For Travis Auld, stepping into the role of CEO at the Australian Grand Prix Corporation (AGPC) in 2023 was more than just a career pivot, it was a chance to channel his love for sport into an entirely new arena.

After more than 25 years in the Australian Football League (AFL) industry, the opportunity to test his skills on a global stage was irresistible.

“I have spent almost my entire career in sports and entertainment, and there’s a reason for that – I love it. I love the role that sport plays in communities. And I love what elite athletes are capable of doing,” Auld tells The CEO Magazine.

“So when the opportunity came up to consider the Australian Grand Prix Corporation and do something different, test my skills and reinvigorate myself, it was actually really appealing.”

In the hot seat

Auld’s shift from Australian football to Formula One (F1) has been a bold leap. Despite his extensive background in sports management, he says F1 presented a new level of complexity and a fresh set of challenges.

“From a business perspective, the difference between football and F1 is vast,” he points out. “If you look at F1 as an example, roughly 450,000 people attended the event. The broadcast for last year’s event out of Melbourne saw 80 million people watch the race. So the scale is enormous.”

In F1, Auld also notes a unique cadence, with fewer events creating intense bursts of activity and high stakes.

“In AFL, there are games every weekend. It’s a day-to-day, week-to-week cadence. Whereas at the Australian Grand Prix Corporation, you have this big build-up to two large global events and then you come off those and prepare for the next one,” he explains.

“If we don’t execute like we want to, then we’re waiting 12 months to do it again – so the pressure is there to make sure we deliver.”

Full speed ahead

One of Auld’s primary goals going into his new role was to immerse himself in the motorsport industry and gain a solid understanding of its intricacies.

“I went in with the mindset of being curious and asking a lot of questions,” he says.

Many of AGPC’s key stakeholders are based internationally, including F1’s parent company in the United States and MotoGP partners in Spain. To build trust and best understand their expectations, Auld made it a priority to travel and put in some face-to-face time with these partners.

“I had to invest some time in going to see them, so I could understand their view of us and our events, what success looks like to them and how I might learn from them,” he explains.

To gain a broader perspective, spot trends and bring best practices to Australia to keep Melbourne’s F1 event ahead of the curve, Auld checks out similar events globally.

“I looked at other promoters around the world who do essentially the same as what we do,” he says.

“There are always variations, of course. But largely, in both sports, there’s an entire series of promoters out there that are doing something very similar to us.”

Tech-fueled advantage

Since joining AGPC, Auld has witnessed and helped steer the rise of new audiences for the Grand Prix, with demographics shifting notably younger and more gender diverse.

“For F1 here in Australia, we’ve seen a much larger shift to female attendees and younger attendees,” he says. “In 2024, 43 percent of our attendees were female – that has grown every year and is actually 10 percent higher than the global average.”

In addition to attracting a fresh audience, Auld says they’re using technology to refine the event experience for attendees. With tens of thousands of spectators attending over multiple days, managing crowds and optimizing space is paramount.

“Our greatest use of technology has been in terms of mapping attendance and traffic flows. We have 130-odd thousand people come through each day on Friday, Saturday and Sunday at Albert Park, so managing traffic flows throughout the park is really important,” he says.

“And if we want to grow attendance, then we have to get a better sense of where people spend their time, what areas they visit and what times they visit those areas. Getting this right will give us the opportunity to utilize capacity more efficiently and, ultimately, open up the potential for increased attendance at future events.”

Fast track to sustainability

Sustainability is a core focus for both the AGPC and F1, Auld explains.

“F1 has an aspiration to be net zero by 2030. We fully support this aspiration and have introduced a number of initiatives throughout the event over the last few years,” he says.

Since 2022, AGPC has conducted Scope 1, 2 and 3 carbon audits to gauge and reduce its greenhouse gas emissions. The organization is now procuring 100 percent certified green power for electricity and exploring alternatives like biofuels.

AGPC also emphasizes waste reduction and responsible resource use, from recycling coffee grounds to redistributing unused food.

“Last year we collected and distributed 22,000 meals on the back of our event,” Auld notes.

“We’re really putting a lot of effort into our sustainability initiatives.”

A high-octane culture

For Auld, building a strong culture within AGPC is essential to its success. As a values-driven leader, he knows that a positive, engaged workforce is critical to delivering memorable, high-quality events.

“It’s culture that separates companies. There’s a really strong link between a high-performing, positive culture and outcomes,” he says.

“If you want to achieve better outcomes, if you want to deliver better events, if you want to create better experiences, then that really starts with a really strong, healthy, vibrant culture within the organization.”

Auld says he’s inherited an AGPC team with a solid cultural foundation and is focused on keeping that momentum going.

“For me as a leader, it’s just about making sure there’s a focus on that; making sure there’s levels of accountability; making sure that there’s space and room in the organization for people to have those conversations.”

He emphasizes the importance of leading by example: “As a new leader in the organization, I’m very aware that I need to fit into the culture. It’s not about me as an individual, but about what the organization is trying to achieve.”

Pole position perks

For Auld, the most rewarding aspect of his role is seeing the event come to life and the joy it brings to so many fans.

“The sense of achievement at the end of an event, when you see the sorts of numbers of people come through the gates and to receive the feedback that we’ve received in terms of the experience people have had, that’s a very rewarding part of the role,” he says.

There’s also the opportunity to network, both at AGPC events and as a judge for The CEO Magazine’s 2024 Executive of the Year Awards, which he describes as an ‘inspiring’ experience.

“It’s nice to be considered worthy of being a judge – and I don’t take that responsibility lightly,” he says, adding that he enjoys the chance to learn from leaders in other industries.

While his role as CEO has its glamorous aspects, such as traveling to international races, Auld is quick to highlight the dedication of AGPC’s team, who work tirelessly to make each event successful.

“We ask a lot of our people leading into events, during events. They work enormous hours. The focus is on the fans and making sure they have a great experience,” he says. “And some of that is not glamorous, but again, it’s hugely rewarding.”