.
23:15So I worked in, I played football.
23:17Actually, when the first Women's World Cup took place in 1991,
23:20I was 15 years of age,
23:22and I didn't even know that girls played football.
23:24I just thought I was a weirdo that happened to kick a ball around.
23:27And I didn't know anything about the Women's World Cup because it wasn't on TV.
23:31And then I went to college in 1999,
23:34St. Joseph's College in Indiana, in America.
23:36And Brandi Chastain whipped off her jersey
23:39when she scored the winning goal for USA.
23:42And not only was I blown away and went,
23:44oh my gosh, women really can get a living out of this eventually,
23:48but it was the moment that the world woke up.
23:50It was an awakening moment for women's football.
23:54So I finished my couple of years in the States,
23:57and I went back and I finished my college degree in Northern Ireland.
24:02I was a very frustrated teenager because we had no means to play football.
24:06We had nothing.
24:08And I eventually got a job within my federation in the Irish football.
24:11association, and I worked there for 15 years.
24:14And it wasn't easy.
24:15At the start, we were ignored.
24:16I was the only one working in women's football.
24:19But I really worked hard to get it into schools, as you say,
24:23as they did with the Barclays in England.
24:25And we really changed mindsets.
24:27We put systems in place that every young girl had the opportunity
24:30to play a football match at her local club.
24:34And, yeah, there was a lot of people working very hard.
24:37But the fruits of the labor, after 20 years,
24:39they qualified for the Euros last year for a team ranked 46 in the world
24:44with a population of 1.8 million and a population of female football players
24:48of just 2,000.
24:49It was a pretty remarkable achievement.
24:51And it just shows what can be achieved when you invest.
24:54And even just bringing it back to the Women's World Cup,
24:57again talking about the success of France.
25:00The Moroccan Federation president was sitting at the final in France.
25:04And he was so inspired, this time by Megan Rapinoe and her wonderful pose.
25:10He actually went back to Morocco and he set up a national team program for the women.
25:15The fruits of that labor, they've disqualified for their first ever Women's World Cup,
25:19along with seven other debutantes.
25:21So we're really proud of those member associations that are stepping up,
25:25that are investing.
25:26And I'm very proud of my country, what they did last year as well.
25:29But it's also about adding value to the economy, isn't it, Julie?
25:33You know, when you invest, it comes back into your community.
25:38And in LA, you've been very conscious of them working with the brands within the community
25:42to ensure that everything that is going on, everybody benefits from it.
25:47It's not just about grassroots, it's not just about the team itself,
25:51but about local businesses coming together to support what you're doing.
25:55Yeah, so we went about building Angel City really differently.
26:00We were inspired by the women in the 29 World Cup.
26:04Natalie and Kara spent a lot of time building the Time's Up organization
26:08and supporting the U.S. Women's National Team,
26:11and specifically Becca Rue, who's the Players Association director,
26:14on their lawsuit against U.S. Soccer for pay equity.
26:18And so we were building Angel City at a moment in time
26:22where we knew that if we had a seat at the table and, more importantly, a voice,
26:25we could use it both for impact more broadly for genuine equity
26:29and specifically pay equity for female athletes,
26:32but also to drive the sport forward and prove that it's investable and growable.
26:36So imagine we had the idea for Angel City in 2019.
26:40We built it like a startup, bringing on investors who believed in our business model.
26:45We closed our first round of funding in 2021,
26:47a year before we kicked the first ball at a $115 million valuation.
26:52Needless to say, it's significantly more now.
26:55But we did that because we were intentionable about how we approached the market.
27:00So everything we did both is to have an impact in the community
27:03as well as to drive the sport forward and ultimately be profitable.
27:07The reality with clubs in general, whether it's football or American football
27:12or baseball or hockey, is that majority of the teams don't make money.
27:16And if we were going to approach the sport differently and say,
27:19hey, we're going to have impact and give back to the community,
27:21we're also going to drive to profitability
27:23because that will then change the narrative
27:24and that's what's going to make other people follow.
27:27So it's not, is this a charity or is this a football club?
27:30It's actually both and they support each other.
27:32So to your question, 10% of all of our sponsorship dollars goes back into the community.
27:37So since inception through the end of this year,
27:39we'll have put over $2.5 million to work in our social impact platform
27:43that has three verticals, equity, essentials, and education.
27:47Equity is to drive towards that gender equity and pay equity
27:50to support minority-owned businesses.
27:54Essentials is twofold.
27:55It's both to get access and opportunity to young girls and non-binary girls
27:59and youth as it relates to sport and a non-pay-to-play model.
