Challenging the echo chambers within sport
There’s no business quite like sport. At its core, it’s entertainment – yet it evokes powerful emotions, lifelong passions, and a deep sense of connection. For many, early memories of playing or watching sport have shaped lasting bonds with a team, player, or event.
The power of sport is phenomenal.
It transcends borders, cultures, and communities. It spans its own sub-cultures and binds (or splits!) families, communities, towns, and even nations. Brands have long recognised this unique power - the right partnership can boost awareness, forge emotional resonance, and shift brand perception with key audiences.
Yet, despite its immense social, cultural, and economic significance, as an industry it remains notoriously insular and slow to change.
“There is nothing permanent except change” - Heraclitus
And change is happening. Innovation and evolution are being forced upon the sector by investors, disruptors, and shifting consumer choice.
Yet so many decision-makers in sport continue to shut their eyes and double-down on what they ‘already know’. Protected, until recently, by an echo chamber of similar experience and thinking, preserving outdated hierarchies and values that no longer serve todays or tomorrow’s audiences. Tradition has often outweighed modernisation and innovation - in governance structures, playing formats, fan engagement, and even ethics.
Those failing to adapt to the world around them are failing their sport and, most importantly, failing their fans and participants.
Assuming personal experiences and preferences reflect the needs of new and diverse fan and participant groups is a critical misstep. The future belongs to those who listen, adapt, and put the customer/fan at the centre of their strategy.
"The problem with echo chambers is not just that they reinforce what we already believe, but that they make it nearly impossible to imagine how we could be wrong.”
Am I being unfair? I don’t think so.
Just look at SURJ Sports Investment's recent partnership with the Kings League – a strategic move driven by the league’s potential to disrupt traditional formats, reflecting strong alignment with the current dynamic and evolving nature of sport. In a powerful statement of intent, CEO Danny Townsend said that ‘SURJ will steer away from sports not willing to embrace change’ (credit - SportsPro).
“The greatest danger in times of turbulence is not the turbulence - it is to act with yesterday's logic” – Peter Drucker
Change is hard - it pushes us out of our comfort zones and can often open us up to risk. In sport, it’s especially personal and emotional.
I empathise with those who don’t want change.
As a lifelong sports fan, I’ve spent years playing, watching, and obsessing over my main sport, tennis, but also pretty much any sport that creates the competitive intensity and emotional excitement that I desire (football, rugby, basketball, F1, NFL and the list goes on!).
I love the tradition, the rules, the subcultures - and I’ve been guilty of being personally affronted by even the smallest tweaks designed to widen fan appeal. New leagues with new formats, shot clocks, rule changes, VAR, Hawkeye... I resisted them all initially.
I mean, who doesn’t want to watch Isner-Mahut play a match over 3 days at Wimbledon, finishing 70-68 in the 5th set? Almost everyone apparently… my passion for and experiences with sport are in the minority, and so are those of most people running sport.
“Only 21% of people in Britain are ‘very interested’ in sport” - YouGov, 2024
As Nike's Rob Stasser put it way back in 1977 - “Our business is change”.
With growth as the goal, it’s time to stop listening only to people like us. We need to tune in to the other ‘79%’ - the ‘somewhat interested,’ the disengaged, the future fans with differing consumption needs and lifestyles.
It also means looking beyond sport, learning from adjacent industries, and welcoming outside perspectives… to break free from the echo chambers paralysing positive change.
The future direction is clear – change isn’t optional – it is essential to meet the shifting needs, behaviours, and expectations of current and future fans…and to remain competitive and relevant at a global level in a fast evolving world.
Get in touch...
...via email to find out how the Simpson Carpenter Sport Insight Team can help you bring the customer/fan voice into your decision-making.
This article is part 2 of a monthly series diving into the evolving sport business landscape from the perspective of a customer insight agency. Whether you work in customer insight, fan experience, innovation, marketing, or on the sponsorship side, we would love to hear your thoughts and connect to discuss how we might shape the future of sport now, next, and beyond.
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