Aussie football fans are in for an unpleasant surprise when they tune in to watch the Matildas face off against Denmark in a crucial World Cup clash. The round-of-16 contest is the team’s most important game yet, and huge ratings are expected for the matchup. However, one aspect of the broadcast is bound to anger many Australians.
The issue lies with the kickoff time of 8:30 pm AEST, which means that the match will be broadcasted on Channel Seven well past the bedtime of many young Australian fans. These fans would love nothing more than to stay up late and cheer on star player Sam Kerr and the rest of the squad.
Unfortunately, the game is estimated to finish around 10:30 pm AEST, but that’s only if the result is determined within 90 minutes of regulation time. Since this is a knockout match, if the scores are tied at fulltime, the game will go into two additional 15-minute periods of extra time. And if the teams are still level after that, a penalty shootout will determine the outcome.
This means that the game could potentially stretch well past 10:30 pm, especially if it goes into extra time and a penalty shootout, which is a common occurrence in high-stake tournaments. For many young Matildas fans, this late kickoff time puts the action way past their bedtime.
Furthermore, if the match does go into a penalty shootout after extra time, there’s a possibility that it could go into sudden death format, causing even more delay. This means that the game might end at a point where even Aussie adults would be concerned about staying up late, let alone their young children.
While the 8:30 pm start time is not the latest in the round-of-16, as France’s game against Morocco begins at 9 pm AEST, it is the latest start time for an Australian match in the tournament thus far. Although it’s worth mentioning that the tournament organizers couldn’t have predicted this beforehand since there was no guarantee that the Matildas would make it out of the group stage, local fans still have a valid complaint about the late kickoff.
The 8:30 pm AEST kickoff translates to different times around the world, such as 11:30 am in London, 12:30 pm in Copenhagen, 6:30 am in New York, and 3:30 am in Los Angeles. While it’s a challenge for World Cup organizers to cater to the European and American markets while dealing with the time differences, one of the advantages of hosting a World Cup is being able to schedule games to accommodate fans’ regular routines rather than disrupting their sleep patterns.
Australians have already expressed frustration over not being able to watch most of the tournament on TV due to Optus Sport’s paywall, with only 15 out of 64 games available for free on Channel Seven. Combined with the time zone difficulties, it’s impossible to keep everyone satisfied. However, Matildas fans understand that each game from here on could be the team’s last in a once-in-a-lifetime home World Cup. That’s why the crucial 30-minute delay, which could be the difference between young fans experiencing a memorable sporting moment or missing it entirely, is guaranteed to upset many Aussies.
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