Beyond the final whistle – sport is about more than just the game

There was once a time when fans’ access to sport was limited to a televised match, a few back pages of the newspaper and an in-depth, post-match discussion at the pub with a few mates. While these methods are still as important as ever, the extent to which fans can now interact with their favourite sporting codes is mind-boggling.

“Sport is about more than just the game itself,” says Michael Wilkins, managing director, sport, gaming and wagering at News Corp Australia. “The deeper engagement often comes before and after the game, when you’re building up to it or reading the post-match analysis.”

News Corp Australia’s Michael Wilkins presenting Sportopia at Come Together 2019

That deep engagement is incredibly attractive to advertisers, in an industry plagued by content oversaturation and ever-shortening attention spans. “Sports fans are some of the deepest in terms of attentiveness,” says Wilkins. “They operate at their most attentive and their most engaged when they’re watching, reading or thinking about the game.”