The Untapped Power of Away Fans

Most sport clubs focus on their home market. But your away fans might be your biggest missed opportunity.

Take the Hīkoi to Suncorp, a fan-led march from The Lord Alfred, the unofficial Brisbane base for NZ Warriors supporters, down Caxton Street to Suncorp Stadium. Organised by Warrior Nation, it’s rhythmic, emotional, and unmistakably loyal, hundreds of fans walking together in merchandise for an “away” game that doesn’t feel like one.

It wasn’t staged by the club. It wasn’t part of a budget.
But the One NZ Warriors saw it, shared it, and amplified it across their digital channels.

👉🏽 Away fans don’t need you to make space.
They’ve already claimed it. What they need is to be seen.

Because for many of them, this is home. There are now 200K+ NZ-born residents in QLD, many Māori and Pasifika, many loyal to the Warriors. And it’s not just a Warriors thing. Clubs across codes have dispersed fan bases. If you have fans outside your postcode, you have opportunity.

Migration is reshaping the “away” fan :
🔄 112,000+ left NSW in 2024
🔼 106,000+ moved to QLD
➕ Nearly 40,000 headed west to WA

Your fans aren’t just scattered, they’re embedded. They’ve carried their clubs with them. And they’re showing up.

Why this matters:
✨ Warriors averaged 18,076 away fans per match in 2023, totaling 216,916 seats filled outside Auckland
✨In European football, away fans make up ~12% of stadium crowds and in 62 matches per year, they outnumber the home team
✨A third of all National Rugby League fans now live outside their team’s postcode (Roy Morgan, 2024)

📲BUT, this isn’t new. People have always migrated. What’s changed is how clubs can use social and strategy to amplify, recognise, and resource these fans, not as a niche, but as part of the core, and that’s where most clubs fall short 👀

Too many treat away fans as an afterthought, one comms person posting overlays from home, maybe a photo gallery. But real connection comes from backing the people already doing the work: the fan groups, the venues, the rituals. And using your digital to show it matters.

Because belonging can mean even more when you’re away. It is not just a seat in the stands, it’s memory, identity, and a sense of home when you’re far from it.

Your digital presence isn’t just for match recaps.
It’s there to recognise the moment.
To meet fans where they are.
To show them they’re part of it, wherever they are.

So no, an “away game pass” isn’t a strategy. That’s a transaction.
📍 Seeing your fans is a strategy.
📍 Resourcing their rituals is a strategy.
📍 Amplifying their loyalty, that’s the work.

These fans aren’t casuals. They’re not passing through.
They’re already connected, culturally, emotionally, and collectively. Your job isn’t to convert them. It’s to show up with them. To honour the rituals, deepen the ties, and build a presence that travels.

Because in sport, belonging doesn’t stop at the border of your postcode & your digital strategy shouldn’t either 💡