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Today’s guest columnists are professors John Cairney and Rick Burton.
Fans want fun— and the newest sports are delivering it by blending familiar formats with bold, inventive twists.
Forget tradition. From parkour to pickleball, golf to 3v3 hoops, today’s breakout properties aren’t just updating the rules—they’re redefining what sport entertainment can be.
Across the globe, a new generation of competition is thriving. Not because it’s louder or faster (though often it is), but because it delivers joy by reinventing the games we already love.
World Chase Tag has transformed the classic game of tag into a high-intensity sport, featuring parkour athletes competing in short, intense chases. The sport has gained international attention, with events broadcast on networks like ESPN and NBCSN.
Unrivaled, co-founded by WNBA stars Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart, launched its inaugural season in January 2025. This 3-on-3 women’s basketball league offers a player-first, fast-paced format, allowing athletes to showcase their skills and personalities.
TGL, the tech-forward indoor golf league backed by Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy, began its inaugural season in January 2025. Combining real swings with digital enhancements and team-based play, TGL brings golf into a new era of entertainment. The league just added an expansion team in Detroit, backed by Lions and Denver Broncos ownership, for, as Sportico first reported, a $70 million-plus entry fee.
These ventures signal a shift in the sports marketplace—it’s not saturated; it’s evolving. The issue isn’t sport itself. It’s sameness.
Traditional formats like basketball and football remain strong—but audiences are showing growing interest in alternatives. Many of these new formats are expanding the horizons of existing fans, while also reaching younger, more tech-savvy viewers who may not have followed traditional leagues. Fans aren’t replacing one with the other—they’re widening the field.
The result? More fans are tuning into formats that are short, sharp and just a little unconventional—broadening what it means to be a sports fan today.
Video games, for example, have evolved from a kids’ diversion to an engaging hybrid participation/spectator sport. The industry’s growth arose from esports being more fun, even in failure, than traditional stick and ball sports. This audience is leading to significant aggregated fan bases following League of Legends or Fortnite championships.
Or consider Major League Pickleball (MLP), which merged with the PPA Tour in early 2024. The unified league combines individual bracket-style tournaments with team-based competitions, featuring mic’d-up players and celebrity investors, creating a dynamic and engaging experience.
Even baseball has its innovators. The Savannah Bananas, originally a collegiate summer league team, have become a touring entertainment phenomenon. Their “Banana Ball” games are capped at two hours, with unique rules like walk-induced sprints and fan-caught foul balls counting as outs. The atmosphere blends baseball with vaudeville, drawing large audiences and significant online followings. And people like it. The club sold out an 80,000-seat college football stadium last month.
But the Bananas are just one example in a broader movement.
The real headline? Sports are being redesigned. The blueprint looks like this: speed + spectacle + story.
Forget sacred traditions. The formats winning in 2025 are leaner, punchier and engineered for digital life. Not just watchable—clippable. Not just competitive—performative.
That’s why long-standing spectacles like the NBA Dunk Contest and MLB Home Run Derby still resonate. They weren’t just one-off events—they were early signals. Signals that fans are drawn to formats that offer something new and different. Even within traditional leagues, there’s always been space—and appetite—for a break from the norm.
Established leagues are paying attention.
Many are experimenting with shortened formats, alternate broadcasts, mic’d-up players, and behind-the-scenes content designed for digital platforms. Not because the core product is failing, but because they see the value in offering fans more ways to engage.
Entertainment and competition aren’t at odds. They can—and should—coexist. In a world where audiences can scroll past anything in seconds, fun matters. Not as a gimmick, but as a hook.
The moments that surprise us, make us laugh or leave us stunned—those are the ones we remember and the ones we share.
So, what should sport executives, marketers and media experts take away from all this?
Fun is strategic. It keeps fans engaged, provides broadcasters with compelling content, and fuels virality.
Time is currency. Formats that deliver excitement in 90, 60 or even 30 minutes align better with modern lifestyles than marathon games filled with commercial breaks and replay reviews.
Personality is product. Athletes who showcase their individuality—through mic’d-up segments, social media and candid interviews—build stronger connections with fans.
Above all, fans want in. They seek access, interaction and authenticity. They want to laugh, cheer, gasp and share. They don’t want to be passive viewers—they want to feel like part of the experience.
Traditional leagues don’t need to become circus acts. But the most successful sports properties in 2025 are those asking: What if we let go of the script? What if we made joy the point again?
The answer?
New audiences. Bigger buzz. And a product that feels like a privilege to watch.
Sports isn’t broken. But it is being rebuilt. Not from the top down. From the sidelines in.
And that rebuild starts with fun.
John Cairney is head of the University of Queensland’s School of Human Movement and Nutrition Sciences. He is the author of Field of Magic: Baseball’s Superstitions, Curses and Taboos (McFarland & Company, 2023). He also serves as deputy executive director for the Office of 2032 Games Engagement and Director of the Queensland Centre for Olympic and Paralympic Studies. Rick Burton is the David B. Falk Professor of Sport Management at Syracuse University, a consultant to XV and Endava as well as co-author of the recently released Rise of Major League Soccer (Lyons Press, 2025).
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