Situation, a leading global agency specialising in delivering impactful full-service marketing and advertising for experience-based brands, presents a new special edition episode of the Fandom Unpacked podcast, produced in partnership with INTIX.

This examines how organisations in sports, culture, and entertainment are rethinking fandom at a crucial moment for live experiences.

Titled The Year in Fandom: How Sports, Culture & Entertainment Leaders Build Fans, the year-in-review episode summarises discussions from the past year with executives responsible for increasing attendance, engagement, and loyalty across major sports organisations, cultural institutions, and experiential entertainment brands.

“Some of the loudest fan moments in the world are reminders that fandom isn’t a marketing layer,” says Damian Bazadona, founder and president of Situation. “It’s the product itself.”

Shared patterns across sports, culture and entertainment

Instead of looking back, this episode highlights common trends across sectors, especially how organisations are cultivating fan loyalty beyond single events.

It features insights from leaders at USTA, New York Red Bulls, Oak View Group, Feld Entertainment, Round Room Live, The Recording Academy, PBS, and others. A key theme is lowering barriers to entry to grow audiences.

Reflecting on the U.S. Open’s Fan Week, Nicole Kankam mentions that although free access raised concerns, the long-term benefit was evident: “Two-thirds of the audience said, ‘I’m coming back for main draw.’”

Legacy also emerged as a key topic, especially for long-established brands adapting to shifting audience expectations.

“I want people to love us for who we are now,” says Amy Wigler, reflecting on the need for cultural institutions to balance preserving heritage with maintaining relevance.

Similarly, Jim Moseley describes the challenge for family entertainment brands as honouring nostalgia while offering something fresh, so audiences leave feeling “they both just saw something completely new.”

Across interviews, leaders repeatedly emphasised trust as a foundation for fandom.

“Fans can spot authenticity a mile away,” says Melissa Anelli, noting that audiences are becoming more aware of opportunistic engagement, especially around major tentpole moments.

The episode also emphasises the increasing significance of in-venue experience. For Elisa Padilla, fandom is shaped from “street to seat,” while Tina Heaney urges organisations to shift focus from programming alone to the audience itself: “Don’t focus on the show or the game—focus on the fans.”

While technology and AI are increasingly present, guests warned against forgetting the importance of human connection. “Technology should not be replacing meaningful human interaction,” says Andrew Recinos. “It should be enabling it.”

A strategic lens on fandom

The episode is based on Situation Group’s recent research with Ticketmaster, which analysed ticket-buying behaviour across sports, culture, and entertainment by using insights from over 20,000 live-event fans, offering additional context on loyalty, frequency, and cross-category engagement.

Hosted by Bazadona and Peter Yagecic, founder of A Mind at Work Consulting, this episode of Fandom Unpacked presents fandom as a long-term strategic growth tool rather than merely a marketing byproduct.

“The truth is in the stands, not the spreadsheet,” Bazadona adds, reflecting on a year of conversations with industry leaders. “If you want to build better fan experiences, you have to experience them yourself.”

The full Year in Fandom special edition episode of Fandom Unpacked is available now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and all major podcast platforms.

Situation also recently gathered insights from some of the UK’s leading live experience marketers on what they’re thinking about heading into the new year.