{"id":65101,"date":"2026-07-01T15:17:57","date_gmt":"2026-07-01T15:17:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.elixirr.com\/en-us\/?p=65101"},"modified":"2026-07-01T15:20:14","modified_gmt":"2026-07-01T15:20:14","slug":"the-new-commercial-battleground-designing-sports-propositions-around-audience-need","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.elixirr.com\/en-us\/the-new-commercial-battleground-designing-sports-propositions-around-audience-need\/","title":{"rendered":"The new commercial battleground: Designing sports propositions around audience need"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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From audience advantage to commercial advantage<\/h2>\n

The first article in this series argued that sports organizations need to move beyond the fanbase. The practical value of better audience understanding is sharper decision-making: which audiences to prioritize, which propositions to redesign, where to invest, where to stop spending, and how to give partners more precise routes to value.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This second article takes that argument into the commercial model.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For clubs, leagues, teams, venues and rightsholders, the next phase of growth will not come from simply selling more of the same assets. It will come from designing propositions around what different audiences actually need, then building the capability to adapt those propositions as behaviors, tastes and technology evolve.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

That is a global sports challenge. Football provides some of the clearest evidence because the economics, stadium assets and commercial models are well documented. But the underlying shift is broader. Across sport, audiences are fragmenting, expectations are rising and engagement is moving across physical,\u00a0digital\u00a0and third-party environments.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The commercial question is no longer only\u00a0\u2018how big is our audience?\u2019\u00a0It is\u00a0\u2018which audience relationships are most valuable, what do they need and how do we show up for them in the places they want to engage?\u2019<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Media rights cannot carry the whole model<\/h2>\n

The pressure is not that sport is losing value, but instead the pressure is that the sources of value are changing.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

PwC\u2019s 2026 Global Sports Survey<\/span><\/a>\u00a0points to a more mixed growth picture, with sports executives expecting commercial and sponsorship growth to partly counteract a slowdown in media rights growth over the next three to five years. It also highlights a sharper divergence between premium and non-premium properties, meaning the biggest events and leagues may continue to command strong rights value while others face more pressure.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For many sports organizations, relying on media rights alone is becoming a less resilient strategy. The commercial response should not be to add more products and hope audiences buy them. It should be to build a more diversified model around audience need. Sponsorship, hospitality, ticketing, membership, retail, content, digital products, venue use and partnerships all become stronger when designed around specific audiences rather than generic fan assumptions.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Without that understanding, organizations risk creating more products without creating more relevance.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A commercial model designed from the audience back<\/h2>\n

Picture the same sports organization trying to grow five different relationships:<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n