Category: FIFA Women’s World Cup – Australia & New Zealand 2023

The image above, from Earth TV, shows the Sydney Harbour Bridge at the moment of full time of the Final of the FIFA Women’s World Cup – Australia & New Zealand 2023 when Spain won the tournament. Below is a YouTube video showing the Sydney Harbour Bridge after the Final of the Rugby World Cup 2003, which before the more-recent tournament was held, was the nearest similar-sized sporting event Sydney had hosted.

Sydney, what has happened? Where are the big celebrations for the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 Final?

Whilst we were not surprised this has happened, as back in April, we removed the FIFA Women’s World Cup – Australia & New Zealand 2023 as an ‘extraordinary’ Sydney Spectacular for this exact reason, it may only now be occurring to some people that Sydney did not put on the sporting celebration that it is known for.

No doubt the tournament was a success on its own. In terms of the football played, attendance, broadcast viewership and the promotion of female association football participation, it was a massive success. With 79,000 spectators per event day, it became the largest sporting event Sydney has hosted since the 2000 Paralympics – beating the 2003 Rugby World Cup‘s 66,000 per event day. Unsurprisingly, the Matildas captured Australia’s heart as they journeyed to their best ever Cup result – 4th. This result has largely hidden mostly from view the lack of activation in Sydney especially around the time of the final though early in the tournament, a 3rd of Sydneysiders seemed to be well aware of this.

We say ‘Unsurprisingly’ as any Australian sports fan (that is pretty much every Aussie) knew the Matildas had the potential to go far in this tournament particularly at home. Their best result before 2023 was to reach the quarterfinals. Reaching the semi-finals was historic. However, it seemed New South Wales (NSW)’s politicians were completely unaware of the massive juggernaut that was approaching, even if the Matildas ended up having a shock elimination in the group stage (which nearly happened). It took them until the Matildas made it to the Round Of 16 to start activating Sydney in any real sense, using that milestone to mark a ‘unique’ achievement despite the Matildas having achieved it in the past 4 tournaments!

The NSW Premier has to be given leeway. In early May, he declared an ‘only necessary’ Sydney Opera House projection policy to save costs. This was after it was revealed the Opera House didn’t light up for the Coronation of Charles III (There was no historical precedent to justify it). The policy was well needed as the World Heritage site was being lit up too much – too much for us to even keep track of! Essentially, it was to keep the Opera House projections to just Vivid & Australia Day but out of the possible extra reasons to light up the Opera House, our co-hosting of the FIFA Women’s World Cup was a must. It took them 19 days INTO the tournament to justify celebrating the event! Mostly, it was because the Premier clung too tightly to his relatively new policy.

Whilst any country would think it is right to celebrate a national team’s success, historically, for Sydney’s major events, this has been for historic milestones in tournaments hosted out of the country. When it is hosted by us, we celebrate every country & the event itself. This time we didn’t. It looked selfish, particularly when the Matildas headed to the 3rd place playoff rather than the Final. Nothing was done for the Final to celebrate England & particularly, Spain’s achievements. The question is would they have done anything if it was the Men’s tournament where the Socceroos are not among the top 10 teams in the world & rarely make it out of the group stage? Highly likely they would have particularly as the Men’s tournament is still double the size of the Women’s but that is beside the point as in 2003 for the now-smaller Rugby World Cup we did do something and as we pointed out in April, the Rugby World Cup refers to both men’s & women’s tournaments since 2019 so the FIFA Women’s World Cup, for Sydney’s events, had to be treated as much as like the men’s tournament as possible but why wasn’t it?

The reason is simply – marketing and political imperatives have overtaken the community and creative aspects. This is notable particularly as the Sydney Opera House was lit up for when we won the bid to co-host the FIFA Women’s World Cup (above) & the Sydney Harbour Bridge eastern pylons to celebrate for 1 year to go (below) but nothing for the event itself as the ‘hard work’ had been done.

On September 24 1993, everyone was awake at 5am to find out whether we would host the Olympics and when we did, the whole city turned into 1 party from 1997, when the first Olympic Art Festival began to 2008, when the Pope headed back to Vatican City after World Youth Day. We welcomed everyone – foreign, indigenous, with a disability – everyone, and we gave our athletes and volunteers thank you parades.

Sydney’s golden era in events was between 1997 & 2008 when it began with the iconic Games Of The XXVIIth Olympiad (1997-2000) and Millennium celebrations (1999/2000), followed by the II Summer Paralympics (2000), the Centenary Of Federation (2001), the Rugby World Cup (2003) and World Youth Day (2008). When the Opening Ceremony of The Games Of The XXVIIth Olympiad began, we did not the stop the party then and there because the ‘hard work’ of branding, marketing and testing the city was ‘done’. We partied for 7 more years! But now we don’t anymore.

In 2006, the New South Wales Coalition, then in Opposition, voiced concerns that our neighbouring Victoria was ‘out-doing’ Sydney in the tourism and events industry with bigger budgets, a dedicated major events corporation & the March hosting of the XXVIIIth Commonwealth Games. The high Sydney had experienced post-Olympics was also coming to an end sooner than expected even though World Youth Day was 2 years away. But what was sooner was a state election in March 2007. The Opposition promised a major events corporation for NSW if elected. 2 months from the election, Labor, then in Government, also promised one and immediately commissioned a review into NSW’s major events. This is when politics became intertwined with NSW’s events.

In the last 2 years of these golden era, the warning signs of the impending disaster were shown. In September 2007, a Bridge Effect (the iconic symbol that used to be placed on the Sydney Harbour Bridge for major events) was created for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit Leaders Week, an event that had an event attendance of 4000 per event day. The event was controversial for its over-the-top security (famously thwarted by satirists, The Chaser) but also for the fact that the Leaders had their own private (and expensive at that!) Sydney Harbour fireworks display, which The Chaser also satirised:

At the time, this did not stand out as significant. Bridge Effects were done for every major event since the Millennium. 1 extra would not hurt. That would change 10 months later but this was the first sign that politicians were starting to use Sydney’s events to squeeze political capital out of them outside of election campaigns.

