Experience agency group Identity has launched Identity Sport, a global sports proposition, designed to deliver fan-focused experiences for major sporting events worldwide.
Identity Sport brings together creative, ceremonial, broadcast and operational expertise from across the group.
The proposition combines brand activation, live experience and presentation with delivery and operations, aiming to help organisers manage risk, control cost and improve value for money.
Identity has worked on major sporting events including the Olympics, Winter Olympics, World Sailing Championships, Formula E and Wimbledon. In 2025, the group delivered fan experiences for the Women’s Rugby World Cup and World Table Tennis US Smash Las Vegas.
It has also delivered brand-led live experiences for partners including Red Bull and Vodafone, operating within elite sporting environments where brand presence must not distract from competition.
Identity Sport will work with federations, leagues, host cities, rights holders and sponsors globally. Project types will include opening and closing ceremonies, fan zones, brand activations, live sites, broadcast-facing presentation and integrated overlay.
Changing fan expectations
Identity has explained that the global sports events industry is entering a new phase.
Rising fan expectations, growing commercial complexity and global competition for attention are coinciding with tighter budgets and greater scrutiny on delivery. In this environment, the company said creativity is no longer about spectacle alone.
It now shapes how fans engage, how brands appear within sport, and how sporting moments translate across live and broadcast audiences. From broadcast-facing presentation to live brand activations, experience increasingly defines how sport is perceived and valued.
Rather than adding creative layers late in the process, Identity Sport is built around a “fan first by design” approach. The model brings together creative, ceremonial, broadcast and operational teams from the outset, drawing on Identity’s experience delivering major sporting, cultural and brand-led projects worldwide.
Michael Gietzen, group ceo of Identity, said organisers are being forced to rethink how sport is designed and delivered. Gietzen said: “Sport is at an inflection point; an experience reset. Audiences expect more meaningful, immersive experiences, and brands want to connect in ways that feel authentic to the sporting moment. At the same time, organisers need certainty, control and value. That requires creativity to be embedded into the system, not layered on at the end.”
Gietzen said fan experience has become a board-level issue for many organisers. He said: “Get it right and you build loyalty, value and long-term relevance. Get it wrong and the impact is immediate: commercially, reputationally and politically. Fan experience is now a strategic risk, not a creative nice-to-have.”
Integrated delivery model
Identity Sport operates as a specialist sports proposition within the Identity group, uniting expertise from Identity and its specialist brands to support sports organisations and brands at every stage of delivery, from concept and creative through to operations, presentation and legacy.
Identity said the integrated approach is designed to reduce duplication, manage risk and improve value for money.
Simon Dunnell, director, major projects at Identity, said integration is as much about efficiency as creativity. He said: “Too often, fan experience is treated as an add-on rather than a system. Fragmented delivery models cost more, create inefficiencies and increase risk.”
He added: “By designing experiences holistically – with fans, partners and operations aligned from the outset – we can deliver stronger outcomes without unnecessary complexity or cost.”
Delivering more value, not just more spectacle
Identity said competition for audiences is increasing across traditional sport, women’s sport, esports and new experiential formats. As a result, organisers are under pressure to demonstrate return on investment and long-term value.
Dunnell believes the experience reset is as much about how sport is delivered as what audiences see. He said: “The next generation of major sporting events will be defined by smarter integration. That means creative ambition grounded in operational reality; and experiences that deliver impact without excess.”
He added: “Integration isn’t just better creatively; it’s more efficient. What sets Identity Sport apart is the breadth of experience we bring from other major projects. We’re not constrained by precedent, we can apply fresh thinking, new approaches and innovations that help each event resonate more deeply and deliver real impact.”
Looking ahead
As the global sports calendar continues to expand through to 2034 and beyond, Identity believes the experience reset will increasingly separate those who can adapt from those who cannot.
Gietzen said: “Sport will often command a dramatic scale – big and loud – and that’s fine. What matters is that we approach it smarter: designing experiences that put fans first, deliver certainty, and create real value and impact at every level.”