International Federations, or IFs, are international non-profit and non-governmental bodies that aim to govern their sport. As they have evolved over the decades from rule-setters to event organizers to commercial entities, the forces around them have also evolved. These entities are increasingly exposed to technology, consumer and social trends.
In 2019, ASOIF, a representative body for Olympic IFs, published a report aptly entitled Future of Global Sport. Amongst many recommendations, the report surmised that the event model would change to a more risk-sharing one, that athletes have built platforms of engagement, and that to attract new people to sports IFs will have to adapt to new consumption methods and societal shifts.
This backdrop launched our work with an Olympic International Federation in 2019. The IF commissioned N3XT Sports to support it in developing new business streams with stakeholders in its sports’ ecosystem. Specifically, it looked at engaging with brands, professional leagues and event organizers, equipment manufacturers and investors.
Capturing new business opportunities for International Federations
The IF world has given birth to a global calendar of sports that numbers in the thousands per year, extending from world championship-level events to youth events. The level of grassroots and mass participation is usually out of the domain of IFs, and only recently has started to grow. Our client had recognized this gap in its own strategy, and noted that the business growth around its sport brought new private market actors.
The challenge for the IF was to accommodate and leverage these new stakeholders and strengthen the IF’s role in facilitating business growth. Over a period of 12 months, including 7 months of project work and 5 months of advisory support, our team delivered a roadmap for the IF to take forward in its evolution.
ENGAGING THE ECOSYSTEM
First, we created a comprehensive data room that brought together all the existing data and research available to the IF. This included market research reports, event media & attendance data, social media data, annual reports, and publicly available academic research papers. It was clear from the start that the global industry of the sport was growing, but most of it was led by actors outside of the IF’s traditional ecosystem.
Secondly, we supported a series of three ecosystem workshops across the US and Europe. This brought together athletes, event organizers, manufacturers, venue developers, media and others. The objective was to share the latest IF strategic direction, receive feedback on the future development of the IF and the sport, and chart a way forward to mobilize the ecosystem.
Modernizing through digital transformation
Finally, we put together a set of strategic documents to the IF’s executive board and management with recommendations on how to evolve the IF. There four recommendations outlined, including industry relations, brand outreach, athlete engagement and digital transformation.
As it pertained to digital transformation in particular, the recommendations and plan presented to the IF was focused on on-site fan engagement, commercial & media operations, as well as sports data-related digital transformation. With a growing portfolio of events, including World Cups, World Championships, and Olympic qualifiers, a standardization of commercial and media operations, as well as fan engagement tools, was required to increase the overall media value and reach of the IF’s events.
Does your IF’s, NF’s, or NOC’s events and initiatives have a digital- and mobile-first strategy? Are you seeing growth and involvement of private entities, investors, startups, athlete events & initiatives? Have you been able to accelerate your transformation to engage and leverage these trends?
Success stories like this one are becoming more and more common, and yours should be one of them. With understanding and commitment from your organization’s leadership team, the proper culture within your organization, and a clear vision of the corporate strategy, you can start your innovation activities.
Thinking about implementing an innovation strategy within your organization? Fill out this form and we will contact you as soon as possible.