Australians may be known for our love of sport, but sport is much more than just a hobby in this country; it’s an industry in and of itself, writes Tamara Oppen, Managing Director at  GoDaddy Australia.

With more than $12 billion spent annually on sport and related infrastructure each year, sport supports $39 billion in economic activity, or two to three per cent of our nation’s GDP.

As Australia begins the countdown to the 2032 Brisbane Olympic and Paralympic Games, that investment is only going to grow, creating significant opportunities for sporting brands, from community clubs to retailers.

As the world looks to Australia as we prepare to host the Brisbane 2032 Olympics, here are four reasons your sporting brand can get a boost from a new or refreshed website.

A website can turbocharge your brand

Having a professional website for a business, or upgrading an existing site, can be an important asset in defining and developing your sporting brand or club.

Your domain name is the first step in announcing to the world who you are and where you are based, so picking a domain extension like ‘.au’ or ‘.com.au’ (or both) can immediately help to cement your Aussie status.

This can be particularly important when many sports clubs and businesses around the world share similar names and mascots. You want to make sure your supporters and customers are getting behind the right tigers, broncos or bulldogs.

While many sporting organisations may already have a social media presence, having a website offers a dedicated platform to present your brand. It also allows you to own your own customer and platform data.

A website is also a great way to engage with sponsors as it can incorporate partner logos or even link to their websites, building in additional value to corporate or community partnerships.

Use your website to build engagement with supporters

A website can also be an engagement tool for businesses and sports clubs alike with the ability to include photo, video and text content that speaks directly to your audience and their needs.

A website allows you the space to share your brand story as well as content that’s highly relevant to your audiences like real-time statistics, club division ladders, fixture calendars, match reports, sales or videos.

To help build your content offering, you can link your website with your social media channels like Instagram and Facebook so your social posts appear automatically on your website. Clubs can also level up their communications by having a professional email address that matches their website’s domain name, helping to build trust and engagement with new and existing supporters.

Build trust with your members and customers

Trust is a fundamental tenet of brand success, and a website can be an important platform to help your club or business build trust with supporters and customers.

Having a website rather than only a social media page cements your credibility and allows you more control over the kind of information you want to feature prominently and consistently about your brand and your business.

A website also gives you the space to include content that builds transparency around your operations, including your mission and values, history, information and profiles of key executives or directors, FAQs and official documents like annual reports.

Clubs can also build a spot on their website for essential information like weather updates, field closures or match changes, so your community has access to official, up-to-date, reliable information.

For retailers, this could look like essential information on shipping, returns and contact details.

Grow your business by adding website eCommerce solutions

Having a website means your sporting club or business can leverage commercial development opportunities through eCommerce.

Linking an online store to your website means you will have the ability to offer online purchases of memberships, registration, merchandise or kits.

Not only is this a convenient offering for your members, supporters and customers, it’s a great way to take your labour-intensive clubhouse sales to a more organised and streamlined online service.

Making buying easy with your own online store that accepts major credit cards, PayPal and Apple Pay is another way to help grow your club or business.

No matter whether you are a sporting brand or community sports club, there’s never been a more exciting time to be involved in the sports industry in Australia, as the Olympic and Paralympic movement prepare for Brisbane 2032.

Creating or updating your website is one powerful step you can take to help prepare your brand for the opportunities ahead.

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