In July 2008, the biggest event since the Olympics finally hit town: World Youth Day 2008, a Catholic youth festival. Sydney sparkled during the week with the Pope travelling down Sydney Harbour in a “boatacade” and massive masses held throughout Sydney with a Stations Of The Cross re-enactment being the key headline act outside of religious services. An event of this size deserved a Bridge Effect, most likely a Cross in the middle of the Harbour Bridge, but nothing was done. Instead, a relatively new technology was used: projection mapping. Both eastern pylons of the Sydney Harbour Bridge were lit up with projections for the event.

It was something new for a major event, but it was not its debut. It debuted 2 months earlier for the FIFA Congress (1500 per event day) but only on the south-eastern pylon. The innovative use of the pylons hid the real reason why a Bridge Effect was not done: It was cheaper. This led the APEC Summit Leaders Week Bridge Effect to be the last non-NYE Bridge Effect before its demise in 2015 when the company that built it went bust. The only other non-NYE event it could have been used for was the International Fleet Review Spectacular in 2013 but their extraordinary use of projections really made up for its loss and the show’s conclusion showed what the Bridge Effect would have been – the Royal Australian Navy logo. In the end, July 2008 was when Sydney’s events were starting to be used for solely marketing purposes by spending the minimum to ‘reach’ the most branding-wise but without putting extra effort into entertaining the attendees like by putting up a Bridge Effect or putting on a special Harbour fireworks display.

The FIFA Congress was the beginning of a push to win the hosting rights of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, which were controversially given to Qatar 2 years later. When the FIFA Congress was held in May 2008, it coincided with the creation of Events NSW, the major events corporation promised at the March 2007 state election to host & create events like Sydney knew how, which was formally brought into being in November 2007. It was headed by John O’Neill, who ran Australian Rugby Union and thus, was the main man regarding the 2003 Rugby World Cup. He also did the 2007 major events review on behalf of the Government.

The aim of Events NSW was to create a ‘Master Events Calendar’ to promote events in NSW while also promoting 5 anchor ‘events’. Released in October 2008 for 2009, it revealed the names & types of the 5 anchor events:

1. Vivacity Sydney
2. Autumn Racing Carnival
3. Vivid Sydney
4. Crave Sydney
5. Australian Open Golf Championships

The Australian Open Golf Championships had been held in Sydney since 2006 so this was not suddenly a deservedly ‘anchor’ event. Same with the Autumn Racing Carnival, a multiple-week thoroughbred horse racing carnival. Calling these events ‘anchor’ events, when the general public did not consider them as one was never going to work. If there was going to be an ‘anchor event’, it would have been Sydney New Year’s Eve (NYE) with an attendance of 1.5 million per event day but no, they did something different for that event.

The other 3 events were not existing events but new brands for Sydney’s events. The first one, Vivacity, was a brand for all of Sydney’s summer events including NYE. This was never going to work as it was just a label covering all existing events to make it look like the NSW Government put on the events when really it was mainly local governments & non-government organisations. The only event that was NSW Government-run was the NSW Art Gallery special exhibition during the period. The Vivacity brand lasted just 2 years though was pretty much forgotten after 1.

Crave was another over-brand for outdoor/food/art events in Sydney during October but they did create a new unique event: Breakfast On The Bridge, a picnic event on the Sydney Harbour Bridge where the roadway was turned into a grassy pasture. This event without a doubt was going to create buzz & did indeed get people’s attention but with the logistics of closing the Sydney Harbour Bridge in the morning for a breakfast for just 6000 people rather than say a fireworks display at Midnight for 1.5 million people, it was not a surprise it lasted just 2 years before moving to Bondi Beach for its final edition.

The final event needs no introduction – Vivid. Again, originally intended to be just a brand name, it was for creative events during late May & early June. This event whilst also containing existing events had numerous new events, which more importantly played to Sydney’s strengths. It included a new festival called Smart Light Sydney, a walk of eco-friendly light installations around Circular Quay, to be held biannually, to be headlined by the use of the new projection mapping technology on the sails of the Sydney Opera House. This event had the potential to become big particularly as it did not involve any logistical issues like Breakfast On The Bridge. No need to tell you how that event turned out…

John O’Neill was replaced in 2010 by John Conde, who had an interest in sporting events, primarily the controversial Sydney 500 (57,000 per event day) and the Asian Football Confederation Asian Cup 2015 (39,000 per event day), the latter a reaction to our failed 2022 FIFA World Cup bid & the former a reaction to the impending closure of Oran Park Raceway & the 28,000 per event day V8 Supercar Championship Series attendance of Eastern Creek International Raceway.

Whilst focusing on brands & marketing, Events NSW did succeed in doing its most important job – creating the next big event like Sydney NYE and that was Vivid Sydney (144,000 per event day) but that could be more of a happy accident than a well-thought-out events strategy given the other 2 brands failed. In late March 2011, a State Election was held and a change in Government occurred for the 1st time in 16 years. 3 months later, legislation was introduced to dissolve Events NSW and create Destination NSW, which combined Events NSW & Tourism NSW. With an emphasis on ‘Destination’, it was primarily a tourism marketing agency.

There has also been a distinct lack of cohesion between our success in acquiring events, our strategies to enhance them & our marketing and promotion activities in attracting visitors to New South Wales.

George Souris, Major Events Minister, Destination NSW Bill 2nd Reading,17 June 2011

No new events of note have been created during Destination NSW’s run so far & in fact, instead took tight precious control of the Vivid Sydney brand the former Events NSW agency created to use its social media friendliness to boost tourism marketing of Sydney, expanding the event to such lengths that crowd control is annually a serious concern. However, as you have seen on our blog since 2019, existing events like State Of Origin (1982), Australia Day In Sydney (1989) & Airshows Downunder Shellharbour (2006) have been encouraged to use Sydney’s strengths to prop up the lack of creativity in new or mega events.

In 2014, John Conde left as chairman of Destination NSW to be replaced by John Hartigan, a former media executive. The media & events industries are very intertwined through broadcasting, but an event & a broadcast of an event are 2 completely different things. An event can be attended by many people but with no broadcast while an event in a broadcast may be attended by very few people.

