Australian sports fans aren’t just glued to the big game anymore. According to new research from The Growth Distillery, fans are now spending more time consuming sports content during the week than watching live matches.
The report, Sporting Nation 2025: Beyond The Live, found that this shift is reshaping how fans engage, and how brands need to show up.
Since 2021, Australia’s sports audience has surged from 13 million to almost 17 million.
The average fan now follows five different sports, an 18% jump in just four years. But here’s the kicker: 54% of all engagement now happens outside of live game coverage.
Four new arenas for fan connection
The Growth Distillery’s study identifies four “arenas” where the real action is taking place beyond the field.
Fans are informing themselves through sports news and analysis; catching up via highlights and replays; entertaining themselves with podcasts and documentaries; and interacting through fantasy leagues, betting, and tipping competitions.
This multi-touchpoint behaviour means fans are constantly engaged, even when the scoreboard isn’t running. It’s a massive opportunity for brands to show up in new ways, across different moments and formats.
Meet the new tribes of fandom
The study also outlines three types of modern sports fans: Fanatics, who live and breathe their chosen sport; New-Wave Fans, who are digital-first and follow both local and global codes; and Followers, the casual crew who tune in mainly for the social buzz.
Leigh Lavery, Head of Commercial at The Growth Distillery, said brands need to rethink their approach to connect with these groups. “To capture passion at scale in sport, brands need to move beyond a traditional focus on live games and embrace a multi-sport strategy that activates across four new engagement arenas,” Lavery said.
“This is the key to unlocking passion at scale today, reaching not only the die-hard Fanatics but critically the rapidly growing wave of New-Wave Fans.”