Kyah Simon of the Matildas celebrates scoring a goal during the international friendly match between Australia and the US Women’s National Team at McDonald Jones Stadium, Newcastle, NSW, Tuesday, November 30, 2021. Source: AAP Image/Darren Pateman
Australian football fans are flooding the Matildas with words of support ahead of the FIFA Women’s World Cup, but Sydney startup Swysh is now offering customised messages from team legends themselves.
Stars like forward Kyah Simon, Arsenal striker Caitlin Foord, World Cup veteran Clare Polkinghorne, and vice-captain Steph Catley have now joined the platform, which allows fans to purchase specialised video greetings from their sporting icons.
Their presence on the app is both indicative of the new ways sporting stars are fostering fan support — and the economic forces which have turned the women’s game into a boon for business.
Founded in 2019 by ex-Afterpay legal expert Michael Roth, Swysh echoes American startup Cameo by offering bespoke video messages from celebrities.
Customers can pay a fee set by the star themselves, with video messages from Matildas stars ranging in cost from $30 to $100.
The platform now boasts upwards of 1000 athletes from the world of professional football, AFL, and NRL, through to reality TV stars and internet celebrities.
Unlike other video-message platforms, Swysh has a baked-in charity component, pledging to donate 10% of each sale to partners including Starlight Children’s Foundation, Movember, and the Sporting Chance cancer foundation.
The startup claims to have donated more than $800,000 to charitable causes since its launch.
Women’s World Cup emerges as major sponsorship platform
Beyond the thrill of receiving words of support from a sporting legend, it makes business sense for platforms like Swysh to tap into Women’s World Cup excitement.
The Matildas are now Australia’s fourth-most popular national team, surpassing the Wallabies national men’s rugby union team, according to analytics firm Futures Sport and Entertainment.
Now, in highlighting the stars of Australia’s women’s football team, Swysh has joined other companies hoping to translate the team’s sporting prestige into brand affinity.
Notably, Swysh works with individual sporting stars, not the national team nor the FIFA Women’s World Cup itself.
However, major companies like Commonwealth Bank, Qantas, and Cadbury have all inked official sponsorship deals with the team.
More broadly, the women’s game has emerged as a major advertising platform.
Official brand partnerships from the likes of VISA, Xero, and Coca-Cola are expected to provide the tournament with nearly US$308 million (AU$451.3 million) a year, GlobalData reports.
Those considerations will likely be the last thing on the Matildas players’ minds as they take to the pitch next week, but small businesses and startups ought to consider how they can embrace Women’s World Cup fever, too.
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