From courts to feeds: How APAC fans are shaping the future of sport

As media diets shift and on-demand streaming dominates, sport has become one of the last dependable forms of appointment viewing — a rare moment where millions gather, live, for the same purpose. Across Asia Pacific, this audience is only growing: nearly 545 million people are expected to engage with sport and 61.5 million will attend live events, according to We Are Social’s “Winning fans and feeds” report.

Australia leads the region, making up 80% of APAC audiences who engage in sport and 27% attending live matches. Singapore follows with 76% and 20% respectively, and Thailand with 71% and 2%. Across the region, sport has driven 10.8 billion online conversations, fuelled by a new kind of social fandom — one defined by memes, creators with broadcast rights, and algorithm-driven discovery of athletes and sports on platforms such as TikTok.

The report outlines four key cultural shifts reshaping fandom and how brands can engage in this era of social-first sports entertainment.

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1. Energy in the intersections

Sport is now a shared cultural playground, sparking collaborations across fashion, music and art. Formula 1 has become a design inspiration, while basketball’s links to nightlife and street culture continue to grow. In Asia, this crossover is seen in movements like the Philippines’ Baller Room, which merges hoops with hip-hop.

Fashion’s relationship with football has evolved from TikTok’s “blokecore” trend to high fashion runways, blending performance with aesthetics. Even golf is having a streetwear-led revival, with platforms such as Hypegolf drawing a younger, more diverse audience. Local collabs are also pushing the boundaries of fan fashion — from Guinness x Tobyato’s EPL jersey in Singapore to Indonesian band Leipzig Groop’s drop with Riverside Forest FC.

These cultural intersections have created new spaces for branded activations. Indonesia’s Pestapora Festival lets fans play badminton between music sets, while Thailand’s Olympop, sponsored by Pepsi, combines sports and T-pop under one roof.

2. Entertainment in the algorithm

Sport today is as much entertainment as performance. Platforms and streaming series have redefined fandom, with Netflix’s Drive to Survive bringing 90 million new fans — many of them young and female — into Formula 1. The show exemplifies how storytelling, not just sport, drives connection.

Athletes have become “main characters” in their own right, building followings beyond the field. NBA MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s fashion posts, AFL player Cam Zurhaar’s BBQ videos, and Travis Kelce’s podcast show how athletes now curate their own content ecosystems. Even small gestures such as a dance or a celebration can spark viral clips that extend the life of the game and open new sponsorship touchpoints.

3. Women in the driving seat

Women are rewriting the rules of sport as fans, athletes and cultural drivers. Female fandom is booming across Asia, with 54% of women aged 16 and above following football and a third showing interest in women’s leagues.

The F1 Academy, led by MD Susie Wolff and sponsored by Charlotte Tilbury, exemplifies this shift, connecting female audiences with both sport and beauty. Meanwhile, women-led fandom communities such as the WNBA’s Stud Budz are redefining representation and fan rituals, often in inclusive, LGBTQ+-friendly spaces.

Even the once-derided “WAGs” (wives and girlfriends of athletes) have become legitimate influencers, shaping trends and visibility around games. As this audience grows, beauty and fashion brands are increasing their presence in sports through tunnel walks, pre-game activations, and player styling moments.

4. Identity in the divide 

Fandom is splitting between luxury spectatorship and grassroots belonging. At events such as the US Open, sky-high ticket prices have turned attendance into a status symbol, with shareable “must-have” moments such as Grey Goose’s 'Honey Deuce" cocktail or caviar-topped chicken nuggets as well as the 'US Open' cap turned into an "It" item to prove attendance. 

At the other end, fans are reclaiming ownership of the culture. Fanatics Fest, for instance, broke attendance records without a single live match — showing how fan communities can sustain engagement even off-season. Online, creators and commentators are giving fans a bigger voice: viral moments such as "Overheard @ Wimbledon" or celebrity mic-ups from Brenda Song and Lizzo highlight the new centrality of audience perspectives in storytelling.

For brands, the message is clear: fandom is no longer a passive audience. Sports audiences in APAC are vocal, culturally connected, and co-creating the narrative across social and offline spaces. Marketers who meet fans where they live — in culture, in feeds, and through authentic storytelling — will have the edge in this rapidly evolving landscape.

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