World Cup to be held every two years, Netball Australia to become new event partner in sport shake-up

More competition, more often is being proposed by World Netball, with the game’s power players Australia, England and New Zealand joining the push for a shake-up of the game.

The World Cup will be held every two years, and a new biennial competition introduced under a radical World Netball plan to increase opportunities at the elite level of the sport.

This masthead can exclusively reveal the proposed shake-up, which includes the introduction of a new tier one competition, the Continental Cup, with Netball Australia, Netball England and Netball New Zealand joint owners with the world body.

The game’s three leading nations have partnered with World Netball to take the sport to a new level, capitalising on rising investment and interest in women’s sport and leveraging the more than 23 million netballers in 100 countries across the globe.

The prospectus to interested investors and broadcast partners from World Netball, Netball Australia, Netball England and Netball New Zealand.

In a prospectus seen by this masthead, the game’s global leaders – World Netball president Dame Liz Nicholl, Netball Australia chair Liz Ellis, Netball England chair Bridget Blow and Netball New Zealand chair Matt Whineray – outline opportunities for a partner to unlock the sport’s growth around the world.

“Major events are key to engaging fans and achieving our ambitions for netball,” the document, titled ‘Unlocking the Value of Netball - Global partnership opportunities with a leading women’s sport’, states.

“Developing a strong portfolio of elite competitions that build on netball’s unique female

foundations, professionalisation and growing global reach is at the heart of our strategy.”

The Continential Cup is proposed to start next year, with the top-ranked team from each of five World Netball regions – Asia, Oceania, Europe, Americas and Africa – taking part.

Currently, the game’s benchmark competition, the World Cup, is played every four years, while its Fast5 world series is held annually.

The game’s big players including Australia, England, Jamaica and New Zealand would be involved in the proposed Continental Cup. Photo: Gallo Images

The World Youth Cup, for players under 21, is also held on a four-yearly basis – the 2021 event was not held due to Covid – while other international Test series and tier two tournaments, like the Pacific Netball Series are held at various times, although not in a mandated international window.

The new plan, which aims to align the netball calendar globally to present specific windows for domestic and international competition and World Netball events, would allow opportunities to innovate and grow the game around the world.

The Continental Cup would be repeated in 2026 in a one-off move, being held every two years from that point, with the World Cup also moving to a biennial event following the Sydney 2027 tournament.

The exciting Fast5 format would be promoted along the lines of rugby sevens, with the potential to explore new frontiers as hosts and for the event to be held more than once a year.

It’s a strong move from World Netball, which during last year’s World Cup in South Africa, revealed it was looking at “what events we could put on at a world level over the four-year cycle to showcase our sport to more people more often”.

It is not without risk though.

PART 3:

FUTURE OF NETBALL SERIES

PART 1: ‘Nearly too late’: Ticking time bomb facing Super Netball

PART 2: Players want to play’: Super Netball confronts huge dilemma

The proposal would allow for more tier two events, such as the Pacific Netball Series, which last year included Australia’s First Nations team the Black Swans. Photo: Barry Alsop, Eyes Wide Open Images

Some experts believe it could dilute rights for domestic partners given the World Netball sanctioned events will have their own broadcast negotiations, and possibly a separate broadcast partner to those delivering domestic leagues.

But the big four believe it’s blue sky thinking that will underpin the future growth of the game.

“Netball is a sport with huge potential to transform and grow,” the prospectus said.

“Our phased approach begins with a portfolio of existing and new events, that builds on our success and creates immediate new value.”

Originally published as World Cup to be held every two years, Netball Australia to become new event partner in sport shake-up