Australian Federal Minister for Sport, Richard Colbeck, spoke to Ministry of Sport following the announcement Brisbane is set to host the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Discussing the announcement, which took place in Tokyo ahead of the start of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, following an International Olympic Committee (IOC) voting session, Colbeck said the excitement reminded him of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games.

“It’s one of those really exciting moments, I think we all remember what it was like when Sydney won the Olympics, and it was no different,” Colbeck told Ministry of Sport.

“There was huge anticipation and obviously we were hoping they voted yes and not no, but you just don’t know until the vote happens.

“Huge anticipation and excitement, and that’s flown into the aftermath where Brisbane is now a future host city of the Olympic Games of the 35th Olympiad.

“I’m really excited that we can look forward to those Games and all the youngsters watching the Games that are about to start can use that as motivation to compete at an Olympic and Paralympic Games on home soil in just 11 years,” he said.

Talking about how the Australian Government’s funding of sport will shift in the lead up to 2032, Colbeck said: “I’m sure the AOC’s (Australian Olympic Committee) got some perspectives and I’m sure the NSOs (National Sporting Organisations) will come and talk to us about what they see as being required, but we’ve committed in the budget to maintain the funding levels for Olympics and increased the funding for Paralympics.”

“We need to look at the bigger picture of how we manage these things across the board from a range of perspectives and we will certainly be doing that,” he said.

Adding on to the funding discussion, Colbeck said the commitment from the Australian Government to match the Queensland Government and local government funding with a 50% split was crucial.

“That was really important to maintaining the momentum of the bid; that was one of the things the Queensland Government wanted for them to be able to continue with the bid,” Colbeck said.

“They said they couldn’t do it without that level of commitment, so we may not have been able to even get on stage yesterday without that.

“Certainly, it gave some confidence to the IOC and the delegates that there was such strong support demonstrated from the three tiers of government.

“The process commenced with the ideas from the South East Council of Mayors and the work they did and the Commonwealth Government being a strong supporter for a period of time and that was expressed very strongly by the Prime Minister.

“That partnership that was built through that conversation with Queensland was certainly pivotal, because it may have not even gotten to that point otherwise,” he said.

On the immediate opportunity the announcement of Brisbane as the host of the 2032 Games has for young Australians and sporting organisations across the country, Colbeck said: “The seed has been planted about the opportunity to compete, and it will be reinforced by what occurs at Tokyo over the next couple of weeks and then the Paralympics subsequently.”

“All those athletes will do what they’ve done for a long time, they will spend a long time working at it at their local club or whatever forum they’re participating in, and we may see some new ones.

“Skateboarding is making its first appearance at the Olympics and surfing is back so there’s all those sorts of things to look forward to as well,” he said.

In the lead up to the 2032 Olympics, Australia is set to host a number of major international sporting events, including the Women’s Basketball World Cup in 2022, the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, the Netball World Cup in 2027, and is currently bidding for the rights to host the 2027 Rugby World Cup.

When asked about Australia’s upcoming decade of major sporting events, and what kind of impact they will have on the 2032 Olympics, Colbeck said Australia’s exposure in the international sporting world while be greatly increased.

“What those events will do is also bring athletes and teams here that want to compete on Australian soil and try it out and see what it’s like,” Colbeck told Ministry of Sport.

“You’ll see with those sports increased exposure with the opportunity for young Australians to see the world’s best playing here for those sports, some of which are obviously Olympic sports.

“There will be continued exposure over the green and gold decade we have coming and potentially more as we’re bidding for the Rugby World Cup in 2027.

“The opportunity for young people to see the world’s best athletes competing in Australia will continue over the decade and have a positive impact in the lead up to 2032,” he said.

For all the latest sports business stories head to ministryofsport.com.au

Football Australia (FA) have welcome the Federal Government’s decision to provide $12 million over two years, supporting the progression of elite women’s football in Australia, as well as community engagement.

