Pitch Perfect: Where music & sport meet
IQ steps up to the plate to learn what's driving the crossover growth of live music at sporting events, including the World Cup and Olympics
Feature By Hanna Ellington | 29 January 2026
After the 2010 AFL Grand Final ended in a draw, Mushroom Events’ Anna Toman had one week and a million-dollar budget to find a star for the sudden rematch’s halftime show. “I’m thinking, ‘Oh my god!’ I rang Michael Gudinski and told him Lionel Richie’s in Hong Kong this week – five days later, Lionel Richie was here.
After the 2010 AFL Grand Final ended in a draw, Mushroom Events’ Anna Toman had one week and a million-dollar budget to find a star for the sudden rematch’s halftime show.
“I’m thinking, ‘Oh my god!’ I rang Michael Gudinski and told him Lionel Richie’s in Hong Kong this week – five days later, Lionel Richie was here. He played that Grand Final, and it was…
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