Friday 03 October 2025
Change is accelerating. Sport is becoming increasingly globalised, and traditional borders are fading. Compliments to NBL for bringing the NBA over and whilst I enjoy both NBA (this weekend the New Orleans Pelicans will take on two pre-season games against NBL teams Melbourne United and South East Melbourne Phoenix) and NFL (2026) are coming to Australia, it also raises concern. US sports and global leagues are already winning territory in Australian households, competing directly for attention, fans, and spend.
The pressure is real: if Australia does not act decisively now, its domestic codes risk losing relevance in their own market. Digital transformation, shifting fan behaviours, new revenue models, media disruption, and AI innovation are no longer nice-to-haves for sports organisations, they’re existential. If Australia wants to stay at the front of the world stage of sports business, we need to do more than observe. We need to act.
Below are 5 of the most important shifts Australia’s sports industry must embrace.
Australian sport has long leaned on legacy models: traditional broadcast contracts, gate revenues, memberships, and sponsorship packages all delivered individually from the inside-out. These models served well in the 20th century, but today’s fans demand more. They want access across multiple platforms, personalised experiences, and a two-way relationship with the clubs and athletes they follow. The current gap is stark: fans spend hours engaging with sport across live, digital, and community touchpoints, yet many organisations struggle to capture more than single‑digit percentages of that attention or spend. ING research shows Australian sports fans collectively spend over AU$19 billion annually across tickets, travel, merchandise, streaming, and matchday experiences. Without stronger fan‑driven models, much of this value risks flowing elsewhere. Organisations that continue to rely solely on legacy revenue streams will lose relevance with younger generations.
Owning technology platforms or products is no longer a differentiator. The real competitive edge comes from delivering memorable experiences. Fans want more than a match; they want to feel part of a story, a community, and a shared journey. This requires shifting from deploying technology as a “solution” to using it as a tool for immersion and storytelling. For example, behind-the-scenes access, interactive matchday apps, or developing personalised interactions with every fan in your database can deepen engagement. Engagement should not be limited to tickets, memberships, or what happens on the field or in the stadium. Instead, it should expand to reflect everything the organisation stands for and what resonates with the fan; values, culture, community, sustainability, and identity. By delivering a more complete narrative rather than simply pushing commercial targets to meet weekly KPI’s, sports organisations can foster loyalty and deepen long-term relationships.
For Australia, success lies in designing touchpoints across live, digital, and community experiences that make every interaction meaningful. Marketing has become the product. This shift demands creativity, empathy, and investment in technology driven experience capabilities, not just the infrastructure itself.
Artificial Intelligence is moving faster than any prior wave of technology. In sport, AI already impacts scouting, injury prevention, ticketing, fan engagement, content creation, and sponsorship valuation. XV Capital estimates 25–30% of roles in sport could be reshaped by AI and digitization, potentially affecting 50,000 jobs in Australia. This presents both risk and opportunity. The risk: without AI literacy and skilled talent, organisations will fall behind. The opportunity: AI can automate routine tasks and free up human talent to focus on innovation, creativity, and strategy. From executor to architect.
To seize this, sport must invest in building digital talent pipelines: data scientists, engineers, digital marketers, storytellers, and hybrid leaders who can bridge sport, business and technology. In today’s economy, those roles shouldn’t be frowned upon within sports organizations, but the industry shows a different reality with most administration roles still being tied to an old way of working: membership managers, ticketing managers, media managers, etc. It is not about replacement, it’s about supplementation.
It may also be a smart move to appoint younger, digital-native leaders earlier then in the past decade into senior roles, ensuring the decision-making table has voices that deeply understand digital culture, fan behaviour, and emerging technologies. These perspectives can help steer transformation with agility and relevance.
AI is not just about efficiency; it’s about unlocking new revenue models and reimagining what sport can deliver.
Australian sport has often been hindered by siloed approaches, with stadium operators, sports rights holders, ticketing systems, and event or F&B partners working in parallel rather than in unison. This fragmentation diminishes the fan journey and creates friction at key touchpoints, both offline and online. To deliver best-in-class experiences, collaboration across the entire value chain is essential. Whether in the physical stadium environment or through digital platforms, data strategies, and content delivery. Stadium technology, membership and ticketing platforms, food and beverage partners, merchandise fulfillment and rights holders must align to create seamless, integrated experiences that delight fans from purchase to post-event, in person and on screen. By breaking down silos and building genuine partnerships, the industry can maximise value, boost satisfaction, and strengthen loyalty. Ensuring fans choose Australian sport over competing entertainment options.
Collaboration isn’t optional, it’s the cornerstone of delivering the frictionless, memorable experiences that will keep fans engaged and loyal in a global entertainment market.
One of the greatest challenges always facing sports organisations is the tension between immediate financial pressures and the need for long-term investment. Boards are often pressured by short-term seasonal metrics: attendance numbers, broadcast deals, and fixture revenues. And rightfully so, but sustainable competitiveness requires looking further. Investment in AI, fan data strategies, and governance reform may not always yield instant ROI (even though this often is the case), but they are the foundations of future growth. Brisbane 2032 offers a once-in-a-generation opportunity to align Australia’s sports ecosystem with global best practice, but only if leaders resist the trap of short-termism. The most successful organisations will be those that balance agility in the present with a clear, long-term strategic vision. Ensuring that decisions made today lay the groundwork for growth, trust, and resilience a decade from now.
Australia has the talent, culture, and tradition to lead but only if it acts decisively now. The path forward is clear:
Brisbane 2032 can be the catalyst for this transformation. If we embed digital leadership, fix fan data foundations, and align governance with innovation, Australia will not just keep pace, it will co-orchestrate the pace.