The grant will allow FA to support high-performance objectives for all Matildas squads, including: additional Matildas international matches in preparation for the FIFA Women’s World Cup (WWC), bolstering high-performance resources and international tours and domestic camps for existing national youth teams.

The funding is part of FA’s “Legacy 23” plan, which is aligned with Australia’s co-hosting (with New Zealand) of the FIFA WWC in 2023.

Speaking on the announcement, FA CEO, James Johnson, said the Federal Government have played a huge role.

“Last year we completed a Women’s Performance Gap Report, which offered an objective lens into the current landscape facing Australia’s most talented female footballers, benchmarking Australia against eleven other leading football nations,” Johnson said.

“This deep-dive helped to provide us with a strong understanding of where we sit globally, with the overwhelming takeaway that we must collectively do more to provide opportunities to elite, and prospectively elite, female footballers.

“We are thrilled that the Australian Government have listened to our research, and have opted to support the Matildas, women’s football, and football broadly as our senior team gears up to compete on home soil in 2023 – an event that will be the biggest on Australian shores since Sydney 2000.

“This funding will also provide the next generation of talent the opportunity to play and develop against the world’s best, ensuring that they can perform and act locally, nationally and international as role models.

“This funding will enable FA, in partnership with its member federations and other stakeholders, to deliver enhanced services and engagement to football clubs, participants, coaches and administrators across the nation.

“Through education and support, we will be able to help grassroots and community clubs improve their capacities, which will boost the experience and environment our diverse, multicultural and large football family feel when they engage with the game in a variety of formats.

“There is so much to come, and a stronger partnership between governments at all levels and football will unlock the true potential of our sport for everyone in our country, especially leading into the FIFA WWC 2023,” he said.

For all the latest sports business stories head to ministryofsport.com.au

Ticketek has launched an “App Clip” for iPhone, allowing users to buy mobile tickets without needing the Ticketek iOS app.

The innovation works by users scanning a designated QR code or tapping an NFC tag, which will then enable customers to securely purchase tickets through Apple Pay and stored on their Apple Wallet.

Apple released “App Clips” with the iOS 14, giving access to customers for an app’s main functions without having to download the full application.

Ticketek’s managing director of ticketing for Ticketek’s parent company TEG, Cameron Hoy, said that he was “thrilled to bring another world-first to Ticketek fans” with a fast and convenient purchasing system.

“The Ticketek App Clip will create a frictionless event day experience for fans, giving them access to mobile tickets in as few as two taps,” Hoy said.

The App Clip was trialled earlier this month at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) and will launch officially on the May 15 at a Sydney Swans Australian Football League (AFL) fixture.

For all the latest sports business stories head to ministryofsport.com.au

Research from the Global Web Index (GWI) has found more than two thirds of sports fans aged between 16 and 24 support environmental change, and have higher expectations of brands, teams and athletes to uphold these values than ever before.

The Sports Playbook, using GWI’s new sports data set, surveyed 9 763 sports fans between 16 and 24, across 15 core markets, with 69% looking for stakeholders in sport to help communities and improve equality.

GWI’s data also highlights the growing connection between politics and sport, with fans expecting this to become more of a normality, whilst the data highlights the reliance on the generational passing down of following specific teams is phasing out, whilst 15% of 16 to 24 year olds believe sport to be more divisive than uniting, compared with 5% of 55 to 64 year olds.

On the topic of diversity and corporate social responsibility, the study found this was crucial to winning new fans, stating it as “absolutely essential today.”

Women’s sport is becoming an increasingly smart investment, according to GWI, with 60% of fans watching or following at least one of the 30 women’s sports leagues tracked in the study, with 70% of females in the study tuning into female leagues.

For all the latest sports business stories head to ministryofsport.com.au

Exclusive : After announcing a partnership with electric off-road racing series, Extreme E, last week, biometric media testing platform, MindProber’s chief revenue officer, Joe Timson, spoke to Ministry of Sport on how emotional engagement technology can help sporting organisations better understand their fans.