28:02But what is equally important is making sure that they have cleats
28:06and a sports bra and transportation and three square meals a day.
28:11Those are the essentials that they need to even get to the football pitch.
28:14So we provide that through our partnerships with Sprouts and DoorDash and BMO.
28:19And then education.
28:20So whether that's around nutrition or coaching education,
28:23we've created an ACFC coaching network in partnership with Gatorade.
28:27We've coached and developed 85 coaches, female and non-binary coaches,
28:32that can start to play a role in the ecosystem of women's football.
28:36And we leverage these partnerships, again,
28:38to sort of not only grow the community but grow the sport.
28:41Pauline?
28:42Yes, so Women's World Cup is happening in Australia and New Zealand.
28:46And the question of legacy,
28:47what impact do we want to have in the community of New Zealand and Australia,
28:52is important.
28:53We've been in France having the last Women's World Cup
28:58and unfortunately due to the COVID-19,
29:01we couldn't measure the impact of the Women's World Cup on the society
29:05and on young girls.
29:08So how to explain that,
29:10but also how to implement a legacy in the community of Australia and New Zealand
29:16and for the future generations too.
29:19That's me.
29:20Great question, Pauline.
29:21Thank you.
29:21Yeah, as you say,
29:23we'll never truly be able to measure the impact that France had because of COVID.
29:28But what we did see immediately after France was this exponential surge
29:32in everything that I've already mentioned,
29:34attendance, sponsorship deals,
29:36and just even visibility and popularity of the game.
29:39And really when COVID was starting to diminish,
29:42we started to see that again.
29:44You know, we saw the record attendances in Europe and in the States as well.
29:47So for Australia and New Zealand, for the first time ever,
29:51we actually have a legacy working group that has been set up.
29:56The president of New Zealand football, Johanna Wood, is the chair of that working group.
30:00And what we want to do is we really actually want to measure the legacy of Australia and New Zealand
30:04because it's never been done before.
30:06And we'll do that from one, two, three, and five years.
30:09So in five years' time, we'll actually be able to turn around, look back,
30:13wherever we may be at our next World Cup,
30:15and actually reflect upon how much growth and participation increased
30:20because of Australia and New Zealand.
30:22We've got to make sure, and our two hosts are doing it,
30:25but we've got to make sure that we're ready
30:26because we know that there will be increased popularity.
30:29We know that there will be increases in girls and even young boys wanting to play the sport.
30:34So it's important that our two hosts, Australia and New Zealand,
30:38have the infrastructure in place to make sure that's happening.
30:40And they both have specific legacy plans in place now to ensure that's the case.
30:46So I think, yeah, let's come back again in four years,
30:49and we'll be able to give you a more tangible record on that one for sure, Pauline.
30:55For you, Sarah, though, looking at, and I want to start talking about the teams
30:59because, you know, less than a month away,
31:01I want to know your predictions for the World Cup.
31:03Looking at the England team and the success of the England women's team,
31:07not the men, the men are a whole different story,
31:09but the women's team and the growth of it over the last couple of years,
31:13it feels like right now the untouchable,
31:16and that's the team that the U.S. needs to go after.
31:19For you, how exciting is it for you to watch a team like that
31:22who have gone from nowhere, literally won everything,
31:25go into the World Cup?
31:27Yeah, I mean, it's incredible.
31:29But even just wearing my development hat
31:31when I used to work in the Northern Irish Football Association,
31:35we used to always watch what the English were doing,
31:38as did our colleagues in Wales, Scotland, and Republic of Ireland,
31:41because they were always our role models,
31:43because what they were doing, okay, they had a bigger scale
31:46and a bigger budget and bigger resourcing,
31:48but we always tried to see, well, what can we do locally
31:51within our own federations,
31:53and we always felt the ripple effect.
31:55So if England did well, then it was on TV,
31:58because we have the same TV stations,
32:00so it was always important that they were leading the way,
32:03and it's great to see that the investment that they've put in,
32:06and there's a lot of people in the FA that have worked very hard,
32:09Sue Campbell, Kelly Simmons,
32:11an unsung hero is Rachel Pavlou that doesn't get enough credit,
32:14but she's been there for over 30 years,
32:16and it's just, it's incredible to see them now really getting the rewards
32:20for the investment that they've done,
32:22and it should serve as an example to other federations in the world.
32:26If you invest, it can take some time,
32:28but in the end you will get the rewards,
32:31and we wish them the best of luck in the Women's World Cup.
