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2027

NZSport.WorldEXPO 2027

Sport, Technology and the Future of the Fan

Proposed venue: New Zealand International Convention Centre, Auckland

Timing: may 2027

Format: 1 production/build day + 2 public/industry days

Presented by: TBC

Technology layer: iSPARX™ / AR+IQ

Commercial model: Conference + expo + premium sponsorship + bespoke brand activations

Working status: Event concept and production plan

The Sport EXPO should be positioned as a premium sport industry gathering rather than a conventional trade show. It brings athletes, sporting organisations, technology companies, brands, researchers, media and fans together around three subjects that are reshaping modern sport:

Athlete Wellbeing. Sport Tech. Fandom & Fan Engagement.

“He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life.”

— Muhammad Ali
Champions keep playing until they get it right.”

– Billie Jean King
"Success is no accident. It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice and most of all, love of what you are doing or learning to do."

— Pelé
“Courage doesn’t mean you don’t get afraid. Courage means you don’t let fear stop you.”

– Bethany Hamilton

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Event Purpose

Sport EXPO 2027 creates a national platform to examine what comes next for sport.

It is designed around three connected questions:

How do we better support the athlete?
Physical and mental wellbeing, performance, recovery, longevity, identity and life beyond competition.
How is technology changing sport?
AI, data, wearables, spatial computing, broadcast technology, performance systems, venue technology and emerging interfaces.
How is the relationship between sport and its audience changing?
Fan participation, membership, content, gaming, community, live experience, social media, loyalty and new forms of fandom.

The intention is not simply to discuss these questions. The EXPO should demonstrate them.

Technology is therefore integrated into the event itself rather than confined to exhibition stands.

ROOM 01 | ATHLETE WELLBEING

The Human Performance Room

Focus areas include athlete mental health, physical performance, recovery, sleep, nutrition, injury management, neurotechnology, women’s sport, athlete identity, safeguarding, career transition and life after elite competition.

Programming should deliberately mix athlete experience with clinical, scientific and management perspectives.

Potential sessions include:

The Athlete Beyond Performance
A major athlete conversation about identity, pressure and life beyond results.
Longevity
How athletes, coaches and medical teams are extending careers while reducing harm.
Mental Performance vs Mental Health
Where high-performance systems succeed and where they fail.
The Women’s High Performance Environment
Research, technology, health and structural change.
Life After the Jersey
Transition from professional competition into business, media, coaching and community leadership.
Sleep, Recovery and Human Performance
Who Owns Athlete Data?

The room can also support demonstrations of recovery, biometric, wearable and human-performance technologies.

ROOM 02 | SPORT TECH

The Intelligent Sport Room

A live technology environment rather than a conventional technology conference.

Subjects include:

AI and custom multimodal systems
Performance analytics
Computer vision
Wearables and sensors
Spatial computing
AR and mixed reality
Sports broadcasting
5G/6G infrastructure
Digital twins
Venue technology
Data and analytics
Gaming and simulation
Ticketing and identity
Accessibility technology

The current AR+IQ framework is particularly relevant here. It combines AR, custom multimodal AI, geospatial systems, spatial computing, cloud/data infrastructure and analytics. Its architecture is designed to understand relationships between people, activity, content and physical place.

Potential sessions:

AI Is Joining the Team
How intelligent systems change coaching, operations, media and fan services.
The Intelligent Stadium
The Quantified Athlete
From Broadcast to Spatial Media
Who Owns Sports Data?
Can Technology Make Sport More Accessible?
The Next Interface Is the Environment

This room should include genuine demonstrations. Technology partners should be encouraged to show working systems rather than rely on presentation decks.

ROOM 03 | FANDOM & FAN ENGAGEMENT

The Fan Room

This is potentially the most experiential of the three environments.

The supplied fandom research argues that participation has become an important route to belonging, while experiential environments provide low-friction entry points for casual audiences.

Subjects include: