May 18, 2026
Pat Gannon
General Manager, Asia Pacific
The conversation around AI in sport is evolving quickly. But after attending the AI in Sport Summit at Marvel Stadium, one thing became clear: the real shift is no longer about adopting AI tools. It’s about rethinking how sport organisations grow.
For years across Australia and APAC, many sporting bodies, governments and operators have understandably focused on participation growth and operational efficiency. Tight margins, rising costs and increasing community expectations have meant technology investment has often been centred around doing more with less.
The AI in Sport Mindset Shift
What stood out at the Summit was a noticeable mindset shift.
In contrast to the US market, where technology and AI have increasingly been used to unlock new revenue streams, deeper fan engagement and commercial growth, APAC organisations are beginning to explore how AI can move beyond efficiency and become a genuine growth driver.
The organisations leading this shift won’t necessarily be the ones with the most AI products. They’ll be the ones with the clearest understanding of the problems they’re trying to solve.
What AI in Sport Means for APAC Organisations
For rights holders, governments and operators, the challenge is no longer access to data. It’s how to turn participation, facility and community insights into real-time decision making that improves experiences, drives investment and unlocks commercial opportunities.
At ActiveXchange, we see AI in sport accelerating three key shifts across the industry:
- Rights holders moving from static reporting to live participation intelligence that shapes investment, engagement and commercial strategy
- Governments using real-time behavioural insights to better inform infrastructure planning, funding and community outcomes
- Operators including gyms and aquatic centres gaining faster visibility on participation trends, retention risks and growth opportunities
The Next Phase of AI in Sport
Importantly, the next phase of AI in sport won’t be about replacing people. It will be about creating human-led, AI-enabled systems that reduce friction, surface insights faster and support better decisions at scale.
As the industry moves into this next phase, flexibility will matter just as much as capability. AI is evolving too quickly for organisations to lock themselves into rigid ways of operating. The challenge is building systems and strategies that can adapt as technology and consumer behaviour continue to shift.
That’s where we believe the next generation of participation intelligence platforms, including ActiveXchange V3, can play an important role. Not simply through dashboards or automation, but by helping organisations connect participation, behaviour and commercial intelligence in ways that support smarter, faster and more proactive decision making.
The key question for every organisation is simple:
Are you using AI to do the same things faster, or to fundamentally rethink how sport and recreation can operate and grow?
Contact
For all enquiries, please email: intelligence@ActiveXchange.com