32:34And just a quick follow-up on that,
32:36you know, with the success of that,
32:37it's also about representation and diversity within the team,
32:41which at the moment I always say it lacks it.
32:43You know, how do we encourage the black community
32:46or the Asian community to start for the girls
32:49to, you know, play football at the grassroot level,
32:51and, you know, one day might see our first Asian England player.
32:56You know, we've had other black players,
32:57but how do we diversify the England team?
33:00Yeah, I mean, I know it's something Alex Scott,
33:02I know quite well, and she's talked about quite frequently.
33:04I know Karen Carney is leading,
33:07they're doing a government review
33:08after the success of the Women's Euro last year
33:11just to see exactly how they can do that,
33:14how they can get into those hard-to-reach communities
33:16that haven't been accessible.
33:17But it's making sure that in those communities
33:21that there is accessibility, it's transport.
33:24As Julie just alluded to, it's football boots.
33:27We don't call them cleats, we call them football boots, Julie.
33:29Football boots.
33:30It's having kit, you know.
33:32Even in parts of the world,
33:34we do a program, female health,
33:36on menstrual hygiene and menstrual education.
33:38In parts of the world,
33:39some of our girls don't even understand what that is
33:41or have access to even those basic menstrual products.
33:46So there's a whole education piece
33:48and there's a whole access piece,
33:50and that's what's really important in England that they do.
33:52And I know Karen Carney is driving that right now
33:54for the English FA.
33:56So I think that'll create some change for them.
33:59And then just follow on that for Julie as well,
34:01you know, we talk about the diversity and representation,
34:04but also the big piece about all of this
34:06is the storytelling, which you talked about earlier on.
34:09We have to tell these stories
34:11because those are the stories that will inspire
34:13the next generation and the next generation after
34:16to, you know, kick a football, get involved.
34:19How are you doing that at Angel City?
34:22I mean, we treat...
34:23We have 28 players on our roster
34:24and we tell the story of every single one of them.
34:26We treat them equally from a promotion standpoint,
34:29from an awareness standpoint,
34:31and even when we partner with our sponsors
34:33to create content around the community work
34:36that we do together,
34:37we make sure to leverage and highlight all our players.
34:40We also take time to understand what's important to them.
34:42You know, if you take the number one publication
34:44in Los Angeles, which is the LA Times,
34:46they've done write-ups on Madison Hammond,
34:49the first indigenous black player in the league.
34:52Didi Harachich, in her background and history,
34:55we've had write-ups about Kristen Press,
34:57we've had write-ups about a Linsop Thompson,
34:58the 18-year-old, you know, soccer phenom
35:01that plays for Angel City, our number one draft pick,
35:03that literally just graduated high school this week.
35:06And so we...
35:08Everybody has a unique and incredible story
35:10that can be inspiring
35:11and create that connection with fans,
35:13and so we tell those stories.
35:15And I think what we're going to see
35:17in the 2023 World Cup
35:18is more incredible players
35:22and players you've never heard about
35:24that are going to become household names
35:25if you speak specifically
35:26about the U.S. Women's National Team.
35:28Everybody is going to know who Sophia Smith is
35:30and Alyssa Thompson and Lynn Williams
35:32and Tridney Robbin are.
35:34They're incredible athletes,
35:35they're incredible players,
35:36and they're going to drive a number of goals
35:38for our national team,
35:39and their names are going to one day be synonymous
35:42with the Megan Rapinos
35:43and the Christian Presses
35:44and the Alex Morgans.
35:45And that's what's so exciting
35:46about what FIFA does,
35:47having 32 teams this year.
35:49There are already over a million tickets sold
35:53for the 2023 World Cup.
35:54That's more than all of 2019,
35:56and we're still a good month away.
35:58I'm super excited to go
36:00and watch these countries play,
36:01but that's a testament
36:02to the growth of the sport.
36:04And with 32 clubs,
36:06the stories about those players,
36:08who's going to stand out,
36:09we saw it in 2019.
36:11It's going to improve
36:12the transfer market for players,
36:13it's going to improve
36:14the club-level performance of teams,
36:17and it's going to draw attention and awareness
36:19into the local regions
36:20and into the clubs
36:21in between these, you know,
36:22incredible, massive events.
36:24I mean, you have LA28 also coming too.
36:27I'm excited for that.
36:29How excited are you as an organization
36:30knowing that in a couple of years
36:32you'll be hosting it?
36:33I mean, we say LA is the sports capital
36:35of the world.
36:36We've had Super Bowl there.
36:38We're going to have the Men's World Cup in 2026.
36:41We have a bid for the Women's World Cup in 2027.
36:44We have the Olympics in 2028.
36:45It is an incredible backdrop
36:47for, you know,
36:48the best athletes in the world.
36:50We have incredible venues,
36:51the tourism and the attractions
36:53and the opportunity in LA
36:54between the beach and the mountains
36:55is absolutely unmatched.
36:57And then to have
36:58Angel City Football Club
36:59alongside LAFC and LA Galaxy,
37:01the heart of football in LA,
37:04yeah, I'm really excited.
37:05Pauline?
37:07Yeah, so to finish,
37:10what are your expectations
37:11for the next Women's World Cup?
37:14sporting sites,
37:15but also
37:16what will happen after?
37:20I'm just ready to see
37:22some good football
37:22and I can't wait to see
37:24the emergence of these new stars
37:26because for sure
37:27it's going to happen.
37:28You know,
37:29Haiti, Ireland,
37:30you know,
37:31all these teams
37:31that have never graced the pitch
37:32before at a FIFA Women's World Cup
37:34and for sure
37:35we're going to get
37:35these remarkable stars.
37:38so some good football,
37:39some new stars
37:40and we want to break records.
37:42We want 2 billion audience
37:44broadcast views
37:45and we want 1.5 million.
37:46We're not happy
37:47with 1 million, Julie.
37:48We want 1.5
37:49and it's a big call out
37:50to anybody that's watching
37:51in Australia, New Zealand,
37:52go buy your tickets
37:53or if you haven't booked
37:54your flight,
37:55please do so
37:55and come on over
37:56because it's going to be great.
37:58And for you, Julie,
37:59what more would you like
38:00to see on and off
38:01the field of play
38:02for our athletes?
38:04Well, for the World Cup,
38:05I want to see 1.5 million tickets sold
38:07and over 2 billion viewers.
38:11Women's football,
38:12in my opinion,
38:14embraces the love
38:14and inclusivity
38:15that you see in the sport
38:16that we've taken Angel City.
38:18How we can build youth
38:20both for young girls
38:21and young boys
38:21and use this
38:22as an opportunity
38:23to draw attention
38:24to the best athletes
38:24in the world
38:25playing the most incredible
38:26global sport there is.
38:27How we tell those stories,
38:29how we amplify those players,
38:30how we bring back
38:31those lessons
38:32and that monetization
38:33to the club level
38:34to grow the sport,
38:35to invest in the players,
38:36to invest in the clubs,
38:38to invest in the communities
38:39to see it grow.
38:40This is an opportunity
38:41to take advantage of it.
38:43We're going to have
38:43more eyeballs
38:45ever attending
38:46and watching
38:46the Women's World Cup
38:47this year.
38:48As Sarah said,
38:48it's going to be
38:49an incredible sport.
38:50These teams are incredible
38:52and I'm just excited
38:53to be a part of it
38:54and to be a fan.
38:56And Pauline,
38:57to summarize?
38:58To summarize,
39:00what are your last words?
39:00So we've been talking
39:02about women's football
39:03and the World Cup.
39:05It's been exciting
39:06to talk to you
39:07and to see
39:08the programs
39:09that has been done
39:10since so many years now.
39:14And there is a lot
39:15to be done yet,
39:17already,
39:18but we're excited
39:19to see the next
39:20Women's World Cup
39:21and the next ones
39:23also in the future.
39:24Yeah,
39:25and just to add on to that,
39:27again,
39:27I will repeat it,
39:28the greatest lie
39:29that's ever been told
39:30is that people
39:31are not interested
39:32in women's sports.
39:33That's a lie.
39:34So if you're an investor
39:35or a brand
39:36and want to get involved,
39:37you should
39:38because you will
39:39get your money back.
39:40We also forget
39:40a big part
39:41is that women
39:42are the money.
39:44They're the ones
39:44that run the house.
39:45They decide
39:45where your money is going.
39:47So if you invest in them,
39:48you get your money back
39:49in three times the amount.
39:51But I am excited
39:52about the Women's World Cup.
39:54My team are busy
39:55planning their content.
39:56I can't wait
39:57to share that
39:58with all of you.
39:59And for us,
40:00thank you so much.
40:01Thank you, Sarah.
40:02And thank you, Julie,
40:03for sharing the stage
40:04with us.
40:05And also thank you, Pauline.
40:07And good luck
40:08for the Women's World Cup.
40:10We hope to hear
40:10all about this next year.
40:12So please
40:13put your hands together
40:14for Julie
40:15and also Sarah.
40:17Thank you.
40:19Thank you.
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