Luke Bould, Football Federation Australia's (FFA) Chief Commercial Officer, has announced he will depart the organisation at the end of November, after nearly six years.
"I am both proud of what has been achieved during my time at FFA and excited about the next step in my career," Bould said. "Football in Australia is on a path to reach its full potential and I have been privileged to be able to play a role in its growth."
During his time with FFA, Bould's role has grown significantly and he has played a leading role in many of the games' major achievements, including:
- Securing the game's largest ever broadcast deal in 2016 with Fox Sports, as well as five-fold growth in international rights revenue through FFA's partnership with IMG
- Signing the new partnership with ABC to be the home of football on free TV
- Delivering five straight years of sponsorship revenue growth for the game, in particular seeing women's football and community football both emerge as significant revenue centres for the first time
- Delivering a commercial program for ALDI MiniRoos that allowed FFA to establish and invest in the program as the sport's national participation entry product
- Developing the Football Network, FFA's digital network connecting all aspects of the game, including a joint venture with Telstra to release the MyFootballLive app, streaming all FFA controlled games live for the first time on an FFA platform
- Diversifying FFA's commercial revenue streams, particularly its digital revenues
- Development of football's brand, including delivering a single national brand and positioning for the game that has been adopted across all Member Federations
Bould said the emergence of the Westfield Matildas as Australia's most loved national team, and the growth in women's football generally, was a particularly pleasing development over the past six years.
"I have been lucky to work with many passionate and talented people at FFA, throughout Australia in community football and within the Hyundai A-League and Westfield W-League clubs. In particular, I want to thank David Gallop for his leadership, support and guidance, as well as my hard working team.
"The game also has a range of very loyal partners of the game, who I thank for their support during my time at FFA. With co-operation across the game, football will continue to grow in Australia and reach the heights to which it aspires. I'll enjoy watching that growth as a fan."
FFA Chief Executive David Gallop said: "Luke has led and managed broad and important aspects of FFA's agenda over a period of significant growth. From our media and commercial rights to our new digital network rollout and our marketing and licensing programs, he has conducted himself in a highly professional manner.
"The time is right for him to take up new challenges and we wish him well in the next stage of his career."