During the following years, especially with the Bridge Effect’s 2015 demise, more emphasis was focused by the NSW Government on lighting up the Sydney Opera House & the Sydney Harbour Bridge pylons for marketing using the projection mapping technology: the Tottenham Hotspur visit, an NBC Today Show broadcast (with fireworks), the 1st ever Sydney Swans vs Western Sydney Giants Australian Football League Finals match, all culminating in the infamous Everest Barrier Draw projection show of October 2018, which was repeated in 2019 on the Sydney Harbour Bridge pylons.

This is when the decline truly began & more importantly, became obvious, all hastened by the Bridge Effect’s demise. With the Bridge Effect gone, Sydney NYE also shifted to a focus on annual artworks with a minimalist theme before in 2019, completely ditching themes & the artworks to focus on ‘visual identities’, though there was a slight hint of a theme in each edition.

In 2018, John Warn, a retail executive, was appointed as Destination NSW chair. Again, a completely different industry, with marketing at its core.

We want to attract the world’s best and biggest events right here in NSW

Gladys Berejiklian, NSW Premier 2017-2021

In July 2018, the NSW Government launched a new policy – 10 World Cups In 10 Years. This involved bidding for the hosting rights to the following events before July 2028:

• Rugby World Cup 2027- 103,000 per event day (NSW last (co-)hosted it in 2003)
• International Cycling Union Road World Championships 2022 – 78,000 per event day
• FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 – 68,000 per event day
• International Cricket Council (ICC) World Twenty20 2020 (men’s & women’s) – 41,000 per event day
• Rugby League World Cup 2029 – 26,000 per event day (NSW last (co-)hosted it in 2017)
• Netball World Cup 2027 – 16,000 per event day (NSW last hosted it in 2015)
• World Team Cup 2020-2030 – 11,000 per event day. Last held in 2012.
• Women’s Rugby World Cup 2021 – 4,000 per event day
• Rugby League World Cup 9s 2019 – Event didn’t exist yet

You can see, despite the claim of “world’s best & biggest”, outside of the top 3, these events were actually chosen with NSW voters in mind with their favourite sports of rugby league, cricket & netball, particularly with ‘tested-and-tried’ events that we pretty much just hosted like the Netball & Rugby League World Cups. 1 event didn’t exist yet so was made just for Sydney, yet still needed to use the Sydney Harbour Bridge pylons to market it – it only lasted 1 edition before folding. The bizarre World Team Cup inclusion, which was a relic of history, was a result of pressure from Tennis Australia after the Davis Cup changed their rules. This ended up being the controversial ATP Cup, which lasted 3 editions before folding. Lastly, the ICC World Twenty20 2020 we already won the rights to 3 years prior in 2015 and was to be held as 2 separate tournaments – men’s and women’s, which had not been done before – though a stand-alone men’s tournament was held in 2007 at 47,000 per event day.

The only positive was the focus on sports with female participation yet when the big event arrived, the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023, everyone was caught napping, as stated at the article’s start. Below was the NSW Government’s estimated total annual visitor spend ($million) for these events with in brackets the per visitor amount based on above attendances.

• Rugby World Cup 2027- $578 ($5,600)
• International Cycling Union (UCI) Road World Championships 2022 – $94 ($1,200)
• ICC World Twenty20 2020 – $46 ($1122)
• Netball World Cup 2027 – $31 ($2000)
• Women’s Rugby World Cup 2021 – $23 ($5,800)
• FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 – $21 ($308)
• Rugby League World Cup 2029 – $21 ($808)
• World Team Cup 2020-2030 – $15 ($1,400)
• Rugby League World Cup 9s 2019 – $11 (N/A)

The Rugby League World Cup 9s ended up having 14,000 visitors per event day, which would be $786 per visitor. Strangely, Government estimates predicted the FIFA Women’s World Cup would contribute less to the visitor economy than the Women’s Rugby World Cup, despite the former being a behemoth & the latter being no bigger than a drop in the ocean. Typically, the higher the per visitor price, the further spectators are coming from. Except for the Rugby World Cup & the UCI Road World Championships, this makes the per visitor price for all events questionable as they are targeted to local audiences with an abundance of that event product with quality already in their communities (For the ICC World Twenty20, this applies to all potential audiences not just local) or in the case of the Women’s Rugby World Cup, the event has a really low attendance. The World Team Cup‘s estimate was optimistic at best given the 8-year absence of the annual event.

In the end, it should be noted the NSW Government considers ‘visitor’ & ‘spectator’ as 2 different things – the latter are the people attending the event for entertainment while the former, which includes spectators from other states or countries, also includes officials, athletes, coaches and other athlete support staff. This contributes to the terrible optics of hosting events very few people attend but require a lot of interstate/national visitation and thus, contribute to the ‘visitor’ economy, which does not include local economic contribution in the equation despite being an essential element of event success. Adding the local economic contribution gives a more accurate picture of the economic contribution, which is the main reason apart from political posturing & the note-worthy focus on sports with female participation, that this policy was implemented.

The benefits are not just for sports fans being able to see the best in the world, but for jobs and the economy as well – the 10 major events would inject at least $1 billion into the economy in visitor spend alone

Gladys Berejiklian, NSW Premier 2017-2021

Sydney came alive during the 2000 Olympics. We know what excitement great sport brings to our city & I am thrilled to be part of this pursuit of 10 world cups

Rod McGeoch, former Chief Executive Officer of the Sydney 2000 Olympics bid

Rod McGeoch was appointed to oversee a committee that would advise on how to bid for these events. Clearly, he imagined Sydney 2000 all over again & while we point out it was not his job to advise how to run the events, his vision obviously didn’t come to fruition.

All bids were successful so far except for the Women’s Rugby World Cup, which was lost to neighbouring country, New Zealand, in November 2018. However, in 2020, they started to bid for the 2029 edition, now called just Rugby World Cup like the men’s tournament, which they both won last year. The Men’s ICC World Twenty20 (now called ICC Men’s Twenty20 World Cup with the women’s edition renamed too) was postponed by 2 years due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Also, due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the USA, Canada & France all withdrawing from hosting the 2026 edition at some point, the Rugby League World Cup bid is pushed back a year to 2030, which is still to be decided along with the 2026 edition, which has been confirmed to be held in the Southern Hemisphere at a minimum. However, the 2030 edition will not include a women’s competition anymore, returning as its own separate event due to the “phenomenal rate of growth” in the women’s game. It is unknown whether NSW is bidding for the Women’s Rugby League World Cup 2028 or 2032, but with the initial focus on sports with female participation, it is likely. The ATP Cup became the mixed-gender United Cup this year.

