Newcastle Jets CEO Shane Mattiske on Maverick Sports Partners ownership: “It is exciting to see so many people lean forward and now want to get involved”

Liam Watson
Images supplied by Tom Logan at Newcastle Jets

To the relief of Newcastle Jets fans and those of the A-Leagues alike, Maverick Sports Partners were unveiled as the Club’s new owners.

The June announcement ended months of speculation, with questions being asked about whether the Jets would even survive financially.

Now under fresh leadership, Maverick Sports Partners will support the Club’s future and build on the tight-knit community that Newcastle represents.

Speaking to Soccerscene after the deal was confirmed and ahead of the Round of 32 Australia Cup tie with Rockdale Ilinden, Jets CEO Shane Mattiske describes the feeling of elation, the challenges it presented, upcoming business plans and how the A-Leagues will still thrive.

How has everything been since the confirmed announcement?

Shane Mattiske: It’s the end point of one big stage of the Club’s history.

We’ve been working hard in the background to build a strong foundation for growth in a real transitional period.

The critical thing was to find a new permanent ownership group – we are really pleased to launch into that new era alongside Maverick Sports Partners.

It’s great for the players, community and stakeholders because it sets up our future and puts us in a position where we can focus on growth and makes everyone happy.

What have you seen in the Newcastle community with their support?

Shane Mattiske: We are seeing strong engagement from the corporate sector and our members.

Our memberships went on sale and our target of 10,000 members is ideal but we of course aim for more. We’ve already had a great response from our membership base, with early renewals and quite a few new members coming in despite being away from the formal part of the season; this is really encouraging.

We’re looking forward to the team getting back on field and seeing the fans come out and we’re confident that the work’s been done to support that through good crowd growth and build on the successes of the women’s and men’s teams.

It is exciting to see so many people lean forward and now want to get involved in the Club, with the comfort of the new era that also celebrates our 20th year coming up, highlighting the heritage and history of the Jets.

Mattiske has been instrumental in securing the services of Maverick Sports Partners, among existing sponsors of the Newcastle Jets.

Do you have any plans in mind with Maverick Sports Partners at this stage?

Shane Mattiske: We are already making changes. Jason Hoffman is the first big example where he has come in from being an elite player to the corporate side of the Club.

He’s creating a connection between the men’s playing squad and our community team. Jason is one of those people that has got a big presence and has an identity.

Through his efforts, we are already seeing some great engagement at corporate level.

In addition, we are launching a new product called ‘Jets in Business’, where the broader business community come together and network with other organisations that has got an interest in football through this community and the success of our men’s and women’s teams.

We’ve also added Ken Schembri as General Manager of Football and Ben Hawes as General Manager of Commercial, Digital and Marketing.

We do have some big ambitions in terms of our growth. We are focusing very hard on our corporate revenue growth and membership numbers, with some big targets for our community engagement going forward.

From a personal point of view, how were the challenges in your role?

Shane Mattiske: For the past three and a half years, this has been a period where we’ve seen the game come together, particularly representatives from clubs in the game who recognised the importance of Newcastle and this region.

We’ve received great support and without it, we couldn’t progress to this stage.

There has been a lot of work on creating a strong platform to grow from, when further resources came under a new ownership structure.

A lot of people here, such as our playing group, have worked hard and performed really well despite the uncertainty that was going on.

All our people inside the Club and our corporate partners believed that this club did have a strong future here, with dedication and commitment that we would realise.

It’s really rewarding to get to this point where we’ve set ourselves up to grow and got a good collective within the Maverick Sports Partners ownership, with interesting dimensions that will help us for business skills and great experience in the football space.

What do you make of the state of the game and the A-Leagues?

Shane Mattiske: The last 12 months have been an incredible period for the game, featuring the Women’s World Cup. That has unlocked a connection to the whole Australian population – there would be very few families, adults or children that wouldn’t have been inspired and engaged by the success of the Matildas.

The diversity that exists for the tournament proved to be a watershed moment for football in this country.

At the elite level, you’re seeing people engage in football and you can see how that’s driven growth.

From a Newcastle perspective, we more than doubled our average crowd for women’s football, ending with 7,000 to set a new record for the semi-final.

We’ve seen huge growth across the board in participation; football is the one sport that’s booming and there’s incredible numbers in female participation, so we have some really bright signs for the game’s future.

You can’t get away from the fact that the APL have had to work through some challenges as they refine their economic model. Being close to it, we think they are short-term challenges and there’s confidence around the way they intend to work through them.

You look to those indications around the strength of the base that sits behind football and that gives everyone comfort that in the medium-longer term, there is a strong future for football.

