The Australian Diamonds have committed to doing their bit to shift sports fans' attention to the Netball World Cup, an event which coincides directly with their co-hosted FIFA Women's World Cup, in a winter schedule which has left spectators spoilt for choice.
While the 2023 FIFA World Cup has already broken records for the most tickets sold and is on track for more than two billion television viewers, the Netball World Cup is being played in a venue with a top capacity of 5,000 and was not even half-full to see Australia open their campaign with an 86-30 win over Zimbabwe.
Those who were in attendance witnessed a closely-fought first quarter, with Australia leading 20-11, which gave way to complete Australian dominance in the remaining three and underlined the Diamonds' status as favourites to lift the trophy next Sunday. With performances like that, Australia hopes to put netball and the Diamonds on the map alongside football and the Matildas, at home and throughout the sporting world.
"The brilliance of being a national team is that you also support another code and the best way we can do it is to play the Australian brand of netball and do it with the greatest consistency," Diamonds coach Stacey Marinkovich said after their opening match. "And then we can showcase not just the Australian brand, but also how strong netball is on the world stage."
But there is still work to be done in order for netball to compete with football's marketing machine. At the ongoing Netball World Cup, ticket prices are high, with an adult paying $58AUD, while sales were hit by a technical glitch, which saw some fans left without an e-ticket despite paying online, and gates only opened 20 minutes before the first match.
"Netball could probably do a bit better with making a statement,", Diamonds defender Sunday Aryang told ESPN after the match. "They've done such a great job with the Women's Football Cup at home and it's great to see how much media and social media there is. Netball could definitely, and hopefully will definitely be there one day."
Aryang recognised netball's role as a gateway sport for women to gain exposure to elite-level sport but believes interest could be more sustained, and widespread, as athletes get older.
"Back in Australia, netball is the No.1 women's sport. A lot of young girls come through seeing netball and that they want to play but once it gets to a higher level, it's not really out there," she said. "And I think there are lots of countries who definitely know what netball is but I think it could be more of a worldwide sport."
Among the 16 teams competing at this year's tournament are debutants Tonga, and second-time appearances for Fiji and Zimbabwe alongside familiar participants such as England, Wales, South Africa, New Zealand, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and Barbados. With a fairly even spread of teams from around the world, netball is showing itself to be more inclusive than some other sports, albeit that there is still work to be done.
Aryang is the first African-both player to represent Australia and would like to see more players from minorities coming through the system, but was heartened by what she experienced in the opening encounters at the World Cup. "In different countries it attracts people of different backgrounds but in Australia, we could probably work a little bit more on that. It's getting there," she said. "Young girls are starting to come through from different backgrounds and here, at the World Cup, you see a lot of diversity here. It's coming."
In South Africa, for example, netball was as popular among the privileged white minority as it was in the more disadvantaged black majority. Similarly, netball has been a sport with a high growth percentage throughout Africa, whose teams are hopeful of flying a continental flag over the next eight days.
While Zimbabwe were disappointed with their defeat to Australia, they believe the toughest match of their group is out of the way and "if we finish in the top two, we still have high chances of finishing in the top four," their captain Felisitus Kwangwa said.