Sport defines South Africa’s weekends, colours the nation’s mood and sense of self, builds and strengthens communities and, at its finest, promotes social cohesion.
It also carries significant economic weight, generating revenue in the tens of billions of rand each year and underpinning hundreds of thousands of livelihoods across a vibrant industry.
However, that is not reflected in the commercial performance of too many rights holders. Sport in South Africa and across the African continent has often been hindered by weak governance, short-termism, uninformed decision-making, and outdated commercial approaches that have not kept pace with the demands of the modern sports economy.
The impact of this is significant. It is evident in sponsors pulling out; the devaluation of broadcast products; the exodus of key talent; lower levels of fan interest and engagement; missed global opportunities; and the widening divide between properties that operate with an intelligent, commercial approach and those that still rely on hunches, legacy contacts and outdated thinking to sell their offerings.
Success on the pitch increasingly depends on success off it. It requires the development and implementation of a best-in-class, data-led commercial strategy, a deep understanding of the sport’s audience, a thorough knowledge of its assets, and the ability to demonstrate the return a broadcast partner or sponsor is getting from its investment.
But data alone has no value unless it can be turned into decisions. Too much of the local industry is still failing in this area, with much of what is produced being retrospective, late or descriptive.
Rights holders often receive insights weeks or months after a tournament or season ends, when it is too late for the data to inform how they optimise assets, address underperforming segments, decide where investment is still worthwhile, or engage broadcast partners and sponsors with meaningful evidence.
The outcome may be data, but it is not valuable data. Valuable data helps connect the dots. It is timely, accurate, interpreted and acted upon.
For African rights holders it starts with a deep understanding of the audience. Who are they? Where do they live? How do they watch sport? Which devices do they use? What else do they watch? Do they stream, attend, share, buy and participate? What else do they care about? What is the gap between a casual consumer and a loyal fan? Which audiences are most appealing to sponsors? Which audiences are being left out of the conversation?
Without this knowledge rights holders are commercialising blindly. With it, they are better positioned to make informed decisions on ticketing, memberships, content strategy, engagement, participation, events, CRM, database management, partner categories and geographic markets.
They must also gain a better understanding of audience value. Many major African properties now have ambitions beyond their domestic markets, but still rely heavily on local audience data. That is not enough. If a league, team, federation or event has international reach, it needs to understand where that audience sits, how it behaves, how valuable it is and how it compares with competing properties.
Audience data is more than a reporting tool. It is a powerful bargaining chip. It supports media-rights negotiations, justifies sponsor fees, guides market investment, informs scheduling decisions and paves the way for international expansion. A rights holder that can demonstrate the scale and quality of its audiences across multiple markets has a significant advantage over one that can only assert popularity in general terms.
Third, sponsorship needs to move beyond reach and awareness. Media value is important, but brands increasingly want evidence of commercial impact. Did the sponsorship boost consideration? Did it shift preference? Did it enhance purchase intention? Did it lift recommendation? Did it reach the right customers, rather than simply large numbers of potential customers?
There is still considerable commercial value in optimising existing assets. Many rights holders already possess significant commercial inventory, but are not maximising its potential. Signage, kit branding, broadcast graphics, social content, hospitality, in-venue properties, player access and digital platforms all need to be assessed for their current performance and future potential. By improving their design, positioning, contrast, timing and integration, partners’ commercial returns can be significantly improved.
This is especially important in markets with limited budgets, where growth does not always require more inventory. Often, it depends on making better use of what already exists.
South African sport needs to approach inclusion as a commercial growth opportunity, not only a social requirement.
Fourth, sponsorship needs a more disciplined approach to pricing and packaging. Agreements are still too often built around generic tier levels and existing benefits. Rights holders must determine the real worth of specific assets, benchmark them against other properties, and value unsold inventory to develop propositions that serve partners’ commercial and brand imperatives.
A banking partner requires a different offering from a betting partner, a fast-moving consumer goods partner, an automotive partner or a telco partner. Each needs access to different audiences, narratives, assets and measures of success.
Finally, South African sport needs to approach inclusion as a commercial growth opportunity, not only a social requirement. The rise of women’s sport provides the clearest example. The Futures Market Landscape Tracker highlights a deficiency in the effectiveness with which rights holders and sponsors engage female supporters.
In some sports with high female participation or following, male fans are even found to be more positively impacted by sponsorship. That should be a wake-up call for the industry.
If female fans are not understood, engaged and valued, the industry is missing a major growth opportunity. The same logic applies to youth audiences, township demographics, less affluent communities and casual fans.
African sport is not short of energy, talent or cultural resonance. It does, however, need to strengthen the infrastructure that can translate these attributes into sustainable commercial outcomes.
To seize its next growth opportunity, sports rights holders need to merge sentiment with substantiation. Those able to capture data accurately, interpret it effectively and act quickly will be better equipped to expand their audiences, secure new and renewed sponsorship commitments, increase the value of their media rights and develop additional revenue streams by deepening their relationships with fans.
Passion built African sport. Intelligent interpretation of data will provide the proof needed to unlock its considerable potential.
• Campbell is MD of Futures Sport & Entertainment Africa.
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