The Paris 2024 Olympics are on this winter, running from Friday 26 July until Sunday 11 August. This will give sport-loving Aussies another reason to gather at clubs to cheer on Australia and other nations at this once-every-four-years event.
Stan Sport commercial venues manager Tim Fishwick’s advice for clubs is to “have as many streams of Olympic content as possible”.
“As your members are having dinner at the club, they won’t miss a minute of the Paris 24 Olympics. As it’s not perfect timing [given the time difference between Australia and France], Stan Sport’s 24/7 channel will have all the action and highlights non-stop during the day until live coverage starts again,” he said.
Held on the other side of the world, the majority of sports will run from 5pm-5am. And with Stan Sport’s venue-only 24/7 channel, clubs will have access to highlights throughout the day, until the live action kicks off again.
“Stan Sport will offer four streams of live sport across 16 days, in addition to the venue-only 24/7 Channel curated to have all the best sports. If you have several channels on with ALL the live sports your patrons won’t miss a minute,” Fishwick said.
Live sports have always presented a big trade bump for clubs. Recent examples of this was with the likes the FIFA Men’s and Women’s World Cup.
“Major sporting events always provide an uptick in business for sports bars and pubs like ours. We saw a nice boost during the Women’s World Cup last year when the Matildas made their run. We’re anticipating a similar or potentially even larger impact from the Olympics given the prestigious nature of the event and its huge mainstream appeal,” Holly McMahon, group operations manager for Applejack Hospitality, recently told Club Management’s sister title Australian Hotelier.
Here are some the Olympic sporting events that Club Management predict will do well in your venues.
Swimming
Arguably our strongest Olympic sport historically, Australia has won 71 gold medals at the Olympic Games since 1900, as well as 73 silver and 77 bronze medals. It’s a sport we’ve always excelled in, from Dawn Fraser’s four gold medal wins starting at the Melbourne 1956 games, to the dominant era Ian Thorpe and beyond. Most recently, Emma McKeon became Australia’s greatest Olympic medal winner at Beijing 2022 when she took her medal tally to 11. McKeon has announced that the Paris Olympics will be her last, so Aussies will be watching to see what her medal tally ends up being, as well as cheering on the rest of the Aussie squad.
Basketball
One of the most memorable moments of Beijing 2022 was the Boomers, Australia’s men’s basketball team, claiming an historic bronze medal, ending a 65-year draught. The third-place match against Spain went down to the wire, and the win meant a lot to both the basketball and the wider Australian communities. The image of legends Patty Mills and Andrew Bogut embracing showed us all just what the win meant.
At Paris 2024, the Boomers will be trying to top their bronze medal win, while the female team, the Opals, will also be looking to get in on the action. More eyes will be on Australia’s basketball games, as they strive for more success.
Women’s Rugby Sevens
After a 92-year absence from Olympic competition, rugby returned for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games with the Sevens format making its debut. The Australian women’s team quickly made its mark, winning the first rugby sevens gold medal, after defeating New Zealand. The team were unable to repeat their success at Tokyo 2020 finishing fifth, but will be looking to redeem themselves in Paris this year. In what is a quickfire and engaging format of the game, Rugby Sevens will attract a lot of Aussie footy lovers in clubs.
Canoe Slalom
Australians love a water sport, and canoeing is one we’re particularly good at. Australia has maintained a four-decade streak of winning medals in canoe events. Interest in the broadcast of canoe events has ramped up since Tokyo, where Jessica Fox won her – and Australia’s – first gold medal in the discipline. This year, Australia is bringing its largest squad of canoe sprint paddlers to Paris, including six debutants and a pair of brothers – so it will be another excellent sport to watch.
Olympic action 24/7 on Stan
The Paris Olympics will be held from Friday 26 July until Sunday 11 August. Stan Sport will offer four streams of live sport across the 16 days, in addition to a venue-only 24/7 channel, which will run highlights of all the action throughout the day.
Find timings of Stan Sport’s Olympics schedule at www.stan.com.au/sport
This piece was first published in Club Management Winter issue, which you can read below.