The 99% problem: How Australian sport ignores its biggest audience
Despite Australia’s enormous appetite for attending games the fact remains that for any game across the country’s major codes, 99% of fans watching won’t be in the stadium
AFL and AAMI extended their partnership for 3-years across the AFL and AFLW, which will see AAMI continue as the AAMI Community Series Premier, the continuation of ‘Clangers for Good’, and Dreamtime at the ‘G Community Ticketing Scheme - AAMI also has Naming Rights to the 2026 AAMI AFL Origin which will take place this Saturday in front of a sold-out Optus Stadium
AFL and Virgin Australia announced a new partnership, extending across the Toyota AFL and NAB AFLW Premiership Seasons for 2026 and beyond - it will see AFL and AFLW players, coaches and support staff continue to travel exclusively on Virgin Australia
GWS GIANTS secured a new partnership with Planet Fitness which will support the club in promoting fitness and active lifestyles for fans and the community, including through collaborative programs, events, and digital initiatives
Penrite Oil signed a 2-year deal with Melbourne FC - the Australian-owned oil company will feature prominently on the top front and back of the red and blue guernsey
Port Adelaide FC welcomed KEF as a new Principal Partner - As part of the 2-year partnership, KEF will provide high-performance speakers for the club’s AFL and AFLW program
Richmond FC unveiled Silverwood’s Resort by Lotus Living as the Presenting Partner of the Punt Road Collective (the club’s new business network)
Tasmania Devils announced a new partnership with Blundstone - The multi-year agreement (2026 to 2032) will see the brand feature on the front chest and top-back of the Club’s guernseys beginning with the Devils’ VFL and VFLW foundations and evolving into the AFL and AFLW competitions from 2028
North Melbourne secured a 2-year extension of its partnership with the Tasmanian Government - the Kangaroos AFLW team will continue to play for premiership points in Tasmania across the 2026 and 2027 NAB AFLW seasons
Wests Tigers announced that Formbay joined the Club as a Platinum Partner for the 2026 NRL season - its logo will feature on the back of the Wests Tigers NRL playing jersey throughout 2026
KenoGO extended its partnership with the Wests Tigers, which committed to the Club until the end of the 2026 NRL season
Manly Warringah Sea Eagles welcomed VoltX Energy as its exclusive Solar Battery Partner ahead of the 2026 Season
North Queensland Toyota Cowboys announced an expanded partnership with Maurice Blackburn Lawyers through the 2026 and 2027 NRL and NRLW seasons, the firm’s logo will feature on the back left of the playing shorts for both the NRL and NRLW squads
Canberra Raiders and Supaglass Industries joined forces ahead of the 2026 NRL Season - The new partnership gives Supaglass the Naming Rights to the ‘Supaglass Raiders Centre’ in Braddon
Brisbane Roar announced a new 3-year partnership with Kelme, which will become the Club’s Official Apparel Partner for the 2026/27, 2027/28 and 2028/29 A-Leagues seasons
Hytro became the Official Blood Flow Restriction Performance and Recovery Partner of Perth Glory FC
SIXT re-signed for another 2 years as a major partner of GIANTS Netball and will continue to supply a fleet of vehicles for the team, while also offering exclusive discounts and benefits for GIANTS members and Netball NSW participants
NSW Waratahs unveiled Suitor as the Club’s new formal wear partner until the end of 2027
BYD extended its partnership with LIV Golf Adelaide and will return as the Official Automotive Partner - it will expand on its on-site presence, which will be centred around the debut of the new SEALION 8
WNBL announced Sephora as a partner of the League’s MVP Awards Night, and that it will join the competition as a Foundation Partner and Official Beauty Partner in the WNBL 2026/27 season
Netball Queensland and the Queensland Firebirds announced a new partnership with Fulton Hogan aimed at encouraging more women and girls to consider careers in construction
URBNSURF welcomed Stone & Wood as its exclusive beer partner across both locations (Melb & Syd) - included in the deal is the relaunch of ‘The Stone & Wood Loft’ at URBNSURF Sydney, a premium licensed space overlooking the lagoon, for post-surf drinks, events and venue hire
Harvey Norman became URBNSURF’s Official Lifestyle and Outdoor Furniture Partner - it will see Harvey Norman elevate guest spaces outside of the lagoon, across both of its surfparks
