Underdog Sports Challenge Industry Giants with Unconventional Commercial Models

Non-traditional sporting codes are bypassing traditional free-to-air broadcast models and redesigning commercial partnerships to capture global audiences, according to national sporting executives set to speak at the upcoming Women in Sport Summit (WISS 2026).

Ahead of the premier sports business conference at Adelaide Oval from 19–22 October 2026, Baseball Australia board of directors, Jennie Sager, outlined how niche and Olympic sports are navigating a rapidly shifting commercial landscape.

Rather than attempting to compete directly with tier-one codes like the AFL or NRL for domestic airtime, so-called “underdog sports” are leveraging targeted digital streaming models and bespoke commercial alignments.

A prime example of this strategy is Baseball Australia’s recent decision to stream every local game globally for free via Major League Baseball TV (MLB.TV) rather than pursuing traditional local network deals.

“We could go and say, all right, we’re gonna give these games to you know some of the the The big like traditional networks like Channel 9, Channel 7.”

“But that’s not necessarily gonna help us achieve our objectives, and it’s also truly not gonna be a great experience for them because we’re probably gonna get a bad time slot because we don’t have that huge audience in Australia yet.

“And so it’s not gonna really help us achieve our goals, but it’s also not gonna be able to do a lot for the broadcaster because they’re gonna struggle to monetise that.

“So it’s better for us to team up with someone like Major League Baseball who has a super high profile platform where baseball fans from around the world are going and locally here in Australia and put our games there,” Sager explained.

Sager also emphasised that smaller organisations are forced to innovate precisely because they operate without the bloated budgets of dominant domestic codes.

“We may not be NRL or AFL or as big as cricket, but we are what you know many consider to be the smaller sports that are doing enormous things.”

“Working in a, you know, so-called underdog sport is you it forces you to be a bit more like creative and innovative because you don’t have as much budget and and and as many resources,” Sager added.

The panel at WISS 2026 will feature female leaders across emerging sports, including Beck Hamilton (Sport Climbing Australia), Kim Crane (Paddle Australia), and Sarah Lowe (Softball Australia).

The Women in Sport Summit runs from 19–22 October 2026 at Adelaide Oval, with the Leadership Summit taking place on Wednesday 21 October. Secure a ticket here now!!!