Football Federation Australia (FFA) and Scentre Group, owner and operator of Westfield in Australia and New Zealand, today announced they have agreed to a two-year contract extension to continue supporting the growth of women’s football in Australia.
Westfield will continue as naming rights partner of the Westfield Matildas, Westfield Young Matildas, and Westfield Junior Matildas, as well as Australia’s top-flight women’s football competition, the Westfield W-League, through to 2021.
Westfield has been a partner of FFA since 2008 and during this period women’s football in Australia has developed markedly.
With the women’s game continuing to rise, FFA Chief Executive Officer Mr David Gallop AM said it is fantastic timing for Scentre Group and FFA to agree to terms and extend the mutually beneficial partnership.
“FFA has enjoyed a long and positive relationship with Westfield,” Gallop said.
“The Westfield brand is synonymous with the Westfield W-League having been the naming rights partner of the competition for all eleven seasons of the competition.
“Westfield’s association with the Westfield Matildas also commenced in 2008 and in that time the team has gone from strength to strength.
“We have witnessed the Westfield Matildas rise from 14th in FIFA’s World Rankings in 2008 to a high of fourth in the world in December 2017, and currently the team are ranked sixth.
“With the FIFA Women’s World Cup in France this year and the Summer Olympics in Tokyo in 2020, we expect that the Westfield Matildas’ brand presence will only get stronger in the Australian and global sporting landscapes.
“We are very excited that Westfield will continue supporting women’s football in Australia and we look forward to working closely with everyone at Scentre Group as we seek to innovate and continue to grow the game in Australia,” he said.
Scentre Group CEO Peter Allen said he was very proud of Westfield’s continuing sponsorship of the Westfield W-League and being there from the inception of the League to play a key role in the promotion and growth of women’s football in Australia.
“We are now in our 11th year of support for women’s football. Another way to think about this is that Sam Kerr was 14 years old when we started our relationship with the FFA,” Allen said.
“We believe our naming right sponsorship symbolises our purpose as a business – creating extraordinary places, connecting and enriching communities.
“The sponsorship connects our communities with the sport they love through memorable player experiences in our living centres and exclusive opportunities at Westfield Matildas matches. It also aligns with our customer base given women account for about 70 per cent of visitation across our portfolio. It also aligns with our employees and our focus on diversity and inclusion and supporting female leadership with women making up more than half of our total workforce and 41 per cent of all people managers.
“I would encourage other business leaders to get involved and foster the continued growth of women’s sport in this country,” he said.
Later this month the Westfield Matildas will assemble for a pre-FIFA Women’s World Cup France 2019™ training camp in Antalya, Turkey, before contesting Group C at the Women’s World Cup alongside Italy, Brazil, and Jamaica.
