Australians are sports nuts! When we see our compatriots do what the Matildas have just done, it leads to real changes, as well as economic and social multiplier effects. And it creates heroes like Sam Kerr, who’s now seen as the most marketable athlete in the country!

But this isn’t a new thing for us. Shane Warne had kids discovering leg spin and Ash Barty had parents buying their offsprings tennis rackets. After every Olympics, swimming coaches see a big uptick of new ‘would-be’ champions dive into their pools.

And how many girls set their sights on running for Australia after Cathy Freeman donned the space suit and wowed the world on that memorable day in September 2000 at the Olympic Stadium?

Not only are we nuts, we idolise our champions. And given the sacrifices they make to get to where they end up as world-class competitors, they deserve the adulation they get. That goes double for a team like the Matildas, who went top four after starting 12^th in the seeds for this Women’s World Cup.

The Daily Telegraph today tells us that Sam Kerr is the number one target for marketing managers of big brands, following what her teammates achieved and that great goal of hers on Wednesday night. Of course, people change their views, but a News Corp and TAB survey of 2,000 people found Sam registered 28% of the votes as the most marketable athlete in the country, followed by golfer Cameron Smith and F1 driver Daniel Ricciardo on only 6%, and then Nick Kyrgios on 5%.

Amidst the excitement around this team, who play Sweden on Saturday for the bronze medal, is a demanding public now telling the Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to dig deep and find money for the team he has so vocally supported. Social media keyboard warriors were demanding the PM “put his money where his mouth is”. Even the woman of the moment, Sam Kerr, has pleaded saying “…we need money for our grassroots.”

The SMH reports that the number of players signing up for summer soccer has spiked 170%, so government support is going to be needed. And they’ll probably get it in 2025 when the next federal election happens because the Matildas have created a pile of voters with a new interest in soccer!

Apart from the enthusiasm effect of the Matildas achievements, what other significant social and economic effects will this chapter in our country’s sporting history have? Try these:

1. Women’s soccer will attract a lot more big business and government money.
2. Small businesses will want to support local girls’ and women’s soccer teams.
3. The Commonwealth Bank that dropped our men’s cricket team and stuck solid with the Matildas have struck gold!
4. The CBA will have to pay a lot more to hold that sponsorship because other big ad spenders will want the Matildas.
5. Women’s sport has been elevated by the TV ratings when 7.132 million fans watched Saturday’s semi-final loss to the UK’s champion team — the Lionesses.
6. The economic effects for pubs, cafes and other hospitality businesses thanks to the Matilda’s exploits on the field.
7. There’s the tourism effect of our capital cities being put on show, with TV coverage around the world being a bonus for a country where tourism is critically important. Prior to the pandemic, tourism was Australia's second largest service export and employed one in 12 Australians. In 2018/19, our tourism sector contributed $152 billion to our economy, supported more than 300,000 businesses, and employed more than 660,000 Australians. The Matildas have helped keep this economic sector strong and growing.
8. Finally, this whole Matilda’s success story has escalated what the lawyer in the film The Castle called “the vibe”, and it’s a positive vibe for women’s sport, respect for what women can achieve and how success can be infectious.

Following the negativity that the pandemic and then rising interest rates have imposed on us, a positive shot in the arm for the national psyche is a gift that the Matildas have brought.

It's interesting that this week we got economic readings that have been positive for interest rate worriers, with the job numbers out yesterday good for stopping the Reserve Bank raising rates.

The Matildas have forced a national positivity on many of us that will deliver both a social and economic plus for the country and the economy. That’s the payoff of being a sports nut country filled with great sportspeople. Go Australia!