Something came up at last week’s Solution Series events that I keep coming back to. We were running a set of challenges designed to force a real conversation about fan engagement. Not the feel-good kind. The kind that actually generates revenue for sports organisations.
And what became very clear is that most organisations are still selling a product that sponsors no longer want to buy.
That product is attention. And attention, as a currency, is collapsing.
The only metric that matters right now
At the event, teams were given a single provocation: pick one metric that now defines success. Name it and explain why it’s better than views.
One team merged three data points: contact info, location info, and fan intensity (casual, engaged, or superfan).
Those simple points are more powerful than anything in your current analytics dashboard. Can we reach you, where are you, and how much do you care? With that, you can segment offers by geography, tailor content by engagement level, prove to sponsors exactly who’s paying attention, and calculate lifetime value instead of guessing based on impressions.
Views don’t tell you any of that. All viewing numbers tell you that a person existed in front of a screen for a moment.
The product that reach can’t build
One of the sharpest challenges of the night was to design one product that only known fans can access.
The concept that landed best was a “Founding Members Community.” Limited spots. First come, first served. Exclusive merch, events, and experiences delivered in the fan’s birthday month every year.
Why it worked: scarcity, recurring value, and data capture that felt like a privilege rather than a transaction. No forms or surveys to fill in, but to get in, you had to be known.
A defined, engaged cohort of fans is infinitely more valuable to a brand partner than 2 million anonymous followers. This was a status economy which can generate revenue in ways that reach never can.
Another team went direct-to-consumer with a Superfan Paid Membership: exclusive content, event access, and the ability to co-host with the community. This works if the behind the scenes content genuinely can’t be found elsewhere. But co-hosting means real-time influence. That’s an opportunity fans will actually pay for.
Fans are more likely to pay for membership when it offers something they can’t screenshot or replicate from the outside.
What sponsors are actually buying now
Sponsors don’t buy impressions anymore, so what do they buy? Access, proof, or influence?
Proof is a number sponsors can take back to their board.
“We grew known fans by 34% this quarter.” “72% of our database engaged in the last 30 days.” “Our superfans spend 6x more than casual followers.”
That’s what sponsors want before they renew. The organisations that understand this are moving fast. The ones still leading with reach are going to find those conversations getting harder.
Belonging as a business model
One of the challenge categories on the night was “The Cult,” which asked teams to think about ‘belonging’ as a commercial lever. How do you create the kind of connection that makes fans feel like they’re part of something, rather than just watching?
The highest-scoring concepts all understood that community isn’t a nice-to-have. It’s a revenue engine.
One team proposed what they called a “Ceremonial FOMO Moment,” designed around shared ritual, rather than content. Something that only happens if you’re there.
When FOMO is built around a genuine experience, something unrepeatable, something you had to show up for, it becomes a loyalty accelerator. You can’t recap your way into having been part of it.
What this actually means for fan engagement
By the end of the night, a pattern had emerged across every solution. Revenue isn’t generated by reach. It’s generated by relationship depth.
The teams that built the best ideas stopped designing for “audience growth” and started designing for fan progression:
From watcher to member to superfan to insider. From anonymous to known to engaged to advocate. From free to paid to repeat to ambassador.
Every idea that landed built a ladder. If your revenue model depends on reach, you can’t win. Reach is infinite, commodified, and controlled by platforms that don’t care about your business. Relationship is finite, valuable, and entirely within your control.
The organisations that will dominate the next decade aren’t the ones with the most followers. They’re the ones who figured out how to turn strangers into believers, and believers into revenue.
Solution Series will be back.
Our first events are done, and the ideas that came out of them are already in people’s hands.
If you want to be in the room next time, get your name down now. When we announce dates, the spots will go quickly.
The anonymous fan costs you money. The known fan makes you money. The only question is when you start building the system that captures the difference.
