While sports leagues generate billions in media rights, Disney's theme parks prove there's a more profitable playbook in live entertainment: turning every fan interaction into revenue through innovative experience design that brings a magical touch.

Disney’s annual 10-K report includes financial statements for three primary business segments:

1. Experiences (primarily theme parks/resorts)

2. Entertainment (primarily streaming/cable networks)

3. Sports (primarily ESPN)

Experiences are their $34.1Bn engine that generates 37% of all revenue and delivers the majority (59% | $9.3Bn) of their profitable operating income. How do they do it? The strength of Disney’s IP is the backbone of it all. But that strong foundation is supercharged by their innovative park experiences:

• Tailored digital services: Disney has unique mobile apps for each park location to enjoy pre-planned or in-the-moment experiences

• Less wallets, more wrist taps: Disney’s “MagicBand” (video below) is a frictionless wearable that rewards fans that maximize its perks and enables micro-transactions such as rollercoaster photos

• Tactical upselling: Visitors exiting the park are herded along a path of gift shops that are strategically stocked with the best-selling souvenirs throughout the park

In sports, gameday is the equivalent of Experiences. Consider this class of revenues as "live revenues." When examining live revenues as a percentage of total revenues, major sports leagues' matchday/gameday revenue performance fall short of the standard set by Disney’s Experiences segment...

Media rights are the leading revenue drivers in the above leagues. But those revenues are largely fixed contracts with broadcast networks. For that reason, there's an opportunity to create more value by increasing live revenues from fan spend on matchday/gameday. But how? Spoiler alert: selling more (premium) tickets isn't the best solution. Too many teams are still thinking like ticket brokers. Disney doesn’t sell tickets. They thoughtfully engage their fans by leveraging tech to build omnichannel experiences where every interaction generates data. And every data point drives revenue. Deloitte published a report that signals the same idea. Their “stadiums as platforms” thesis outlines a three-level tech stack: infrastructure (hardware/software networks), enabling technologies (APIs/data feeds), and experience layer (fan apps/third-party integrations).

The goal: transform stadiums from one-dimensional event spaces into highly connected IoT venues that promote engagement before, after, and during the live experience.

In 2025, some leagues/teams (e.g. WWE, Boston Celtics, League One Volleyball, Washington Nationals) have bravely taken steps towards this transformative goal by adopting the service, CrowdIQ. Founded by a South African entrepreneur, Tinus Le Roux, the business started as a product: FanCam.

On the surface, the FanCam captures HD aerial photos of a stadium for fans to find/tag themselves. But below the surface, teams gain live location data that provides valuable insights such as: crowd traffic patterns to position concessions, attention tracking for optimal ad placement, and demographic data to sell the right sponsored merch. With live location data and more carefully coordinated integrations, it’s easy to imagine this becoming a piece of the puzzle that creates an enhanced fan experience in the stadium that looks like:

• Pre-game: Preorder your favorite food that’s delivered precisely to you at halftime

• Mid-game: Buy an aerial clip of your live reaction to a highlight play with one-click

• Post-game: Be guided to the nearest team store stocked with the gear you paid the most attention to on the jumbotron

The future described above may seem far off, but I wouldn’t bet against the unprecedented rate of innovation we’ve seen in the last few years. In professional sports today, building data-rich platform capabilities positions you for tomorrow’s intelligent revenue premiums while competitors chase yesterday’s playbook.

While sports leagues generate billions in media rights, Disney's theme parks prove there's a more profitable playbook in live entertainment: turning every fan interaction into revenue through innovative experience design that brings a magical touch.

Disney’s annual 10-K report includes financial statements for three primary business segments:

1. Experiences (primarily theme parks/resorts)

2. Entertainment (primarily streaming/cable networks)

3. Sports (primarily ESPN)

Experiences are their $34.1Bn engine that generates 37% of all revenue and delivers the majority (59% | $9.3Bn) of their profitable operating income. How do they do it? The strength of Disney’s IP is the backbone of it all. But that strong foundation is supercharged by their innovative park experiences:

• Tailored digital services: Disney has unique mobile apps for each park location to enjoy pre-planned or in-the-moment experiences

• Less wallets, more wrist taps: Disney’s “MagicBand” (video below) is a frictionless wearable that rewards fans that maximize its perks and enables micro-transactions such as rollercoaster photos

• Tactical upselling: Visitors exiting the park are herded along a path of gift shops that are strategically stocked with the best-selling souvenirs throughout the park

In sports, gameday is the equivalent of Experiences. Consider this class of revenues as "live revenues." When examining live revenues as a percentage of total revenues, major sports leagues' matchday/gameday revenue performance fall short of the standard set by Disney’s Experiences segment...

Media rights are the leading revenue drivers in the above leagues. But those revenues are largely fixed contracts with broadcast networks. For that reason, there's an opportunity to create more value by increasing live revenues from fan spend on matchday/gameday. But how? Spoiler alert: selling more (premium) tickets isn't the best solution. Too many teams are still thinking like ticket brokers. Disney doesn’t sell tickets. They thoughtfully engage their fans by leveraging tech to build omnichannel experiences where every interaction generates data. And every data point drives revenue. Deloitte published a report that signals the same idea. Their “stadiums as platforms” thesis outlines a three-level tech stack: infrastructure (hardware/software networks), enabling technologies (APIs/data feeds), and experience layer (fan apps/third-party integrations).

The goal: transform stadiums from one-dimensional event spaces into highly connected IoT venues that promote engagement before, after, and during the live experience.

In 2025, some leagues/teams (e.g. WWE, Boston Celtics, League One Volleyball, Washington Nationals) have bravely taken steps towards this transformative goal by adopting the service, CrowdIQ. Founded by a South African entrepreneur, Tinus Le Roux, the business started as a product: FanCam.

On the surface, the FanCam captures HD aerial photos of a stadium for fans to find/tag themselves. But below the surface, teams gain live location data that provides valuable insights such as: crowd traffic patterns to position concessions, attention tracking for optimal ad placement, and demographic data to sell the right sponsored merch. With live location data and more carefully coordinated integrations, it’s easy to imagine this becoming a piece of the puzzle that creates an enhanced fan experience in the stadium that looks like:

• Pre-game: Preorder your favorite food that’s delivered precisely to you at halftime

• Mid-game: Buy an aerial clip of your live reaction to a highlight play with one-click

• Post-game: Be guided to the nearest team store stocked with the gear you paid the most attention to on the jumbotron

The future described above may seem far off, but I wouldn’t bet against the unprecedented rate of innovation we’ve seen in the last few years. In professional sports today, building data-rich platform capabilities positions you for tomorrow’s intelligent revenue premiums while competitors chase yesterday’s playbook.