Australia’s sports and entertainment industry is brimming with untapped potential. While fans flock to stadiums and arenas, outdated systems and cookie-cutter marketing strategies leave valuable revenue and deeper fan connections on the table, writes Todd McPhee, founder of tech consultancy, Engaging.io.
Australians’ love for live sport and entertainment is undeniable. Fans flock to stadiums and arenas, eager to connect with their favourite teams, artists, and events. Yet behind the scenes, the systems designed to support these experiences are struggling to keep up. Outdated processes and underutilised technology are failing to unlock the full potential of these passionate audiences, leaving revenue untapped and opportunities to enhance the fan experience unrealised. It’s holding the industry back and one that demands urgent attention.
A ‘batch and blast’ problem
For many working in Australia’s sports and entertainment industry, including marketers, the roadblock isn’t demand, we know there is plenty of that, it’s a lack of infrastructure to capitalise on it, in particular, the actionable insights from customer data. Instead, many sports teams and entertainment venues or promoters rely on ‘batch and blast’ email strategies, where the same generic messages are sent to all customers. The result? High unsubscribe rates, undeliverable emails, and even blacklisting by email providers like Google and Microsoft.
The logistical barriers to improved engagement with fans are significant. It often takes a customer relationship management (CRM) team to extract data, a design team to create email assets, and a marketing team to pull everything together for even the simplest campaigns. By the time an email like ‘What you need to know before you go’ is sent, resources are so stretched that there’s no bandwidth left for strategic initiatives like upselling or personalised experiences.
The cost of inaction
This lack of sophistication doesn’t just inconvenience those at the coalface, it costs additional, and highly prized incremental revenue opportunities for sporting franchises and entertainment venues. Sporting teams routinely miss opportunities to upsell premium experiences, for example, a fan who has already spent hundreds on a prime seating area might also purchase an exclusive pre-game experience or a post-game meet-and-greet – if they were asked.
As a die-hard Sydney Swans fan, I know that if I was offered the chance for a pre or post-game experience with my favorite player, I’d sign up straight away. Similarly, a concertgoer attending a rock concert could be targeted with a personalised pre-sale offer for a similar upcoming event. These are easy, money-making opportunities that are being missed. And they don’t need to be.
Data from Live Performance Australia, which covers live entertainment events, shows total revenue from ticket sales was $3.1 billion in 2023, while ticketed attendance reached 30.1 million. These are the highest recorded attendance and revenue since the report commenced in 2004. Yet the potential for incremental revenue – through upselling and personalised recommendations – remains untapped.
The future is personal
Personalisation is the key to unlocking the industry’s potential. Fans don’t just tolerate communications from their favourite teams, artists or venues, they actively welcome them. The power of technology and implementation of comprehensive CRM platforms such as HubSpot, can slash the complexity being faced by today’s marketers. Here’s just one example. We demonstrated this power to a major US sporting team, where targeted email communications can be tailored to display a picture of their favourite player and they were blown away. While simple, it shows the power of marketing automation in fostering deeper engagement, yet few in this sector are doing it, or even scratching the surface.
Automation also offers more than efficiency as it frees teams to focus on creativity and strategy. Instead of just getting emails out the door, marketing teams can think more omni channel, covering SMS, app push and ad audiences, or they could segment audiences based on spending habits or attendance data. And self-serve options, like chatbots, could enhance customer satisfaction while reducing manual effort.
Australians have a deep emotional connection with their sports teams and favourite entertainers. This passion is a goldmine for organisations willing to embrace modern marketing practices. As attendance and revenue for live performances reach highs once again, the need to invest in personalisation, automation, and smarter data use has never been more urgent.
By capitalising on upselling opportunities and delivering highly targeted, memorable experiences, those working in sports and entertainment in Australia can turn passion into enduring loyalty and sustained profit. The fans are ready and willing for it, but there remains a lot of work to be done from those on the inside.