After the Everest Barrier Draw fiasco, the Sydney Opera House wasn’t used for marketing anymore but instead, political posturing: the Christchurch mosque shootings, the Sri Lanka Easter bombings, the Beirut explosion, Greece’s 200th Anniversary of Independence, Italy’s Republic Day, the ANZUS Treaty’s 70th Anniversary, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the assassination of Shinzo Abe & India’s 75th Anniversary of Independance. Still, before the March state election, the NSW Coalition was promising to light it up for Israel’s 75th Anniversary Of Independence if it won it. The Federal Government also lit up the eastern Bennelong (smallest) sail & the Sydney Harbour Bridge for Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi’s visit in late May.

During this time, in 2021, Christine McLoughlin was appointed Destination NSW chair. She is a former telecommunications/financial services executive – industries that rely on marketing to succeed. In November 2022, she was replaced by Sally Loane, who is the 1st chair since 2014 to have an interest in events, even if it is just business events.

We now finally return to the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023. As Sydney’s biggest event since the International Fleet Review in 2013 and the biggest sporting event since the Rugby World Cup – Australia 2003, we expected something big for the Final but in a very-unlike Sydney manner, it never happened. Why? Well the above paragraphs showed the decline to that point. Time for an analogy.

Like always, FIFA is very protective of its sponsors. There are 7 main event sponsors (the rest are sponsors of FIFA, the organisation, or region-specific partners):

• McDonald’s – 200,000 employees
• AB InBev – 167,000 employees
• Unilever – 148,000 employees
• Mengniu Dairy – 30,000 employees
• Globant – 27,000 employees
• Booking.com – 22,000 employees
• Algorand – <100 employees

This is about 600,000 employees in total. They are the only beneficiaries of having their sponsorship protected. This is about 0.008% of the world’s population. After all, no spectator cares about the sponsorship IF the tournament is on. We don’t know for sure if FIFA’s overprotection of their sponsorships & brand, particularly with their FIFA Fan Festival live sites, is why the NSW Government never attempted to stage a fireworks/drone show post-Final or a tournament-long light/projection show. If this was attempted, it would have been for the 3 billion citizens of the 32 countries represented at the tournament or 40% of the world’s population to celebrate their participation.

This shows the contrast between the 2 approaches – FIFA’s is one of marketing, using politics, to make the most financial capital or profit. While the other approach is about celebrating participation to generate the most social capital or unity. As I learnt in high school, capital comes in many forms and in a mostly capitalist global society, we’ve forgotten that social capital is just or more important than financial capital, which tends to go to the few. We need to invest into generating social capital. After all, which benefits the most – 600,000 wages being paid from increased sales or 3 billion lives living through peace thanks to the unity and power of sport?

Some people may say the financial capital goes to supporting grassroots or community, but it is only if a community can participate in an event, that grassroots are formed, and money can then be spent in growing those roots. To grow a plant, you need a seed. Funding grassroots without existing or growing participation or just to win cheap political points is watering a patch of dirt with no seed. You might look to be gardening but the garden won’t grow.

The whole theme of this article is marketing a cause is not the same as being a part of the celebration of the cause. As you can see, our events are now no longer about bringing the community together, about being a player on the world stage or celebrating diversity, unity & humanity, it’s about what can make the biggest profit, allow a Minister to make an announcement, win the most votes, improve the brand, get the most ‘likes’, produce more broadcast hours, attract the most tourism etc. We’ve thus also forgotten what events are truly about: people & community. In the end, at the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023, we only celebrated a nation of 26 million people or 0.3% of the world’s population – ourselves.

When people attend a creatively well-done event like the few (10,000 per event day) who attended the first Vivid in 2009, unlike the 0 who attended the total brand Vivacity (as you can’t attend a non-tangible item), they spread the word and it unites the community, Sydney, and now 144,000 attend Vivid per event day. THAT is when tourists eventually hear it & you start marketing it to them. You don’t do the opposite: Here is a new Sydney event – people outside of Sydney, we hope you attend. First, do the local citizens even want to host it? Second, are the local citizens even interested in the event? Third, if they are, are they attending it? If you’re getting a ‘no’ to all three, it sounds like a bad event to attend as there may be firstly, protests, secondly, no atmosphere or thirdly, boredom & all 3 do not do well for potential tourism. So, Sydney, forget the tourism marketing or political potential of events from the get-go and instead focus on making or hosting events creatively first. From there, you will reap the benefits.

We can’t say we weren’t warned. Sydney’s Millennium & Olympic maestro, Ric Birch, wrote in the epilogue to his 2004 biography, Master Of The Ceremonies:

Since I left Sydney at the end of 2000, the world of special events has grown more than ever. The opportunity to produce ceremonies…is attracting more & more interest – although the role of creative producer of ceremonies seems to have been overtaken by consultant project managers, who refer to ceremonies as ‘deliverables’ that produce marketing & promotional ‘outcomes’.

Since 2000, there have been several competitive tenders for major events & the tender documents appear to have been drawn up by the construction industry. Production companies are being asked to lodge ‘completion guarantees’ and, depending upon on the success of the ceremonies, they may or may not be entitled to obtain their fees. Unfortunately, this won’t result in better ceremonies but will simply provide more employment for lawyers and accountants, resulting in less money being spent on actual production.

Ric Birch

In 2006, we worried about Melbourne & Victoria. In 2018, Gold Coast City of another neighbouring state, Queensland, hosted the XXIst Commonwealth Games and in 2021, their capital city, Brisbane, was announced to host The Games Of The XXXVth Olympiad and the 10th Summer Paralympic Games. Why aren’t we worried about them? Well people’s attitudes to mega events have shifted. They realise that the tourism. marketing & legacy promises of late in the bidding and/or preparation phase are actually all political hubris. Who should we worry about?

