Why live sports events can no longer afford to be data blind
From euphoric last-minute goals to season-defining errors, live sport creates intense emotional moments for fans.
Yet most in-venue activations still optimise for visibility, rather than interaction, exposing brands to high-intent audiences without capturing how live sports fans actually behave.
As a result, teams and rightsholders collect little first-party behavioural data. They don't see how fans interact or which moments convert live attention into measurable outcomes.
The Anonymous Fan Index shows that the average sports brand can identify only about 24% of its fans, leaving the majority of in-venue engagement unmeasured and unconnected to ongoing value.
For sponsors and rightsholders, this makes sustained ROI almost impossible to prove.
Once fans leave the venue, the behavioural signal is lost, along with the opportunity to turn live sport into a year-round digital connection, intelligence and commercial impact.
Why this problem matters now
Sponsors are under increasing pressure to justify investment with measurable, outcome-driven results, rather than exposure alone.
As budgets tighten, traditional sponsorship metrics such as impressions, reach, and footfall no longer provide the clarity needed to prove sustained sports sponsorship ROI.
However, first-party behavioural data is becoming significantly more valuable. As third-party cookies decline, brands need direct insight into how fans actually interact with content to personalise experiences, retarget intelligently and build long-term growth strategies.
For sports teams and rightsholders, this creates a structural challenge. Engagement still peaks around match days and major moments, but without capturing real behavioural data, those interactions remain disconnected from year-round fan relationships.
To move beyond event-led visibility, sports brands must activate content in ways that capture how fans behave, including what they explore, engage with and return to, and connect that behaviour to outcomes.
Only then can sponsorship performance be measured by real engagement, ongoing value, and long-term fan growth, rather than surface-level exposure and other redundant metrics.
Formula E's experience
Unlike legacy motorsport categories such as Formula 1, where fandom is deeply established, Formula E is actively building its audience in real time across major cities, cultures and digital behaviours. That makes understanding fans, rather than solely reaching them, a critical priority.
The championship delivers live E-Prix events in cities around the world, each creating moments of high attention and emotional engagement. But because fandom is not yet a given, Formula E must work harder to capture insight into who its fans are and what drives them to take action, both during and beyond race weekends.
Formula E needs to deliver a consistent, high-quality fan experience across multiple locations, markets and venues, without losing the ability to measure behaviour or compare performance from one E-Prix to the next.
At the same time, Formula E has a growing portfolio of global sponsors, including Allianz. These partners require activations that work at scale and deliver measurable outcomes, and not just on-site excitement.
Sponsors need clarity on how fans interact with content, which moments capture attention, and what drives meaningful actions, long after the race ends.
To turn engagement into long-term insight, sponsor value and sustained commercial impact, Formula E needed a repeatable, global way to capture first-party data and consent across its fanbase — and an owned activation layer that could consistently collect behavioural insight at every event.
Without this, much of the value created at each E-Prix remained outside Formula E's control, limiting insight and long-term commercial impact.
How Formula E approached the challenge
Formula E partnered with Amondo to power in-venue fan engagement technology across the Allianz E-Village at every E-Prix to turn live race-day moments into tangible, first-party fan interaction.
Using Amondo's portable Gallery formats and Submission Tiles, Formula E created simple, repeatable experiences that allowed racegoers to submit photos and videos via QR codes displayed throughout the venue.
Fans could participate instantly, on-site, without leaving the experience or relying on third-party social platforms.
This allowed Formula E to capture fan-generated content, first-party data and consent at the exact moment of engagement. This transformed live attention into an owned behavioural signal rather than a fleeting interaction.
Formula E then used Amondo to activate that content in real time, displaying fan submissions across Allianz-branded screens throughout the E-Village.
This created a shared, live experience that encouraged further participation, repeat interaction and deeper engagement as the event unfolded.
These experiences were co-branded with key partners, including Allianz and ABB Group. Rather than functioning as passive logo placements, sponsors were embedded directly into the fan journey, gaining meaningful visibility within an interactive experience that captured real behaviour and delivered long-term value beyond race day.