Johnnie Walker Black Ruby was named as the Official Whisky of LIV Golf Adelaide - it will activate across the tournament with bespoke drinks, immersive fan experiences and premium hospitality moments
Penfolds became a partner of the Formula 1 Qatar Airways Australian Grand Prix 2026 - Penfolds wines will be poured in premium hospitality venues on-track and in the American Express Lounge
Valour Sport became the Official Apparel Partner of Water Polo Australia across all national squads and teams
Visit Victoria teamed up with Robert Irwin to reveal that the San Francisco 49ers will be the team playing against the Los Angeles Rams in a blockbuster clash at the MCG in 2026
To celebrate the above announcement, Visit Victoria employed US-based, Australian-inspired coffee brand Bluestone Lane to serve coffee at the Super Bowl Radio Row event in San Fransisco
Tennis Victoria announced a 2-year partnership with UNCLOUD, a peer-to-peer platform that empowers young people to say no to vapes
Two-time WNBA All-Star and global Reebok ambassador, Angel Reese, travelled to Sydney and Melbourne to promote her signature “Angel Reese 1” sneaker line, making appearances at Foot Locker and CourtSide
Coinciding with the above, WNBL announced a new partnership with Reebok which became the league’s Official Footwear Partner
Unilever’s Rexona announced RIVALS, a new 8-part sports entertainment series on Kayo and Fox Sports - co-created with Octagon and in partnership with WPP Media’s Motion Entertainment, the series brings together elite athletes from Rugby League, Australian Rules and Rugby Union to compete for their respective sports in a battle to determine which is the ultimate code
Pepsi launched a 200 square metre floating football field, ‘The Pepsi Pitch’, on the Yarra at The Wharf Hotel in Melbourne - giving fans a unique Super Bowl LX experience
Collingwood FC’s Nick Daicos teamed up with Tourism Western Australia to film a content piece, exploring WA’s Margaret River Region ahead of 2026 AAMI AFL Origin
NikeSKIMS launched a pop-up activation in Sydney Harbour to mark its arrival in Australia
Australian Grand Prix Corporation unveiled international stars Rita Ora, Duke Dumont and Basement Jaxx (DJ Set) as headline acts at the Lakeside Festival Presented by American Express at the Formula 1 Qatar Airways Australian Grand Prix 2026
NBA legends Metta World Peace and Lance Stephenson were announced to headline the Summer Jam Championship 2026, a 3-day Championship taking place in St Kilda, powered by Jordan Brand and Foot Locker
Guest Writer: Pete Starr
Today we’re welcoming Pete Starr, Global Head of Comms at FANZO, as this week’s guest writer!
Based in London, he’s spent 14 years overthinking fan engagement, social viewing and how to reach the 99% of supporters who aren’t sat in the stadium.
In today’s article, he lays out the case for Australia’s rights holders, brands and broadcasters to lead the way on a global revenue opportunity no one else has yet cracked.
Enjoy the read!
The 99% Problem: How Australian Sport Ignores Its Biggest Audience
Despite working on Australian sports activations every day for the last five years, I finally made my first-ever trip down under this summer. The chance to spend some quality time with colleagues and the foolish assumption of some competitive cricket finally tipping me over the edge.
Five glorious weeks later, reflecting on my experiences vs British, European and US sports markets, two things struck me:
The Australian sports industry’s biggest blind spot is consistent with global ones
Of all the territories I’ve worked in, Australia is best placed to address it and capitalise on it
Australia’s blind spot
Despite Australia’s enormous appetite for attending games in the flesh, boasting the world’s 2nd highest rate of sports attendance per capita, the fact remains that for any game across the country’s major codes, 99% of fans watching won’t be in the stadium.
Even if the MCG’s recent record-breaking Ashes crowd of 94,199 was solely comprised of Aussies, that would equate to just 1.17% of the estimated 8 million Australian cricket fans. The 99% will be watching either at home or in pubs and bars.
The former group are served light-touch, at scale and monetised through broadcast rights. The latter - a social audience we call the out-of-home - is consistently undervalued across the globe.
Historically difficult to reach and track, improvements in technology and the maxing out of traditional revenue streams mean the out-of-home represents a rare growth opportunity for rights holders, brands and broadcasters.