Next July, the eyes of the world turn to Paris, Sydney’s most iconic competitor since the Millennium, to host The Games Of The XXXIIIrd Olympiad. With an opening ceremony utilising the city itself particularly the River Seine, it is highly likely Paris will produce an opening ceremony that will blow Sydney’s annual mega event claim-to-fame out of the water. They have been subtly preparing for this event for nearly a decade, reintroducing Eiffel Tower fireworks displays for Bastille Day in the 2010s, which are now, in our opinion, better than Sydney NYE since 2019, as well as cleaning up the city to the point the cobblestone patterns around the Arc De Triomphe are now clearly visible.

Apart from obvious risks of riots and Notre Dame not reopening in time, the only creative risk is their Opening Ceremony Parade Of Nations falling to the same fate as Victoria’s 2022 AFL Grand Final Parade, which decided to use the same concept. Like any Olympic host city, they are also using other major events as test events such as the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup & next month, the Rugby World Cup. Their Tour De France road cycling stage race is also perfect for practicing the management of temporary mega events, being one itself on an annual basis.

Paris is aiming to put on a show in more ways than one. With less than a year to go, there is no time for Sydney to do anything but sit and watch particularly as we just blew our only chance to still be up there with Paris. Sydney 2000 was famed for its atmosphere and volunteers. If Paris puts on an Olympics equal or better than Sydney in these aspects as well, as former International Olympic Committee President, Juan Antonio Samaranch, is no longer with us, Sydney should graciously praise Paris & declare on his (and the world’s) behalf: I am proud and happy to proclaim that you have presented to the world the best Olympic Games ever!

If that happens, as much as we would be happy for Paris to finally beat us after 24 years, Sydney will need to have a good look at itself, particularly reflecting on the past FIFA Women’s World Cup tournament and the lack of activation & the decline of creativity in the city’s events since 2015, to figure out how to become the mega event capital of the world again. We cannot bid for the Olympics again, particularly as Brisbane will host it in 2032 (and Brisbane trying to beat Paris out of national pride & on behalf of Sydney is a whole other story, which isn’t any better than this one), the 2034 FIFA World Cup is possible but after the women’s tournament, it would look very not gender-equal if we suddenly made a huge fuss right now over the men’s tournament (that does not mean we should not bid for it). Instead of bringing Sydney to the world like through broadcast-friendly events like the Olympics, the FIFA World Cup & the Rugby World Cup, the only possibility, while not broadcast-friendly but friendly to the attendees, is to bring the world to us.

Sydney Spectaculars has received confirmation that the 13 landmarks that were illuminated last night in green & gold in support of the Matildas in their FIFA Women’s World Cup – Australia & New Zealand 2023 Round Of 16 match-up against Denmark, including the Sydney Opera House, will be lit up again every extra night that the Matildas play in the tournament from now on.

This means Sydney will next light up at 6pm on Saturday the 12th of August 2023 as the Matildas next play either France or Morocco in the Quarter-Final that day at 5pm AEST at Lang Park, Brisbane. Their opponent will be decided in a Round of 16 match-up tonight at Hindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide from 8:30pm local time.

Again, as these illuminations are for 1 team & not all the teams/the whole event, the FIFA Women’s World Cup – Australia & New Zealand 2023 will not be redesignated as an ‘extraordinary’ Sydney Spectacular.

The landmarks to be illuminated are:

• Sydney Opera House (western sails only)
• Luna Park including the Ferris Wheel
• Central Station Concourse
• Central Station Clock Tower (gold only)
• International Towers
• The State Library of New South Wales (NSW),
• The Art Gallery of NSW,
• The Calyx in the Royal Botanic Gardens,
• International Convention Centre,
• Novotel Sydney Central,
• Hyde Hacienda,
• The Argyle &
• Western Sydney Stadium.

The Final of the FIFA Women’s World Cup – Australia & New Zealand 2023 will be held at Stadium Australia, Sydney on Sunday the 20th of August 2023 at 8pm AEST.

Matildas 2-0 Denmark

Sydney has lit up in green & gold as the Matildas defeat Denmark 2-0 in regular time to head to their 4th quarter-finals in FIFA Women’s World Cup history.

Landmarks that lit up in green & gold in support of the Matildas since shortly before 6pm included:

• Sydney Opera House (western sails only)
• Luna Park including the Ferris Wheel
• Central Station Concourse
• Central Station Clock Tower (gold only)
• International Towers
• The State Library of New South Wales (NSW),
• The Art Gallery of NSW,
• The Calyx in the Royal Botanic Gardens,
• International Convention Centre,
• Novotel Sydney Central,
• Hyde Hacienda,
• The Argyle &
• Western Sydney Stadium.

Despite a very resistant Danish defence, the Matildas managed to put in 2 into the back of their nets. A tactical kicking masterstroke from Mary Fowler at around the field’s halfway mark allowed Caitlin Foord to score the opening goal in the 29th minute as she ran down a quarter of the length of the Danish sidelines to kick the ball through Danish goalkeeper, Lene Christensen’s legs to relieve the pressure from the Danes.

In the 70th minute, the Matildas once again got into the Denmark box & after a little pinball machine effect, the ball perfectly aligned between the goal & Hayley Raso, which she booted straight into the goal, to potentially seal Denmark’s fate.

In the 80th minute & what would become be the final 15 minutes of the match, Australian superstar, Sam Kerr, finally took to the field for her 1st match-time in the whole tournament so far after a calf injury in pre-opening match training. After an awkward fall shortly after taking the field left the entire Australian audience holding their breath, she got up uninjured & successfully led her team to their 4th quarter-finals in FIFA Women’s World Cup history & the 1st since 2015.

The Matildas will now play either France or Morocco in the quarter-final at Lang Park, Brisbane on Saturday at 5pm AEST. Their opponent will be decided tomorrow night in a Round of 16 match-up at Hindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide at 8:30pm local time.

It has not been confirmed whether the illuminations will now run nightly until & including the night of the quarter-final, but we expect confirmation before 6pm tomorrow. At the minimum, we are expecting the Sydney Opera House to continue lighting up. Any extra illuminations will be held, if any, until Midnight each night.

Even if any illumination continues, this will not be enough to redesignate the FIFA Women’s World Cup – Australia & New Zealand 2023 as an ‘extraordinary’ Sydney Spectacular as it features only 1 team & not all the teams/the event itself.

