Netball Australia’s bold plan to double its community presence and challenge the Matildas’ popularity

CODE Sports can reveal Netball Australia’s plan to have the Diamonds become the most recognised national female team in Australia, aiming for exponential growth in the sport over the next decade.

Netball Australia will make a bold play to double its community over a green-and-gold decade it believes can underline its status as a major player on the sporting landscape.

While the entire strategic plan is yet to be finalised and approved by the NA board, elements have been shared with member organisations and the Super Netball playing cohort and CODE Sports understands it includes underlining the sport’s status as a major player on the sporting landscape, aiming to double its community to two million by 2035.

Australian Diamonds coach Stacey Marinkovich with netballers of the future. Picture Lachie Millard

Paved by a runway that includes a Commonwealth Games title defence next year, home World Cup in 2027 and pushing for an Olympic debut for the game in 2032, Netball Australia wants the sport to be the gold standard for women’s sport on and off the court.

Following what’s expected to be a bumper grand final next weekend that was moved to Melbourne’s Rod Laver Arena to cater for record crowds that have flocked to Super Netball this season, the sport’s attention will switch to delivering its strategic plan, which is expected to gain final board approval in August or September.

The strategic plan, a 10-year vision for the sport in Australia, has been worked on for the past year and has included input from member organisations as well as insight from the elite playing group.

Adelaide Thunderbirds celebrating last year’s Grand Final victory in Adelaide. The decider will be in Melbourne this year. Picture: Maya Thompson/Getty Images

The plan has been worked on by officials in conjunction with the Super Netball 2.0 project, widely tipped to recommend expansion from 2027 as NA makes a bold pitch for the hearts and minds of Australia’s sportswomen - and increasingly, boys and men.

Already Super Netball is the world’s most followed netball league and Australia’s most well-attended and profitable women’s sports league.

And Netball Australia aims to lean in to both the success at the pointy end of the game and the enormous grassroots community that is the envy of organisations around the country, to ensure it remains the sport of choice for women and girls and a space in which they can develop confidence, resilience, leadership and community connections.

While the Matildas have in recent years been ranked the country’s favourite sports team, CODE Sports can reveal NA’s plan is to have the Diamonds become the most recognised national female team in Australia.

Sam Kerr has led the popularity of the Matildas with younger fans. Picture: Paul Kane/Getty Images

The Diamonds aim to take the Matildas mantle. Picture: Daniel Pockett/Getty Images

And a sport that was on its knees financially just two years ago wants to be the gold standard of women’s sports administration in Australia as a financially sustainable entity.

Netball Australia chair Liz Ellis told CODE Sports earlier this year the sport had undertaken significant financial analysis to ensure it had the data to back up decisions it would make about the future of the sport and its strategic plan would clearly outline the sport’s future direction.

Netball Australia chair Liz Ellis has outlined her plans for the future of netball. Picture: Supplied

“We’re going to go big, we’re going to go bold, and we’re going to tell a story about where we’re going to get to in the next 10 years,” she said in March of the strategic plan.

“We can’t have a strategic plan that looks like business as usual … so it will be ambitious, and we will very clearly state where we want to get to.”

While it has bolstered its bottom line and now has backers pushing to link with the sport, much of the future direction of elite netball will depend on NA’s ability to negotiate a strong broadcast deal for 2027 and beyond.

The current deal with Fox Sports - now owned by DAZN and worth about $35 million over five years - expires at the end of next season, with a new deal also aligning with likely Super Netball expansion and a new Collective Player Agreement.

Originally published as Netball Australia’s bold plan to double its community presence and challenge the Matildas’ popularity