Darktrace Finds More Than 80% of Professional Sports Organisations Impacted by Cyber Incidents in the last 12 Months as AI Raises the Cybersecurity Stakes
Publish Date: 2026-06-15 23:04:00
Source Domain: itwire.com
- New Darktrace sports sector threat report reveals 57% of professional sports organisations experienced multiple cyber incidents in the last 12 months.
- 72% believe AI will increase cyber risk over the next 12 months as AI adoption grows in high stakes areas including stadium operations, ticketing and fan engagement, and business operations.
- 35% of professional sports organisations have either deployed AI technology into stadium operations, or plan to in the next 12 months
- Darktrace sports sector customers receive nearly 20% more phishing emails than those in other industries.
Darktrace, a global leader in AI for cybersecurity, today released new research showing 84% of professional sports organisations have experienced a cyber incident in the past 12 months. More than half (57%) were hit multiple times.[1]
As the 2026 FIFA World Cup puts professional sport into the global spotlight, the new report Cybersecurity in Global Sport: Threats, Signals, and Strategic Implications for a Digitised Industry highlights how AI is changing the risk landscape for professional sports. Attackers are using AI to create more convincing phishing emails, tailor lures to real teams, venues, sponsors, executives, and events, and move faster across complex digital environments. At the same time, sports organisations are adopting AI across their own operations, creating new blind spots for security teams.
Darktrace found that 83% of cybersecurity professionals in professional sports surveyed believe they have detected AI use in cyberattacks against them in the past 12 months, while 72% believe AI will increase cyber risk over the next year. That risk is amplified in professional sports, where live events, high-value data, public pressure, fixed schedules, and large networks of partners and suppliers all intersect at once to offer attackers maximum publicity, profit and potential impact. According to the survey, the average cyber incident cost sports organisations $169,000 (USD) over…
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