The final of the FIFA Women’s World Cup – Australia & New Zealand 2023 will be held at Stadium Australia, Sydney on Sunday the 20th of August at 8pm AEST.

The New South Wales (NSW) Government has announced 10 extra Sydney landmarks will be illuminated green & gold for tonight’s FIFA Women’s World Cup – Australia & New Zealand 2023 Round Of 16 match between the Matildas & Denmark.

Other buildings to be lit green & gold include:

• The State Library Of NSW,
• The Art Gallery of NSW,
• Luna Park,
• Western Sydney Stadium,
• The Calyx in the Royal Botanic Gardens,
• The International Convention Centre,
• International Towers,
• Novotel Sydney Central,
• Hyde Hacienda &
• The Argyle.

Again, this will not mean the FIFA Women’s World Cup – Australia & New Zealand 2023 will be redesignated as an ‘extraordinary’ Sydney Spectacular as the illuminations are focused on 1 team & not all the teams/the event itself.

With again more calls from the NSW Premier, Chris Minns, that NSW is “alive” during this FIFA Women’s World Cup that the state is co-hosting despite evidence to the contrary (full statement below), the extra 10 Sydney landmarks being lit green & gold make this illumination reek even more of desperation.

The Matildas compete against Denmark in their Round Of 16 match of the FIFA Women’s World Cup – Australia & New Zealand 2023 on Monday the 7th of August at 8:30pm AEST at Stadium Australia, Sydney.

The Final will be held at the same venue on Sunday the 20th of August 2023 at 8pm AEST.

We couldn’t be prouder of the ‘Matildas’ making it through to the final 16 & finishing at the top of their group for the 1st time.

The World Cup has brought our city & state alive. We are taking this even further by turning NSW green & gold to cheer on the mighty ‘Matildas’.

NSW is so proud to be playing such a significant role in hosting this World Cup. With all of NSW behind them, let’s cheer the Matildas on to the next round of the World Cup!

NSW Premier, Chris Minns

It is awesome that Sydney will shine green & gold tonight. This is a defining moment for the rise of women’s sport.  

We are thrilled to have the ‘Matildas’ here in Sydney tonight & it is great knowing our city is hosting the final in a few weeks’ time.

NSW Minister For Sport, Steve Kamper

The ‘Matildas’ have made Australia proud & we’re all going green and gold tonight.

The ‘Matildas’ are superb role models that women & girls can aspire to.

NSW Minister For Women, Jodie Harrison

Correction: The original article implied the Central Station Clock Tower will be lit green & gold. It actually will be lit just gold.

From next Monday at 6pm. the Sydney Opera House as well as the Central Station Clock Tower & Concourse will be lit green & gold (the former just gold) in support of the Matildas in their Round Of 16 match against Denmark in the FIFA Women’s World Cup – Australia & New Zealand 2023.

This will not mean the FIFA Women’s World Cup – Australia & New Zealand 2023 will be redesignated as an ‘extraordinary’ Sydney Spectacular as the illuminations are focused on 1 team & not all the teams/the event itself.

The New South Wales (NSW) Government’s social media will also turn green & gold for that match day. The NSW Government is also encouraging its citizens to follow suit by wearing those colours that day as well.

Messages of support will also be displayed on screens at public transport stops as well as at over 100 Service NSW centres.

This is clearly a belated move by the NSW Government, especially after they did the same thing during the men’s tournament & with the encouragement of its citizens to wear the colours of Australia as well as dressing up its social media, public transport stops & their main customer-facing government agency reeks of desperation.

Whilst it is very understandable the NSW Government under new Premier Chris Minns is trying to save money by reducing projections & illuminations, the FIFA Women’s World Cup – Australia & New Zealand 2023 was one of the very few events that deserved to be treated like a mega event should be.

The lack of activation in Sydney of the FIFA Women’s World Cup – Australia & New Zealand 2023 was criticised last week by the NSW Opposition Leader, a City Of Sydney Liberal councillor & Robbie Slater, former Socceroo.

In a statement released on Wednesday (which can be read in full at the bottom of this post), the NSW Premier claimed “Sydney has come alive” & are “taking this to the next level”. This is despite the Rugby World Cup – Australia 2003 Final featured a 3-minute Sydney Harbour fireworks display including the Bridge (with Effect) & 2 barges after the match (There are no plans for such an event after the FIFA Women’s World Cup – Australia & New Zealand 2023 Final)

Rugby World Cup – Australia 2003 sponsors also boosted the community’s spirit by ‘taking over’ Sydney CBD pubs, bars, Rugby Union clubs, transport hubs & shopping centres (Unlike FIFA & their sponsors who are only focused on the amount of exclusive brand exposure). Garden beds were also decorated in the Sydney central business district & a rugby union-themed projection show on a Circular Quay building also featured during the Rugby World Cup – Australia 2003 (the latter during the tournament’s latter half). And let’s not forget the 2-week sporting party that was The Games Of The XXVIIth Olympiad – Sydney 2000!

So much for “alive” & “next level” this month-long FIFA Women’s World Cup…

Regardless, the NSW Government also revealed 4000 people attended the FIFA Fan Festival in Tumbalong Park, Darling Harbour to watch the Matildas defeat Olympic champions, Canada, in determination after their 3-2 loss to Nigeria.

They also revealed 118,000 people have attended that Festival in Tumbalong Park up to last Wednesday the 2nd of August – about 9,000 people per day – while the overall main tournament is receiving 82,000 visitors per event day – the largest sporting event hosted in Sydney since The Games of the XXVIIth Olympiad: 2000 – nearly double the 45,000 visitors per event day expected. Based on the current tournament’s attendance, the Fan Festival is performing below expectations but based on the previous tournament’s attendance, it is doing better than expected.

The sporting side is a success, but the community engagement/activation is relatively poor for Sydney. At this rate, it looks like Sydney’s events are no longer about bringing the community together but about bringing the money together & mega events are not memorable for that alone.

The Matildas compete against Denmark in their Round Of 16 match of the FIFA Women’s World Cup – Australia & New Zealand 2023 on Monday the 7th of August at 8:30pm AEST at Stadium Australia, Sydney.

The Final will be held at the same venue on Sunday the 20th of August 2023 at 8pm AEST.

