Fan Monetisation Starts With Data: Why Most Sports Organisations Are Still Flying Blind

Sport's sponsorship model hasn't fundamentally changed since the 1960s. The data most organisations hold about their fans isn't connected to the products those fans actually use. And the opportunity sitting inside every rights holder's fan base - worth more than most balance sheets currently reflect - is still largely untouched. Aidan Cooney has spent 25 years trying to fix that. He co-founded Opta, the data business that transformed how sport is analysed and broadcast. He built InCrowd, a data-driven marketing services business helping sports organisations adapt for digital audiences. He created Cortex, a fan data platform built around a single, unified view of the fan. And he now leads Envision Sport Group, the holding company behind all of it. In this episode of Future of Fandom, Miheer Walavalkar sits down with Aidan at Envision's London office for one of the most candid conversations the show has produced - two founders who have been building in this space for decades, sharing a frank, unfiltered view of where the industry is, where it's failing, and what becomes possible when the data foundation is finally in place. What you'll learn in this episode Why you can't activate until you unify - and what a genuinely unified fan data platform actually looks like in practice, versus the siloed reality most organisations are living with The difference between a customer data platform and a fan data platform - and why treating fans like rational, price-sensitive consumers is one of the most expensive mistakes in sport Why the sponsorship model has barely evolved since Mark McCormack and Arnold Palmer in the 1960s - and what the hybrid of content assets and advertising attribution could unlock Why sports organisations are B2B businesses today but will inevitably become B2C businesses - and what that shift actually demands from the technology stack Where European sport is still leaving the fan experience on the table compared to the US - and whether the digital layer is closing that gap or opening new ones What AI actually makes possible once the data foundation is in place - and why Miheer and Aidan both believe most organisations are getting ahead of themselves Question Aidan's argument is that the fan base is the most important balance sheet item a sports organisation owns - and most organisations haven't started treating it that way. Do you agree? And what would it actually take for your organisation to build the data foundation to unlock it? Drop your thoughts in the comments. Timestamps 00:00 Introduction - the single thread running through 25 years of building 01:21 Aidan Cooney - Opta, InCrowd, Cortex and the story behind each 03:47 What the blogosphere changed - and why the return path matters as much as the story 04:42 Ellipse Data - taking Hawkeye data and turning it into storytelling 07:24 What building Opta taught Aidan about where the next opportunity really was 09:02 The three revenue streams in sport - and why sponsorship is still sold like it's 1965 13:04 Sports are B2B businesses - until they're not 13:34 The data gap: why organisations are sitting on intelligence they can't act on 14:22 "You can't activate until you unify" - what that actually means in sport 15:23 What a unified fan view looks like in practice - and why so few organisations have one 16:47 The difference between a customer data platform and a fan data platform 18:37 Capturing every fan interaction as a high-value, trackable asset 19:18 Is European sport leaving the fan experience on the table? 20:43 The ITV Six Nations picture-in-picture debate - and what it reveals about fan culture vs commercial reality 23:28 The hybrid model combining sponsorship trust with advertising attribution 28:12 Why the compounding cost of waiting is the industry's most underestimated risk 33:14 The most common mistakes organisations make once they actually have the data 34:51 What it looks like when someone gets this right 37:18 End-to-end: from a fan casting a vote to an organisation benefiting commercially 40:53 Building a business around a problem your customers haven't admitted they have yet 41:44 The industry's collective blind spot right now 44:25 Every organisation is becoming a consumer business - what that means for LiveLike's market 45:21 Cricket, T20 and what audiences actually demand What’s next? Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. If Aidan's point about the fan balance sheet made you think differently about how your organisation values its audience - share this episode with someone who needs to hear it. Useful resources Connect with Miheer:   / miheerwalavalkar   Connect with Aidan:   / aidan-cooney-4a284a4   Visit https://www.livelike.com/ Visit https://www.envisionsportgp.com/