The business of sport: When attention becomes the prize

I never expected to follow the World Cup, but with football dominating conversations for weeks, I reluctantly took an interest. Once the final arrived, it was not the football capturing my attention, but everything surrounding it. 

Watching Justin Bieber perform, and the trophy emerge from a Louis Vuitton case, felt worlds away from watching Jannik Sinner lift the Wimbledon trophy on Centre Court just a week earlier. The contrast raised a broader question: in an economy where attention is the most valuable commodity, must sport become entertainment to survive? 

The World Cup's widely criticised hydration breaks created additional advertising opportunities: the BBC used the interval to air a four-minute promo trailer to a peak audience of 15.8 million. The reaction highlighted a growing reality: live sport is increasingly valued not just as competition, but as a commercial asset and its ability to capture and monetise attention. 

Sport is now competing with Netflix, TikTok, YouTube, and an endless stream of on-demand content. As attention fragments, governing bodies, broadcasters, and sponsors are under pressure to create events that cut through to the consumer.

The Super Bowl arguably perfected this model, transforming a championship game into a cultural event where the halftime show and commercials often generate as much discussion as the game itself. The spectacle attracts audiences, but risks moving the focus away from the sport.

Perhaps that is why so many sports have borrowed from the entertainment industry. Drive to Survive turned Formula 1 drivers into celebrities and races into storylines, while the Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce phenomenon brought entirely new audiences to the NFL. Nearly half (49%) of Gen Z fans say they have become interested in a sport or athlete through content such as fashion, relationships, scandals or television shows. Increasingly, people are following personalities rather than sport itself. 

Formula 1 provides the clearest example. Monaco generated conversations about celebrities, influencers and luxury brands, ranging from the Alo yacht to Kim Kardashian. The event has become a lifestyle spectacle, reflecting a wider trend across the industry. 

This approach undoubtedly expands audiences and drives revenue. However, it also raises questions about the nature of fandom. As events evolve into cultural moments and tickets more desirable, are sports cultivating long-term supporters, or simply attracting more attention? 

Wimbledon remains a notable counterpoint. Commercial partnerships are tightly controlled, and the sport remains centre stage, even if media coverage often focuses on celebrity attendees. Its continued popularity suggests spectacle is not the only route to success. 

Entertainment and sport are becoming increasingly intertwined and that trend is unlikely to reverse. The challenge is finding the balance. Spectacle can attract attention, but when the stories, celebrities, and sponsorships become more compelling than the competition itself, sport risks losing sight of what made people care in the first place. The real contest may be ensuring that, in the pursuit of attention, the sport does not become secondary to the show.