World Netball considers creating new events amid Commonwealth Games uncertainty

April 20, 2024

In the wake of Victoria having withdrawn from hosting the 2026 Commonwealth Games and the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) struggling to find an alternative, World Netball is considering creating new events to grow the sport’s reach and revenue.

Speaking to SportsPro at the SportAccord Summit in the UK this week, World Netball President Dame Liz Nicholl admitted that global governing body was “anxious” when it heard about Victoria’s withdrawal, but emphasised that the sport “absolutely want to be involved” in the event, which could take on a new format in the future to make it more appealing to potential hosts.

After seeing destinations such as Malaysia and the Gold Coast turn down the opportunity to step in for Victoria, the CGF said this month that there are ‘multiple proposals’ to stage the event in 2026 and that it plans to announce a host in May.

Alongside the Netball World Cup, the Commonwealth Games is one of the biggest events in netball, meaning the sport would miss out on significant exposure if the competition does not go ahead.

Despite expressing confidence that the CGF will follow through on its promise to make an announcement next month, Nicholl revealed that World Netball has been looking at alternatives to ensure that the sport continues to receive global visibility if the Commonwealth Games does not happen.

A working group has now been set up to evaluate World Netball’s event portfolio and Nicholl said the federation is testing some new concepts to understand their value to potential investors.

Dame Liz told SportsPro that uncertainty around the Commonwealth Games “has certainly made us focus on our event portfolio.

“We are doing some work now looking at whether, in fact, there are changes we make, whether we actually create some new events.”

Dame Liz confirmed that Olympic inclusion is another option World Netball will discuss with its members, but highlighted some of the hurdles to the sport becoming part of the program, including the fact that it is still predominantly played by women.

Here she noted “all our members and we (World Netball) think that if ever there was an opportunity for us to be included in the Games then it would be in a strong netball nation.

“But it’s quite a big challenge to achieve inclusion, especially for a team sport that is predominantly women at this point in time.

“We’ve set up a working group to look at the development of men’s netball. There’s some work going on, and we’re very confident that we’ve got a good working group that is going to make some progress on that. The vision of our sport is that it’s open to all, and I think over this next 12 months, we’ll see more evidence of that.”

Dame Liz’s comments come on the back of a record-breaking Netball World Cup in South Africa, which reached a live linear TV audience of 14.9 million, more than double the 2019 edition.

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