How the Australian Open became a cultural playground where brands win
As we head into the final days of the Australian Open, Suzie Shaw, APAC CEO at We Are Social, explains that the most interesting stories played out off the court.
Naomi Osaka (and Nike) won the fashion game in straight sets at the Australia Open
The Australian Open isn’t just serving tennis anymore. It’s serving culture.
What was once a traditional Grand Slam has quietly become one of the most sophisticated examples of how modern sport now works: not simply as a broadcast event, but as a living, social-first cultural system where fandom, fashion, food, creators and brands collide in real time.
In 2025, the AO welcomed a record 1.2 million attendees through the gates. But the bigger story happened off-court. Nearly two billion global viewers tuned in, while social content generated more than 2.3 billion impressions, fuelled not by official match highlights alone, but by memes, fits, food drops and creator-led moments that travelled far beyond tennis fans.
