Love The Fan, Win The Game

Today's most engaged sports fans want more than tickets and merchandise. They want input. They want to pick the kit, vote on the roster, run the fantasy team, sometimes take over the club. It's called executive fandom. And it's where the next decade of fan engagement is being built. What does this mean for the marketers paying attention?

Guest: Professor Brett Hutchins. Professor of Media and Communications, Monash University. Author and host of the Media Sport Podcast Series.

Host: Brigette McGuire, Monash Business School

© 2026 Monash Business School

Produced by Miniature

Not too long ago, bringing up the issue of climate change with an Australian sporting club would be met with raised eyebrows. Today, fans want their sport leading on the environment. How do sports organisations achieve this? 

Meet the co-founder of the Sport Environment Alliance and head of sustainability for the FIFA Women's World Cup 2023, who has been at the centre of that shift. 

Guest: Dr Sheila Nguyen. Co-founder, Sport Environment Alliance. Head of Sustainability, FIFA Women's World Cup 2023. Honorary lifetime member, British Association for Sustainability and Sport. AFR 100 Women of Influence.

Host: Brigette McGuire, Monash Business School.

© 2026 Monash Business School

Produced by Miniature

The chair of the A-Leagues spent twenty years in the Australian Senate before he took the job. Now he's brokering deals between club owners, passionate fans, state governments and global investors who all want different things. 

What can sport learn from politics? Meet the man bringing the art of political negotiation to Australian football.

Guest: The Honourable Stephen Conroy. Executive Chair, Australian Professional Leagues. Senator 1996–2016 and former Leader of the Senate. Former Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy.

Host: Brigette McGuire, Monash Business School.

© 2026 Monash Business School

Produced by Miniature

A clinical psychologist watches her sons play local sport. She notices no kids with disabilities on the playing field. She sends a cold email to the AFL. Twelve years later, every kid's football coach in Australia has access to her free training on how to include children with autism, ADHD, cerebral palsy and other conditions, and the model is being scaled across other Australian sports. What does it take to build inclusion that actually works?

Guest: Professor Nicole Rinehart. Professor of Clinical Psychology, Monash University. Founder, AllPlay sport inclusion program.

Host: Brigette McGuire, Monash Business School.

Resources:

Movement for Emotional Regulation - Monash University

Professional Learning Course - Movement for Emotional Regulation

© 2026 Monash Business School

Produced by Miniature

In 2024, an Australian cyclist became the first rider to win the Olympic and World Championship time trial in the same year. Her Paris gold came on a rain-slicked Parisian course where she beat her closest rival by over a minute and a half. Twelve months later, with no prior experience in product development, she'd launched her own TGA-registered SPF 50 sports sunscreen brand. 

What does it take to win Olympic gold and then build a business from scratch? Meet the Olympic gold medallist who treats fear and discomfort as a signal to move forward.

Guest: Grace Brown OAM. 2024 Olympic and World Champion in the women's cycling time trial. Founder, Sun Motion sports sunscreen. President, The Cyclists' Alliance. SBS expert cycling commentator.

Host: Brigette McGuire, Monash Business School.

© 2026 Monash Business School

Produced by Miniature

John Bertrand can size up a leader in under five minutes. Forty years on from breaking the longest winning streak in sporting history, he's still studying people for a living. The methods that won the America's Cup are the same ones he teaches businesses and sporting bodies that help them spot talent and build teams that win.

So what does a world champion like John Bertrand actually look for? And how does he know when he's looking at one?

Guest: John Bertrand AO, Skipper of Australia II (1983 America's Cup winner), Chairman of the Sport Australia Hall of Fame.

Host: Brigette McGuire, Monash Business School.

© 2026 Monash Business School

Produced by Miniature

In 2014, the ATP approached Infosys looking for a tech solution. A decade on, Infosys is the official digital innovation partner for major tennis organisations, including the ATP Tour, it has Rafa Nadal and Iga Świątek as brand ambassadors, a humanoid robot fielding fan questions at Melbourne Park, and a match analytics platform that lifted ATP web traffic by 30%.

So how is a tech brand getting tennis to work this hard? Meet the man behind it (and the four-part test he used to pick tennis in the first place).

Guest: Navin Rammohan. Senior Vice President and Global Head of Field Marketing, Infosys.

Host: Brigette McGuire, Monash Business School.

© 2026 Monash Business School

Produced by Miniature

Pat Cash won Wimbledon in 1987. He also smashed rackets, slammed doors, and thought the first sports psychologist he ever met was going to throw him in a padded cell. Behind the drama (and the checkered headband), Cash was a natural sports marketer who knew how to win the game, and the hearts of fans.

Guest: Pat Cash, 1987 Wimbledon Champion, Australian Open Finalist (1987, 1988), Davis Cup winner with Australia (1983, 1986)

Host: Brigette McGuire, Monash Business School

© 2026 Monash Business School

Produced by Miniature

Every sports marketer knows that if you love the fan, you'll win the game. 

Believe it or not, behind every roar of the crowd there's a contract, a media deal or a marketing call.

Australian sport is a $50 billion industry. How do competitions, brands and athletes get a slice of that pie?

Brigette McGuire has spent over twenty years inside the sporting world, from grassroots clubs to global brands and broadcast deals. 

In this new series Brigette will introduce you to the marketers, athletes and executives shaping how we watch, play and feel about the game. 

You'll learn:

• How do codes win new fans? 
• What makes a perfect sponsorship deal?
• How does an athlete build their personal brand?
• Can sport still be a force for good when there's this much money on the table?

Follow now. First episodes coming soon.

© 2026 Monash Business School

Produced by Miniature