Bots are hurting the fan experience in the sporting sector, and a threat the sports industry has to address amid the current FIFA World Cup 2026 tournament.
Another global sporting spectacle is upon us and, regardless of which team or athlete fans support, it is difficult not to get swept up in the excitement.
Technology has transformed how we experience sports. Fans can stream matches from almost anywhere, follow athletes in real time on social media, and enjoy levels of access previous generations could barely imagine. Yet despite these advances, the ultimate experience remains unchanged: being there in person.
That experience is getting more expensive and harder to reach. For the biggest sporting events, the average resale ticket can go as high as tens of thousands of dollars, turning a bucket-list trip into a serious financial commitment.
Although securing a seat at a coveted event was never easy, the system was at least broadly fair. Today, supporters aren’t just competing with each other; they’re competing with bots.
Tickets gone in seconds
In Singapore, that competition is more striking. The sports sector has the highest concentration of advanced bot attacks of any industry locally. 55% of bot attacks targeting sports platforms here are sophisticated enough to look like real users, adapt when they hit a defense, and keep coming back.
According to the Thales 2026 Bad Bot Report, 39% of traffic to sports websites now comes from malicious bots, while only 52% of traffic is generated by genuine human users. Automated purchasing tools can snap up tickets in seconds, before fans can complete a booking.
These tickets often reappear in secondary marketplaces at significantly higher prices, adding another layer of inflation to events that already carry a substantial cost.
The consequences extend beyond inconvenience. As access to marquee sporting moments is increasingly determined by automation, trust in the ticketing process erodes. Genuine supporters can find themselves locked out of experiences they have spent years hoping to attend, while speculators profit from supply that has been artificially manipulated.
The challenge is intensifying
AI-driven bot attacks increased 12.5 times in 2025 compared with the previous year, making them harder to detect using traditional approaches.
This leaves organizers with a bigger question: how do you protect the fan experience while keeping access fair for everyone?
For sports organizations, ticketing platforms and event operators, bot management can no longer sit in the back office as a technical footnote. It is now part of protecting the fan experience.
Stronger behavioral analysis, real-time threat detection, API protection and adaptive bot defenses are needed to distinguish genuine supporters from malicious automation without adding unnecessary friction.
The goal is not only to stop bots. It is to preserve fairness, access and trust in the moments fans care about most.