The typical Australian model - where rights holders focus on broadcast revenue and clubs on shifting tickets/memberships - means out-of-home audiences have been largely ignored.
The fact that there’s no commercial deal in place for pubs to show the ongoing Men’s T20 World Cup, or the sheer number of Super Bowl watch parties across Australia that didn’t have any formal brand involvement, are cases in point.
The fragmentation problem
After decades of growth, global broadcast revenues are in flux. The twin forces of plateauing broadcast deals and rights being fragmented across new streaming players are buffeting some of the world’s biggest leagues.
Whilst the former hasn’t quite hit Australian sport yet, the latter clearly has.
A big clue lies in what sports people search for in pubs. Australia’s big three - cricket, footy and rugby league - don’t make the top 5. Instead, it’s sports spread across streaming or PPV channels that drive people to stop and ask - ‘where can I actually watch this?’
Rights fragmentation ekes out short-term revenue, but fans, venues and rights holders all lose in the long term.
Consider: an A-League fan who also follows Italian soccer and UEFA competitions, pays $640 AUD annually to Stan, Paramount+ and beIN. That’s before you’ve even considered watching any AFL, NRL or cricket at home.
Fans priced out of stadiums now pay more for less at home. Venues struggle with subscription costs. Rights holders can’t reach scattered audiences.
Innovation DNA - Australia’s global advantage
Despite these global pain points, I don’t think any country’s better placed to tackle them than Australia. Key to that is an enviable innovative streak and a willingness to experiment.
Examples that spring to mind include the Australian Open’s evolution from a tennis tournament to a three-week, mass-participation cultural event. See also, the wider festival experience at each Ashes Test this winter - dunked on the English equivalent by some margin.
In terms of broadcast strategy and a fresh approach to building a challenger league, the NBL’s use of the Ignite Cup also stands out. In creating a new midseason format, they’ve launched a strategic raid on Wednesday nights when competition for eyeballs is low and pubs are natural partners.
Finally, there’s the way brands embrace technology and commit to doing difficult things at scale. My first project in Australia was working with Carlton Draught and Victoria Bitter to maximise the value of their AFL/NRL sponsorships.
They did it by digitising footy tipping nationally - a transformative project with significant brand ramifications if the promise of frictionless digital activation jarred with the messy reality of human habit.
As that campaign gears up for its 5th consecutive season, having driven 300,000 confirmed visits into pubs, the leadership CUB showed as Covid wound down isn’t lost on me.
Australia has the opportunity to channel that spirit into the out-of-home in 2026 and lead on a global problem.
What’s on the table? Some concrete ideas
Key problems out-of-home strategies can solve:
For Fans - Ensuring they can watch key fixtures live in the best environments. And the chance to create sporting memories that will endure through genuine community, shared experiences in real-world locations. Think that sounds fluffy? Think of your greatest sporting memory now. I guarantee you’ll be able to tell me where you experienced it and who you shared it with.
For Pubs - Greater footfall, increased revenue and a competitive advantage over local rivals.
For Rights Holders/Brands - The ability to reach the fans that can’t come to the stadium, who aren’t members or home subscribers but live every minute of your team or sport. The most effective marketing pushes on an open door - the prize here is talking to an engaged audience during the moments that matter the most to them, whilst benefiting from the heightened social effects that come from shared experience.
Guinness’ approach to engaging Australian Premier League fans in 2024 demonstrates what success across all three audiences looks like. Via a sponsored venue finder and a 2-for-1 offer during games, they solved a fan problem whilst driving 44% sales uplift in hundreds of participating venues.
So what does progress look like?
Rights holders: Build strategies for engaging out-of-home audiences into broadcast and sponsorship negotiations.
Brands: Carve out an activation budget for out-of-home and experiment with activating in the places where fan communities already exist.
Venues: Demand inclusion in activation strategies - every best-in-class out-of-home activation I’ve witnessed has a super-engaged venue at the heart of it.
Broadcasters: Partner with venues rather than seeing them as competitors. We’re increasingly seeing major players, such as TNT Sports and Canal+ in Europe, invest in their relationships with pubs. The result is better engagement with sport, higher ROI for the venue and lower churn.