Timson said MindProber’s technology, which includes hand-held sensors that gather skin response signals to measure emotional engagement, has been used in some capacity since the 1930s.

“Our core technology has actually been around for a long time,” Timson told Ministry of Sport.

“Galvanic Skin Response (GSR) is a physiological signal that’s been used in lie detector tests since the 1930s and extensively in lab-based media research since then.

“All that history is great as it really serves to validate the utility of our metrics for measuring people’s emotional engagement.

“What’s different about MindProber is the other technologies that we’ve brought together with the GSR to allow us to gather these metrics from audiences in their own homes, watching live broadcasts in a completely natural environment as opposed to pre-recorded content in a lab,” he said.

Discussing how the technology can help sporting organisations better understand their fans and how fans engage with their sport and brand content, Timson said the insights can be applied to all areas of a wider media and broadcast strategy.

“Essentially, we’re measuring emotion, the extent to which people are emotionally involved with what they’re watching,” Timson said.

“The sports industry trades on that emotion.

“Media rights deals and sponsorship deals all hinge on the understanding that sports deliver an engaged and attentive audience for brands reach and, in a world where mass reach is getting harder and harder to come by thanks to competition for attention from all sorts of places, it’s more important than ever for rights holders to be able to objectively prove that value to their partners.

“Our value proposition for sports still revolves around what we believe will be the main driving force of the industry for years to come, the main coverage of the sport itself.

“Whether that experience is delivered via broadcast TV, OTT platforms or anywhere else, we help rights holders understand the nuances of how fans engage with their main product and allow them to optimise that broadcast or even the sport itself for engagement.

“Then, whether it’s knowing which camera angles work best for highlights or even predicting in real-time when social media is going to light up around key moments so that clubs and brand partners can join those conversations, those insights and metrics can be applied to all areas of the wider media strategy,” he said.

When asked if sporting organisations and brands are investing enough time or money into effectively understanding fan engagement, Timson said: “As I say, we’re living through an extraordinary shift in media consumptions habits and the competition for attention has never been greater.”

“At the same time there’s a movement underway across the media industry that places increased scrutiny around the quality of impressions.

“Rights and sponsorship valuations have been rising steadily for as long as anyone can remember and for now, they still are, as evidenced recently by the NFL’s new domestic rights deal and Manchester United’s new shirt sponsor.

“So the opportunity for those that invest in proving the quality of the reach and their ability to deliver an engaged and attentive audience is huge.

“For those that don’t, the party of ever-increasing rights valuations might be over.

“I think there’s a huge amount of buzz in the industry around fan engagement but it normally goes hand in hand with other macro trends like digital transformation, CRM particularly, and tends to be about the fans that you know, season ticket holders, social media followers etc.

“That’s all obviously super important but focusing on the top few tiers of your fan base and forgetting about the long tail is unlikely to deliver consistent incremental growth.

“By understanding how to optimise your main shop window, i.e. the main coverage, for engagement, you can build a powerful engine of growth over the long term,” Timson told Ministry of Sport.

Exclusive: Interview with Ministry of Sport, Talisman CEO, Dharpan Randhawa, discussed how the role of data in sport has changed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and gave recommendations of how sports can embrace new technology.

Talking about how sporting organisations have evolved quickly since the onset of the pandemic, Randhawa, who spent almost four years as McLaren Racing’s senior vice president of Asia-Pacific before joining Talisman, said he saw a gap in having data as the centrepiece of decision making.

“I’ve been working in sport for many years across Formula One, tennis, golf, and football, and one of the things I noticed about 2020 was that we saw about a decade’s worth of disruption roll in to eight or nine months,” Randhawa told Ministry of Sport.

“I knew there and then that everything was going to change forever in the sports world.

“There was an unprecedented amount of change happening, disruption across fans attending live events, rightsholders were scrambling to demonstrate value for sponsors and everyone was questioning the model.

