The Netball World Cup 2023 (NWC2023) has been shortlisted for the Sports Business Awards in the ‘Best Sporting Event of the Year 2023’ category.
World Netball’s (WN) flagship event, the Netball World Cup, takes place every four years in cities around the world and this year for the first time ever, on its 60th Anniversary, it took place on the continent of Africa, specifically in South Africa from the 28th July – 6th August.
16 teams qualified for the 60-match event through either their World Netball World Ranking, or by one of five regional qualification events held in 2022.
The Gold Medal was won by Australia who beat England in the Final, with Jamaica taking the Bronze.
The success of the event exceeded expectations and was the culmination of four years of planning by WN, NWC2023 (Local Organising Committee) and Netball South Africa.
Highlights of the event included it having the most successful commercial programme in NWC history.
Sponsorship sales were double that achieved for Netball World Cup 2019, whilst rights to broadcast the matches live were sold in all the major netball nations, with fans in all other countries able to sign up to watch on WN’s NetballPass OTT platform.
The host broadcaster SuperSport also made history as the NWC2023 was recorded and produced by an all-women crew.
Whilst on social media, 109,437 social media posts referencing the NWC2023 reached a further 3.3 billion potential impressions, and social media videos referencing the event generated 12.1 million views.
The impact on the ground was just as great, with 63 free fan parks and 30 viewing centres across the nine South African provinces bringing the event to everyone in the country.
Those in South Africa, and the wider continent of Africa, inspired by the NWC2023, will now also have more opportunities to play too thanks to the significant legacy programme of the event including coaching and umpiring courses to build technical skills and new netball facilities. This includes the provision of sprung wooden netball floors by the South African Department of Sport, Arts, Culture and Recreation for all nine provinces and internationally to three countries: Malawi, Ghana and Botswana.
Speaking on the excitement of the shortlisting, World Netball CEO, Clare Briegal, said: “We are thrilled that the Netball World Cup 2023 has been shortlisted for such a prestigious award.
“World Netball is on a mission to expand netball’s worldwide reach and impact.
“Africa was the only continent yet to host a Netball World Cup, and by awarding the right to host the Netball World Cup 2023 to Netball South Africa, World Netball demonstrated its commitment to delivering growth.
“Netball South Africa, the Netball World Cup 2023 Local Organising Committee, and the whole continent of Africa embraced this opportunity fully and staged an incredible Netball World Cup opening up netball to a wider audience than ever before and showcasing world-class competitive play to netballers globally.
“It is fantastic to see the event get the recognition it deserves.
“Thank you to everyone involved that made it a true success.”
To find out more about this award, and our entry click here.