2026 - A rare opportunity
I see Australia as uniquely placed to grasp the nettle:
Your modern, dynamic hospitality industry
The existing culture of social sports viewing
Widespread adoption of technology that exists to activate at scale
The real kicker, however, is a once-in-a-generation calendar in 2026.
On top of domestic competitions, fans can look forward to watching the Socceroos at a sociable time during the FIFA Men’s World Cup, as well as hosting the AFC Women’s Asian Cup, Rugby League World Cups and the first-ever NFL game outside of the Americas or Europe.
Throw in the final acts of Alex Volkanovski’s legendary career, plus the prospect of a first homegrown F1 champ for 46 years and the opportunity facing Australia’s sports industry to lead the conversation on a genuine growth area globally is significant.
A-Leagues - Consumer Growth Executive
AFL - Data Insights Lead
AFL - Functions Coordinator
AFL - National Schools Lead
Australian Sports Commission - Senior Event Manager
Australian Turf Club - Business Development Manager - 12 Month Mat Leave
Auto & General - Sponsorship Manager
Athletikan - Co-Founder
Bastion - Managing Director - Experience
Bastion - Senior Client Manager
Bastion - Strategic Partnerships Director
Bastion - Senior Strategy Manager
Betfair Australia - Campaign Specialist
Brisbane Bullets - Corporate Partnerships Manager
Brisbane Bullets - Corporate Hospitality Manager
Brisbane Lions - Commercial Development Manager
Champion Data - Commercial Manager
Collingwood FC - Activations Lead
Collingwood FC - Club Integration Manager
Cricket Victoria - Media & Communications Manager
ClassPass - Field Account Executive - Brisbane
Delaware North Australia - Manager Events, MCG
Delaware North Australia - Manager Event Planning, MCG
Easygo - Senior Product Designer - Sportsbook
EnergyAustralia - Sponsorship Lead
Entain Australia & New Zealand - Senior Creative Designer
Front Runner - Senior Performance Marketing Manager | DTC Growth
Gemba - Account Director
Hawthorn FC - Corporate Development Executive
Hostplus - Partnerships & Events Specialist
IRONMAN, Oceania - Live Content & Production Manager
KOJO - Sports Presentation Producer
lululemon - Manager, Brand Operations (12 Months Contract)
Maurice Blackburn Lawyers - Sponsorship and Campaigns Lead
Melbourne FC - Media Coordinator (Mat-Leave Cover)
MKTG Sports + Entertainment - Research Manager
NAB - Consultant Sponsorship
New Balance - Digital Marketing Coordinator
NRL - Group Revenue Manager
NBL - Senior PR Lead
Netball NSW - Consumer Business Manager
News Corp Australia - Sports Reporter
News Corp Australia - Digital Product Manager Sport
Nike - Director of Stores, Pacific
Nike - Lead, Account Marketing Sporting Goods/Sport Specialty Pacific
Nike - Lead, Integrated Media
Nike - Senior Professional, Stores & Partner Marketing Pacific - Jordan APLA
North Melbourne FC - Media & PR Manager
Octagon - Senior Analyst
Picklebet - CRM Campaign Lead
Pixellot - Regional Commercial Partnerships Manager
Softball Australia - Marketing and Communications Manager
South Sydney Rabbitohs - Partnerships Manager
St Kilda FC - Marketing Coordinator
Sportsbet - Insights Analyst
Sports Entertainment Network - Campaign Implementation Manager - Maternity Leave Contract
Sports Entertainment Network - Commercial Manager - Ballpark
Sports Entertainment Network - Events & Administration Manager
Sports Entertainment Network - Senior Partnership Manager
Surfing NSW - Digital Lead
St Kilda FC - Graphic Designer
Tabcorp - Communications Advisor
TGI Sport - Design Lead
TGI Sport - Event Manager (Fixed Term or Contractor)
TGI Sport - Senior Retail Manager
Touch Football Australia - Digital Services Coordinator
Touch Football Australia - General Manager - Operations
Touch Football Australia - Growth Manager - Tasmania
Touch Football Australia - Growth Manager - Victoria
Toyota Material Handling Australia - Sponsorship and Events Manager
Two Circles - Consultant
Victoria Racing Club - Precinct Operations Coordinator
Volleyball Queensland - Marketing Manager
Western Bulldogs - Head of Consumer
Wilson - Territory Manager
WPP Media - Brand Partnerships Manager
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