“There was a lot going on and one thing I thought would remain as the most important piece of the puzzle was data-driven decision making.

“As my chief data scientist would say, data is always speaking, we just need to learn how to listen, so I wanted to build Talisman into a data-driven business.

“Everything from helping brands identify the right rightsholders, to helping rightsholders provide the right type of value for brands, to having data as the centrepieceto everything we do.

“That’s the gap I saw, a lot of agencies out there are still going out there and talking to brands about stickers on a car, or logos on a jersey, and all of that is yesterday’s model.

“The model of today with regards to fan engagement is centred around the depth of information you have on your fans, what are they buying, what are they engaging with, what platforms are they on, what is getting them excited, and there’s also brand persona in matching that, and data and intelligent technology brings all of that together.

“That’s something we spend every waking minute trying to build into our business,” he said.

Discussing the different types of technology out there to get the best out of data, Randhawa said the focus should remain on applying data to create value & advantage.

“There’s a lot of data being created, I heard a quote the other day that by 2025, there will be 80 billion connected devices being used, helping generate 180 trilliongigabytes of new data that year alone,” Randhawa said.

“When you look at Formula One, there’s 150-300 sensors on a car at any time collecting data, so data is exploding at an unprecedented rate.

“By utilising our machine learning and AI technology, teams can make real time decisions during the race to change strategy and create advantage, maybe even win the race.

“Data’s moving quickly, technology is advancing quickly, so it’s about how do you get your head around it and make it work for your business, and then apply that to create value.

“That takes experience, specialty and resource, and companies that have all those things have a competitive edge, and we believe we’re one of those companies,” he said.

Going into how the data can be applied to better understand fan engagement, and then monetise the information, Randhawa said rightsholders are having to rethink traditional models.

“I’ve given up on trying to predict what people should or shouldn’t be doing in today’s world, because every time I think something is the right way to do something, COVID tells me otherwise,” Randhawa said.

“What I can say is what 2020 has taught a lot of sports teams, leagues, and stakeholders, is that it’s time to embrace the digital revolution that’s happening, and dive in headfirst.

“In terms of fan engagement, data driven platforms and AI can help organisations sense the sentiment of fans, analyse the data a bit better and understand fan behaviour in how they’re engaging and behaving on digital platforms.

“This will also challenge them to think of new sources of revenue.

“When you bring together a combination of analysis of engagement around a fan consuming your sport, you need to start thinking about how to integrate a commerce proposition into this experience.

“You’ll see now, a lot of activity around fan tokens and EFTs being spoken about at this moment.

“A lot of sports rightsholders and stakeholders are now rethinking the model, whatever you’ve done in the past, forget about it, everything is being packaged, distributed and consumed differently today.

“This is reshaping the business model for sport and it’s creating new opportunities.

“Fans are also demanding a two-way conversation with brands and rightsholders.

“So how can all this be achieved?

“The answer is technology; that’s where we come in.

“Where we’re going to plant a couple of flags in the sand is around helping teams perform better by helping them make better decision from their data, we’re going to help brands get a better bang for their buck by helping them design smarter partnerships with rightsholders.

“Through data and understanding each other, brands and rightsholders can come together in a more meaningful and authentic way.

“What I’m really excited about is the future of fan engagement, we’re in a driving seat to help brands and rightsholders engage with their fans better on social and creating a better marketplace for fans to interact.

“Also, using hyper-personalised mobile advertising and gamification, real-time games, scoreboards, tokenisation, and EFTS, that’s what we’re really excited about.

“The centre of all of that is data, and we’ve got some very smart people on our team, including an in-house data scientist.

“Bravery is my only recommendation, be brave to explore, to take risks.

“The model is being re-written now as we speak in real-time.

“There’s no set template, and those that are brave, that are open to trying new things, are the ones in my opinion who will create advantages for themselves and their fans,” he told Ministry of Sport.