Challenges for sport organisations developing and delivering non-traditional social sport products for insufficiently active populations

Objectives: To explore the challenges that Victorian sporting organisations experience when developing, delivering or scaling non-traditional social sport products to engage insufficiently active people. Methods: Online Concept Mapping was used to gather qualitative data and analyse it quantitatively. Results: A total of 68 participants (27 organisations) brainstormed 158 challenges. The research team synthesised these to 71 unique challenges for participants to sort into groups and rate for importance (0–5) and ease of overcoming (0–5). A nine-cluster solution – Deliverers; Capacity to drive the product; Facilities and partnerships; Product development; Sustainable business model; Marketing to insufficiently active; Attracting the insufficiently active; Clubs and volunteers; and Shifting traditional sport culture – was considered most appropriate. Participants rated the Deliverers challenges as the most important (mean=3.52), and the Marketing to insufficiently active challenges as the easiest to overcome (2.72). Conclusions: Key ingredients to successfully developing and delivering non-traditional sport opportunities for insufficiently active populations are: recruiting appropriate product deliverers; building the capacity of delivery organisations and systems; and developing products relevant to the delivery context that align with the needs and characteristics of the target population. Implications for public health: A system-wide response is required to address the challenges associated with sport organisations developing, scaling and delivering innovative social sport products for insufficiently active populations.