How APAC media buyers turn global sports moments into local marketing wins

When the Super Bowl kicked off in the United States, much of the Asia-Pacific region was either asleep or starting the workday. The same dynamic applied to the Winter Olympics and will again for the FIFA World Cup.

Even so, despite time zones impacting live audience reach across APAC for major U.S. and European sporting events, marketers in the region say the commercial opportunity remains strong.

The reason? APAC fandom plays out well beyond the live broadcast — across highlights, social feeds and on-demand viewing — giving advertisers a broad set of touchpoints for engagement.

That shift is accelerating a move to “total video,” with budgets increasingly flowing into connected TV, streaming and short-form platforms where audiences can engage on their own time.

As fragmented viewing habits reshape how sport is consumed globally, APAC’s approach is looking less like a regional work-around and more like a template for marketers everywhere. “In APAC, the planning mindset is usually less about winning a single live broadcast peak and more about winning the wider ecosystem of attention around the event,” Colin MacArthur, managing partner of Kantar Consulting Division, told The Current.

He points to Kantar research which shows that “the value is not just in the size of the audience, but in the receptivity of the context.” In fact, campaigns are up to seven times more impactful when audiences are receptive.

It makes sense from a cost-efficiency angle too. “Major global sporting events create inflation and intense competition for share of voice in the most obvious channels,” MacArthur said. “In markets where the live telecast is not the primary consumption moment, brands have more reason to shift from a broadcast-first model to a distributed, audience-led model built around engaged fans rather than merely available viewers.”

From kickoff to catch-up

For Sydney-based managing director at Involved Media Sarah Keith focusing on that wider attention ecosystem is a necessity for planning around U.S. and European-centered tentpole events.

“We are always interested in the digital extensions and ensuring clients can access highlights and other short-form content across social and streaming platforms,” she said.

She notes that broadcasters adapted to this behavior as soon as apps and on-demand streaming became available. Australia’s SBS, which will be broadcasting the 2026 FIFA World Cup, has leaned into hybrid viewing, offering a rewind function, mini-matches and highlights via its BVOD platform, SBS On Demand, alongside live coverage of the tournament.

“This approach builds on viewing habits already evident during previous tournaments, where audiences consumed significant volumes of short-form match recaps and digital content alongside traditional broadcasts,” Keith added.

The shift to “total video”

According to MacArthur, APAC media budgets during U.S. and European-centered sports events typically shift to channels that “combine higher receptivity, flexibility and stronger alignment with fragmented viewing behavior.”

He noted that social platforms play a central role, alongside video and CTV. Recent research from Kantar showed a shift toward “total video” with more marketers planning to increase investment in streaming environments than in traditional broadcast.

“That shift supports a model where event-led activity lives across connected TV, streaming platforms, short-form video and social ecosystems, rather than relying on a single linear live event buy,” he said.

Still, Adrian Lloyd, co-founder of ROAD Consultancy, said that tournaments like the English Premier League are still followed closely on demand.

“Via contextual targeting, for example, it is still very possible to be connected to the wider content related to [these events],” he said. “Tapping into the on-demand content, the highlights and replays become more important for those brands wanting to associate with the event.”

A template for other regions

All this has pushed marketers in-region to develop strategies that may be increasingly relevant worldwide.

“We’re moving toward a fragmented ‘total video’ ecosystem, where broadcast, streaming, highlights and social content blend together in how people experience sport,” MacArthur said. “In that environment, the APAC approach, building campaigns across social conversation, streaming, creator content and post-match highlights, looks less like a regional work-around and more like a preview of the future.”

He points out that fandom itself has moved beyond stadiums and live broadcasts, now existing across watch parties, creator commentary, group chats, fantasy leagues and shared online rituals.

“In that world, the job of marketing around sport is not simply to reach audiences at kickoff. It’s to participate in the fan culture that surrounds the moment, before, during and long after the match itself,” he added. “As viewing behavior fragments globally, this ecosystem-based approach to sport is likely to become increasingly common.”