The economic model just needs some slight refinement, and that’s what it being worked through at the moment.

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Why Australia is unlikely to host a Men’s World Cup in the near future

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Image credit: Football Australia

In December of last year, Saudi Arabia was officially announced as the host nation for the 2034 FIFA World Cup.

This makes them the fourth country from the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) to host the tournament—following Japan and South Korea in 2002, and more recently, Qatar in 2022.

What stood out about Saudi Arabia’s selection, though, was the lack of competition—they ended up being the only country to submit a formal bid.

Australia, a fellow AFC member nation had initially expressed interest in hosting the 2034 World Cup, but with Saudi Arabia heavily investing in their bid and momentum clearly shifting in their favor, Australia chose to step back.

Instead, they redirected their focus toward hosting the 2026 AFC Women’s Asian Cup—an event they were awarded in 2024—and the 2029 Club World Cup.

This isn’t the first time Australia has tried to bring the World Cup Down Under. Back in 2010, they launched a bid to host the 2022 tournament.

However, it ended in disappointment—they received just one vote in the first round, while Qatar controversially secured hosting rights under what many described as “suspicious circumstances.”

Now, 15 years after that failed bid, and with Saudi Arabia next in line to host, it seems increasingly unlikely that Australia will get a World Cup anytime soon. And there are several reasons why that might be the case.

Cost Factor

One of the major reasons Australia may not host a men’s FIFA World Cup in the near future is due to the enormous cost involved in staging the tournament.

According to Statista, Qatar spent a staggering $220 billion USD ($342 billion AUD) to host the 2022 World Cup, making it the most expensive edition in the tournament’s history.

This was largely due to Qatar needing to build much of the necessary infrastructure from scratch.

Even so, previous World Cups have still come with hefty price tags.

Russia spent around $11.6 billion USD ($18 billion AUD) to host the 2018 tournament, while Brazil’s 2014 World Cup cost about $15 billion USD ($23 billion AUD).

In fact, the last men’s World Cup to cost under $1 billion USD ($1.56 billion AUD) was the 1994 tournament held in the United States.

In contrast, the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup—co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand—had a far more modest price tag.

According to FIFA’s bid evaluation report, the tournament was expected to cost around $150 million AUD, with just over $100 million AUD contributed by governments.

Not only does the Women’s World Cup cost significantly less to host, but many of the stadiums and infrastructure acceptable for the women’s tournament would fall short of FIFA’s stricter requirements for the men’s event.

To meet those higher standards, Australia would need to make substantial upgrades, adding further to the cost.

Beyond the economic risks, there’s also a broader question of national priorities.

Australia may ultimately decide that the billions required to secure and host a men’s World Cup could be better invested elsewhere—into areas that deliver more lasting and equitable benefits for the population.

For example, upgrading the nation’s public health system, affordable housing initiatives, education infrastructure, and climate resilience projects are all pressing needs that demand long-term funding and attention.

Investments in regional transport networks, Indigenous community support, and renewable energy development could arguably provide a stronger return on investment in terms of social and economic outcomes.

Given these competing priorities and the immense cost of hosting, Australia may find that the pursuit of a men’s FIFA World Cup is a luxury it simply can’t justify—at least not in the foreseeable future.

Rival Interest

Rival nations within the AFC (Asian Football Confederation) would play a major role in limiting Australia’s chances of hosting a Men’s FIFA World Cup.

The FIFA World Cup is the biggest sporting event in the world, and the competition to host it is incredibly fierce.

Countries go to great lengths to secure hosting rights, especially within the AFC, where Arab nations in particular have been extremely proactive.

One major factor is the concept of sportswashing—the practice of using sports to improve a country’s global image, often as a way to divert attention from human rights issues or political controversies.

This has become especially common in the Middle East over the past decade.

Between early 2021 and mid-2023, Saudi Arabia alone reportedly spent $6.3 billion on sportswashing efforts, including around 300 sponsorship deals.

Their investments span across numerous sports: boxing, motorsport, snooker, golf, ATP tennis, cricket, and even the America’s Cup sailing regatta.

However, football has been their biggest focus.

In recent years, Saudi Arabia’s top-tier football league—the Saudi Pro League (SPL)—has emerged as Asia’s most high-profile domestic competition.

This rise in prominence has largely been driven by the league signing world-famous players to extremely lucrative contracts.

The most notable example is Cristiano Ronaldo, arguably the most recognisable athlete on the planet, who joined Al Nassr on a deal reported to be worth around $207 million USD (approximately $322 million AUD) per season.