We are so proud of the Matildas making the final 16. We are celebrating this achievement by turning Sydney green & gold next Monday.

NSW is proud to be part of this World Cup & we are so proud of what the Matildas have achieved so far. Sydney has come alive & we are taking this to the next level. Let’s take the Matildas to the next round.

NSW Premier, Chris Minns

The Matildas kicked off their campaign in Sydney in front of a record crowd of 75,000 people, and we can’t wait to see another packed house at Stadium Australia.

I encourage everyone to don the green and gold, get to the game or a community fan site, to witness this once in a lifetime opportunity.

NSW Sports Minister, Steve Kamper

It’s been fantastic to see so much support for the Matildas from across the NSW community.

We are incredibly proud of their achievements & of the role our NSW representatives have played in getting the team this far.

We are excited to see the state turn green and gold on Monday & look forward to the ongoing implementation of the NSW Football Legacy Program to ensure we can cater for the next generation of female football stars.

Football NSW Chief Executive Officer, John Tsatsimas

According to The Daily Telegraph, the New South Wales (NSW) Opposition Leader, Mark Speakman, says NSW Premier, Chris Minns, has “dropped the ball” on activating Sydney during the FIFA Women’s World Cup – Australia & New Zealand 2023.

The NSW Opposition Leader represents about a 3rd of New South Wales electors.

It comes after Sydney Spectaculars, in early April, undesignated the FIFA Women’s World Cup – Australia & New Zealand 2023 from being an ‘extraordinary’ Sydney Spectacular after finding no evidence of an attempt to put on a Sydney Harbour Bridge fireworks, light, projection or drone show for the Final, nearly 3 years after winning the bid to host the Final & with less than 5 months until that event.

Given this is only a month after the NSW State Election, an equal amount of blame should be placed on the Opposition, who were in Government before the said election, as an event of this magnitude requires more than 6 months of planning for a Sydney Spectacular to be held. However, we cannot be sure if FIFA overruled them in any respect.

Last week, a City of Sydney Liberal Councillor, Lyndon Gannon, as well as former Socceroo, Robbie Slater, criticised the City of Sydney & the NSW Government respectively for not treating the FIFA Women’s World Cup – Australia & New Zealand 2023 as the “once in a generation” event as it is – 5 days into the month-long tournament. This was mainly in regards to street activations, banners & live sites.

The Rugby World Cup – Australia 2003, which was the next largest international sporting event Sydney has hosted, had 4 live sites during the tournament in Sydney alone – at Tumbalong Park, The Rocks, the Sydney Opera House & The Overflow at Sydney Olympic Park while a 5th live site was set up in The Domain for the Final, after the Wallabies made it to that match. Rugby World Cup 2003 sponsors also ‘took over’ Sydney pubs, bars, Rugby Union clubs, transport hubs & shopping centres turning Sydney into 1 big Rugby Union festival.

The FIFA Women’s World Cup – Australia & New Zealand 2023 only has the sole FIFA Fan Festival live site at Tumbalong Park as well as 2 live sites, not FIFA-run, in Parramatta & Blacktown. The Final also has live sites, not FIFA-run, in Marrickville & Randwick.

It should be noted that the City of Sydney has no control over Sydney Harbour, it’s Bridge & the Opera House despite hosting Sydney New Year’s Eve annually. The NSW Government has sole final control.

Sydney hosts the Final of the FIFA Women’s World Cup – Australia & New Zealand 2023 on Sunday the 20th of August 2023.

Sydney Spectaculars has received confirmation from Transport For New South Wales (NSW), who control the Sydney Harbour Bridge, that the lights we saw last week lit on the Sydney Harbour Bridge were lit as part of their decommissioning after this year’s Vivid Sydney.

Last Tuesday & Wednesday night, in the early evening, colourful lights were spotted being tested on the north-eastern side of the Sydney Harbour Bridge underneath the catwalk.

We never expected lights, lit up at the same time for 2 nights in a row, were lit as part of their decommissioning but they are the facts.

You learn something new every day…

Sydney Spectaculars has received confirmation from Transport For New South Wales (NSW), who control the Sydney Harbour Bridge, that there will be no light show, as part of the FIFA Women’s World Cup – Australia & New Zealand 2023, on the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

This means the event definitely won’t be redesignated as an ‘Extraordinary’ Sydney Spectacular.

Sydney Spectaculars undesignated the FIFA Women’s World Cup – Australia & New Zealand 2023 back on 5th April 2023 after finding no evidence of an attempt to put on a Sydney Harbour Bridge fireworks, light, projection or drone show for the Final, nearly 3 years after winning the bid to host the Final & with less than 5 months until that event.

Last Tuesday & Wednesday night, in the early evening, colourful lights were spotted being tested on the north-eastern side of the Sydney Harbour Bridge underneath the catwalk.

Lights for New Year’s Eve have been tested months in advance in a similar manner before.

We followed up Transport For NSW’s statement with a query about what were those lights being tested for but have not received a response as of publication.

Last Friday night, around Midnight, people with torches were spotted scaling the north-eastern side of the upper arch of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, going from the north-eastern pylon up to the summit. We did not spot them descend so they might have descended down the southern side.

Last night, around 8:30pm, people with torches were spotted traversing over the north-western side of the upper arch of the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

Work on the Sydney Harbour Bridge either as part of Bridge maintenance or roadwork has been scheduled from May to December this year. The people spotted are now highly likely to have been involved with Bridge maintenance.

There is no evidence of a Sydney Harbour Bridge fireworks display for the FIFA Women’s World Cup – Australia & New Zealand 2023 Final yet. Given it is less than 2 days to go until the event & with no evidence of a fireworks display anywhere on Sydney Harbour this Thursday, we can now rule out a major Sydney Harbour fireworks display as part of the Opening & ‘Inaugural’ Ceremonies to be held at Eden Park, Auckland & Stadium Australia, Sydney respectively as part of the lead up to the Opening & ‘Inaugural’ Matches (Football Ferns (New Zealand) Vs Norway & Matildas (Australia) Vs Republic Of Ireland) on Thursday at 4:30pm & 7:30pm Sydney time respectively with kick-off at 5pm & 8pm Sydney time respectively.

There is no evidence for a drone show so far.