Turning engagement into commercial outcomes
Rightsholders often mistake surface-level engagement, such as likes, shares and impressions, for high-value sponsorship performance. In reality, attention alone doesn't translate into ROI.
For an activation to deliver commercial value, it must connect content to behaviour and behaviour to outcomes.
Formula E addressed this by extending live fan participation beyond the venue and into owned digital environments.
Fan galleries were activated on the Formula E website using Click-Through Tiles that directed fans to high-intent actions such as app downloads, voting experiences and direct-to-consumer pages.
This allowed Formula E and its sponsors to clearly see how fans moved from attention to action, turning live race-day engagement into a measurable, outcome-driven performance layer rather than a one-off moment.
Each race generated over 300 fan submissions, creating a consistent volume of consented, fan-generated content that could be reused across marketing and partner channels.
A 107% interaction rate demonstrated that fans were not just viewing content, but actively participating, driven by Submission and Click-Through Tiles embedded directly within the experience.
Instead of guessing what worked, Formula E gained clarity on which moments, formats and interactions drove meaningful action, and provided sponsors with proof of value grounded in real behaviour – not vanity metrics.
Emily Hirth, from Formula E said the following:
"It was a pleasure working with Amondo. It was great to integrate our fans into the Formula E experience while racing was behind closed doors. Using Amondo has helped increase traffic to the website and various other digital products with its simple user journey."
What other sports organisations can learn from Formula E
Formula E's approach highlights a broader shift facing sports, entertainment and live event brands.
Live moments are not just opportunities for attention; they are high-intent environments where real fan behaviour can be captured and understood.
Some key takeaways for other sports organisations:
- Live events create a unique opportunity to capture first-party fan behaviour at the point of peak attention
- By activating content during live experiences, brands can move beyond vanity metrics and gain behavioural insight into how fans actually interact, what drives action and which moments deliver value
- Capturing first-party data and consent in-moment gives rightsholders and sponsors visibility that social and traditional event metrics can't provide
- When behaviour is captured and connected to outcomes, live engagement becomes measurable, repeatable and commercially accountable
- Crucially, this approach allows brands to extend value beyond the event itself, turning race-day attention into ongoing fan relationships, personalisation and long-term growth
Summary
By treating live events as an intelligence moment rather than a one-off activation, sports brands unlock a new source of first-party behavioural data.
This allows both the rightsholder and its sponsors to move beyond vanity metrics and gain clear visibility into how fans interact with content, what motivated action, and which moments drive meaningful outcomes.
Captured behaviour and consent allow for extended fan relationships beyond race day, turning live engagement into ongoing digital connection, personalisation and long-term value for fans and partners alike.
See how other organisations are rethinking live sports fan engagement here.
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Live events: From fan-contributed content to behavioural intelligence
Using Foals' sold-out Alexandra Palace shows as a lens, we explore how fan-contributed content from live music events can be activated to capture first-party behavioural intelligence.
On 21 June 2019, Foals played the first of two sold-out shows at London's Alexandra Palace, appearing to a 10,000-strong crowd touring the release of their fifth album, "Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost — Part 1".
Foals continued their reign as one of the UK's most beloved bands, and one with a live reputation that precedes them — Ally Pally was, of course, no exception (DIY Magazine; Clash).
But don't take our word for it - take a look for yourself:
Activating fan-contributed content to capture real audience behaviour
We've all been there, witnessing moments in live music that we feel compelled to capture and share.
But these snapshots are valuable. They create a stream of fan-contributed content, which provides a signal of what resonates most strongly among music buffs.
When activated effectively, this content becomes a powerful source of first-party behavioural intelligence, revealing what audiences choose to engage with and explore further — or ignore entirely.
A measurable window into live experience
Live music is one of the most visceral and memorable forms of engagement.
For those not present (or reliving the moment after the show) fan-contributed content provides a window not just into the experience itself, but into how audiences behave when emotion and attention are at their peak.
A single video might capture a highlight from the crowd, but its real value lies in what happens next.
Examples include how long people watch, what they interact with, and whether they choose to take further action — e.g., booking tickets for the next show.
