This session looks at how different established and emerging niche-interest sports are making a push towards getting a bigger audience, through a mix of free-to-air, pay-TV and streaming rights deals, YouTube live streams, social media content, athlete-focused content, behind-the-scenes access, brand partnerships and so on. 

How are these sports creating a successful strategy for growth, how do they monetise the interest in their sport and ultimately what can they do to increase their fan base and go mainstream? We’ll find out if the priority is getting the sport in front of more people or getting more of the right people to engage with it. 

The panel will also discuss whether niche sports need to change how they present themselves to attract new fans, through commentary, storytelling, rules explanations, graphics, presentation and production.

The session will uncover what a modern audience-growth strategy actually looks like in 2026 and beyond.