Drone shows are also usually rehearsed off-site in a remote location in secret if it is for an important event, but they do require a 6-month approval process from the Civil Aviation Safety Authority, which means an application would have needed to have been submitted by late February this year

The Final, also at Stadium Australia, is on Sunday the 20th of August 2023 with kick-off at 8pm Sydney time. The Final’s conclusion & trophy presentation is the only possible time for a major Sydney Harbour fireworks display and/or drone show, though it is unlikely, especially with a major light show now definitely ruled out.

Therefore, the FIFA Women’s World Cup – Australia & New Zealand 2023 will stay undesignated as an ‘Extraordinary’ Sydney Spectacular, as it has been since 12th of April, unless we find evidence that a major Sydney Harbour fireworks display or drone show will take place in relation to the event.

After today’s stunning major event news about the XXIIIrd Commonwealth Games: 2026 from the neighbour state of Victoria, like we said in our article about our undesignating of the FIFA Women’s World Cup – Australia & New Zealand 2023 from being an ‘Extraordinary’ Sydney Spectacular, this all affects Australia hosting major events in the future like the men’s FIFA World Cup.

For comparison on the scale of the events, the FIFA Women’s World Cup has attendance of 45,000 per event day while the Commonwealth Games has an attendance of 108,000 per event day. The Men’s FIFA World Cup is 162,000 per event day. Refer to our article about our undesignating of the FIFA Women’s World Cup – Australia & New Zealand 2023 from being an ‘Extraordinary’ Sydney Spectacular to read the logic behind why an event with an attendance of only 45,000 per event day deserves to be treated like an ‘Extraordinary’ Sydney Spectacular such as the Games Of The XXVIIth Olympiad (395,000 per event day) & the Rugby World Cup (66,000 per event day).

Major events are more than financial commercial products to make a profit from, they build social connections, improving health & contributing to the construction & maintenance of a society’s identity, character & culture. Victoria’s decision, completely financial, shows an underappreciation of the Commonwealth Of Nations, soft power and international relations as well as the promotion of sport, physical activity and their health benefits. Sydney or FIFA’s decision shows an underappreciation of Sydney Harbour, the Bridge, fireworks, lights, gender equality & the history and future of major events in Sydney.

Events in Australia are now facing a litmus test…

Last Tuesday & Wednesday night, in the early evening, colourful lights were spotted being tested on the north-eastern side of the Sydney Harbour Bridge underneath the catwalk.

With less than a week until the FIFA Women’s World Cup – Australia & New Zealand 2023, it could be interpreted as testing for a month-long themed light show on the Sydney Harbour Bridge for the event, returning the event as an ‘Extraordinary’ Sydney Spectacular, the 1st since the International Fleet Review in October 2013.

Sydney Spectaculars undesignated the FIFA Women’s World Cup – Australia & New Zealand 2023 back on 5th April 2023 after finding no evidence of an attempt to put on a Sydney Harbour Bridge fireworks, light, projection or drone show for the Final, nearly 3 years after winning the bid to host the Final & with less than 5 months until that event.

Sydney Spectaculars yesterday sent queries to FIFA and their local event organising subsidiary & Transport For NSW, who control the Sydney Harbour Bridge. However, neither responded by time of writing.

We also contacted the lighting company who lights up the Sydney Harbour Bridge during Vivid Sydney, Mandylights, but they gave a curious ‘can’t confirm at this time’ response.

Last night, around Midnight, people with torches were spotted scaling the north-eastern side of the upper arch of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, going from the north-eastern pylon up to the summit. We did not spot them descend so they might have descended down the southern side.

Work on the Sydney Harbour Bridge either as part of Bridge maintenance or roadwork has been scheduled from May to December this year. The people spotted may have been involved with Bridge maintenance but if not, they were installing something in the dead of night – fireworks or lights – but at this stage, lights are more likely if they are not Bridge maintenance people.

Lights for New Year’s Eve have also been tested months in advance in a similar manner before too.

There is no evidence of a Sydney Harbour Bridge fireworks display for the FIFA Women’s World Cup – Australia & New Zealand 2023 yet. However, a light show has suddenly become a possibility. There is no evidence for a drone show so far.

Drone shows are also usually rehearsed off-site in a remote location in secret if it is for an important event, but they do require a 6-month approval process from the Civil Aviation Safety Authority, which means an application would have needed to have been submitted by late February this year.

Regardless of what those people were doing on the Bridge, something important was happening on the Bridge last night as people rarely climb the Bridge in the dead of the night unless it is nightworks, which in itself is rare, or to install fireworks or lights.

With less than a week to the event begins, the biggest sporting event Australia has hosted since the Rugby World Cup 2003, keep an eye on our blog in case any news breaks regarding Sydney Spectaculars.

A FIFA Fan Festival™ Live Site will open at Tumbalong Park, Darling Harbour at 4pm Thursday & open on match-days at various hours until 11pm, Sunday the 20th of August 2023.

A 10-minute Opening Ceremony, which will feature a live performance of the official event song with dancing & fireworks, will then be held at Eden Park, Auckland at 4:30pm Sydney time/6:30pm Auckland time. Following that, at 5pm Sydney time/7pm Auckland time, the Opening Match, the Football Ferns (New Zealand) Vs Norway, kicks off the tournament from Eden Park. Sunset in Sydney happens 7 minutes later.

After the Opening Match concludes, at Stadium Australia, Sydney, there will be a 10-minute ‘Inaugural Ceremony’ at 7:30pm Sydney time followed by the Matildas (Australia) opening their campaign against the Republic of Ireland at 8pm Sydney time from Stadium Australia. The Final, also at Stadium Australia, is on Sunday the 20th of August 2023 with kick-off at 8pm Sydney time.

If there is a month-long themed light show on the Sydney Harbour Bridge for the FIFA Women’s World Cup – Australia & New Zealand 2023, a 7:30pm ‘lights on!’ moment as part of the ‘Inaugural Ceremony’ is the most likely time for it to start. If not, sunset that day (5:07pm).

However, as there is no solid evidence linking the lights to the event, the event won’t be redesignated as an ‘Extraordinary’ Sydney Spectacular just yet, but it is very possible now.

What will this week bring? Stay tuned!