But Saudi influence in football isn’t limited to their domestic league. They’ve also hosted major international club competitions.

For instance, five of the last six editions of the Supercopa de España—a tournament featuring the top Spanish clubs—have been held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia’s capital.

Now it’s not just the World Cup, looking at the AFC Asian Cup, the premier men’s international football tournament in Asia, three of the last four editions were hosted by Arab nations.

Qatar alone hosted it twice during that period and Saudi Arabia is also set to host the 2027 edition.

So, Australia faces stiff competition within the AFC for the rights to host a World Cup—particularly from wealthy and politically influential Arab nations that have a proven track record of securing major football events.

The last FIFA World Cup (2022) was held in Qatar, and the next AFC host is Saudi Arabia and based on the current pattern, it wouldn’t be surprising if another Arab nation—such as the UAE—secured the next opportunity after that.

Location

One major factor that could affect Australia’s chances of hosting a men’s FIFA World Cup is its geographical location.

Because Australia is so far from Europe and the Americas—where most of the global football audience is—many matches would air at inconvenient times in those regions, potentially lowering TV viewership.

This issue was already evident during the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, which was co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand.

According to FIFA, the final between Spain and England reached 222.02 million viewers.

That’s a noticeable drop compared to the 2019 final in France, where the USA faced the Netherlands and drew 263.62 million viewers.

A decline like this in viewership could make FIFA and its broadcasting partners think twice about holding a men’s World Cup in Australia.

Speaking of broadcasting, broadcast rights are another concern with time zone differences potentially reducing the value of international broadcast deals, since matches wouldn’t air during prime hours in key markets.

In fact, ahead of the 2023 Women’s World Cup, FIFA reportedly missed its target for selling broadcast rights by about $100 million USD ( $155 million AUD), according to the Wall Street Journal.

FIFA had hoped to bring in $300 million USD ($466 million AUD), but only managed around $200 million USD ($310 million AUD).

It even reached a point where FIFA president Gianni Infantino warned of a possible TV blackout across Europe unless broadcasters increased their offers.

All of this shows how Australia’s remote location could seriously impact global viewership and broadcasting revenue, making it a tougher sell as a host for a future men’s World Cup.

Conclusion

So, in light of these financial, geopolitical, and logistical challenges, it’s clear that the odds of Australia hosting a FIFA World Cup remain firmly stacked against them—making another failed bid not just possible, but increasingly probable.

Given the significant financial demands, complex geopolitical dynamics, and substantial logistical hurdles involved, it becomes increasingly evident that Australia faces an uphill battle in its pursuit of hosting a FIFA World Cup.

These compounding challenges not only diminish the likelihood of a successful bid in the near future, but also raise the probability that any renewed attempt could end in yet another disappointment.

Elevating Aintree Football and grassroots sports

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Image credit: Football Victoria

Football Victoria has acknowledged Melton City Council for the official opening of the $15.3 million Aintree North Recreation Reserve — a pivotal investment in community sport and active recreation that will serve the area’s growing demand for football and broader sporting participation.

In April, City of Melton Mayor Cr Steve Abboushi and State Member for Kororoit Luba Grigorovitch MP officially unveiled the reserve, which is positioned to play a central role as a district-level facility in Melbourne’s west and will accommodate a range of local sports groups, including football clubs.

City of Melton Mayor Cr Steve Abboushi described the reserve as a transformative development for the local community.

“Spaces like these make it easier for people of all ages and abilities to take part in regular exercise, social connection and outdoor activity,” he said via press release.

“I’d like to thank the Victorian Government and Woodlea for their contributions to this fantastic project.”

The state-of-the-art reserve features premium soccer pitches, an inclusive play area, a youth-focused skate park, a jogging track with a fitness trail, an off-leash dog park, public restrooms, a network of shared pathways, and a contemporary community sports pavilion.

The project was supported by a $11.9 million investment from Melton City Council, alongside a $2 million contribution from the Victorian Government’s Growing Suburbs Fund and an additional $1.46 million from developer Woodlea.

Josephine La Pila, Football Victoria’s Club Development Program Manager, expressed support for the reserve’s opening and commended the commitment to enhancing community football facilities.

“This precinct is a fantastic example of local government, developers and state partners working together to support grassroots football,” she said via press release.

“The facilities at Aintree will open new doors for clubs, players and families – especially in such a fast-growing area. We’re excited to see the positive impact it will have on participation, development and community connection.”

Football Victoria is excited to maintain its partnership with the City of Melton and local clubs, working together to establish the new reserve as a flourishing centre for football and community sports.

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