Unfiltered behaviour, not polished performance
Fan-contributed content offers an unfiltered, first-person perspective, not only because it is more "authentic," but because it reflects how audiences naturally respond in real environments.
With a view from the crowd, it feels as though you're there yourself. And more than professional content, it allows the viewer to relate to and connect with the creator: "This is what the experience was like — see it from my perspective".
That lack of polish is valuable because it produces behavioural signals that are closer to reality. Audiences accept and engage with these imperfections because they mirror real experience, creating interaction patterns that reveal genuine interest rather than passive consumption.
An opportunity to understand what actually resonates
With a camera in every phone and a phone in every pocket, audiences continuously generate content that reflects what captures attention in the moment.
But the opportunity for brands isn't to collect more content, it's to understand how audiences interact with it.
Now more than ever, we're viewing experiences quite literally through the lens of others. Increasingly, experiences are discovered, revisited and evaluated through audience-shared moments, creating a measurable behavioural layer.
So what does this mean for brands?
Experience and emotion matter, of course, but what brands really need is clarity. Clarity on which moments capture attention, which formats sustain engagement, and which interactions influence what audiences do next.
Fan-contributed content is valuable to brands, rights holders and publishers, but less so in isolation.
Its value emerges when content is activated in consistent, portable branded formats that allow behaviour to be measured and compared over time.
Connecting content, behaviour and outcomes
By embedding fan-contributed content into branded formats — such as can be achieved with Amondo's Galleries — brands can observe how audiences respond in context, capturing first-party interaction data.
This behavioural insight connects content exposure to meaningful actions, giving brands clarity on what works, why it works, and what to amplify next.
If you're curious to see how this works in practise, check out our case studies here.
How Watford FC engaged fans to create and share content for their FA Cup Hub with Amondo
Here's how Watford FC curated fan-generated content into an FA Cup Hub during their historic cup run, tripling session length and turning matchday excitement into measurable digital engagement.
Premier League football club Watford FC made it through to the final round of this year's FA Cup, battling it out against Manchester City in a historic match at Wembley Stadium on 18th May 2019.
To bring supporters closer to one of the club's biggest moments in recent years, Watford FC wanted to showcase the fan experience across its digital channels.
The challenge
For football fans, attending a live match is an unforgettable experience. The roar of the crowd, the excitement of the game, and the shared passion of supporters make every match day special.
Capturing this energy and emotion online is a challenge, but when done well, it allows fans everywhere to relive the thrill and feel connected to Watford FC, whether in the stadium or at home.
Watford FC could rely on its fans to capture their experiences, but it was searching for a way to bring all of this fan content together under one roof, ensuring every supporter's voice could be seen and celebrated.
The solution
The sights and sounds of Wembley were showcased through a combination of fan-curated content, alongside carefully integrated branded and sponsored material.
Through Amondo's managed service, the best content from each of these streams was curated into an "FA Cup Hub" Gallery, which was embedded on the Watford FC website, as well as shared through social media channels. Watford fans could relive the experience by scrolling through a feed of highlights and interacting with tiles for a closer look.
By encouraging fans to participate through social media channels, the Gallery brought supporters together around Watford's FA Cup run, encouraging content creation while seamlessly incorporating brand partners into the live experience.
The results
Despite losing heavily to Man City, fans displayed an unwavering, fierce pride in their team, refusing to let the defeat crush their spirits or those of the players.
The Gallery was a tribute to this loyalty, capturing the support of Watford's fans in one of the biggest matches in the club's history.
The FA Cup Hub Gallery boosted session length and interaction rate on the Watford FC website. They saw a three times increase in page session length, a 9% brand content interaction rate, and an average of 3.6 content clicks per view.
It's a great example of how to marry digital content with live events. Football is an emotional sport that attracts diehard fans like nothing else, and it's essential to maintain fan loyalty throughout the ups and downs of a team's journey.
Driving fan engagement online strengthens the connection between the club and supporters, while also creating meaningful opportunities for brand partners.
What can we learn from the FA Cup Hub campaign?
A few takeaways to apply to your own experiential marketing campaigns: