CAST x MCC

Partnership Proposal

CAST x MCC

CAST x MCC

CAST x MCC

The Melbourne Cricket Club operates one of the most significant venues in world sport, with a membership base, an events calendar and an operational footprint that few organisations in Australia match. The technology being built for venues, live events, membership and fan experience is moving faster than any single organisation can track, and most of it is built by companies MCC will never encounter through a standard procurement process.

The Melbourne Cricket Club operates one of the most significant venues in world sport, with a membership base, an events calendar and an operational footprint that few organisations in Australia match. The technology being built for venues, live events, membership and fan experience is moving faster than any single organisation can track, and most of it is built by companies MCC will never encounter through a standard procurement process.

CAST connects the entertainment industry with the technology ecosystem. Through our platforms, we map what companies are building, match it to the problems an industry faces, and track what gets adopted.

This proposal sets out a two year engagement. Year one builds the framework. Year two hands it over. The goal is to make technology trial and adoption part of how MCC staff work every day.

The position

The position

MCC does not need to buy innovation. It needs the internal muscle to find, assess and adopt technology on its own terms.

Every activity in this proposal is built around one principle. The staff who own a problem are the ones in control of solving it, with real technology built for the industry.


What MCC receives

What MCC receives

$1,250 per year

CAST platform subscription · Access to every CAST tool. Five seats are included.

MCC gets a live view of the technology landscape mapped to venue, membership and live event challenges.

MCC can shortlist tools against real internal problems, keep a record of what has been trialled, adopted and retired, and give staff a place to search technology the moment a problem surfaces rather than waiting for the next scheduled session. Additional seats are available on request.

MCC group view

MCC group view

A dedicated view shaped around MCC’s challenge set. This becomes the organisational record of what MCC has looked at and why decisions went the way they did.

BURGER.OS · Network intelligence

MCC Group View

Mapped challenges

The live challenge register

Shortlisted tools

Matched to real internal problems

Active trials

Three light lift trials in year one

Adoption record

Trialled, adopted and retired, with reasons

The two year timeline

The two year timeline

Four phases in sequence. Three threads that never stop. Four hard milestones.

Select a phase to open its detail

Month 0

3

9

18

24

M3

M9

M15

M24

Twelve month adoption plan agreed

Month 3

Three technologies in trial

Month 9 · end of Q2 2027

Medium lift platform implemented

Month 15 · end of 2027, mid phase 03

Heavy lift platform rolled out

Month 24

Running threads · these never stop

Monthly on site day

One day a month, every month, in the space with staff and startups working through live trials and additional support.

Between-session support

Champions have CAST available in the weeks between. Vendor calls, process work, blockers.

Continuous problem discovery

The challenge register is a living document, not a one time exercise. Every session and trial retro adds to it. New problems enter constantly from functions not in the original cohort.

How we drive change · Champions

It takes only a handful of committed and curious team members to change the direction of an organisation. Year one identifies three function leads, one for each technology in trial. Year two adds another three, recruited and coached by the first. That is how this stops being a CAST program and becomes something MCC runs.


What is a champion?

They feel the problem. They can describe it in specifics without being prompted, and they would still want it solved if CAST were not in the room. Authority is common; ownership is not.


  • They have their team behind them. Adoption happens in the daily work of a team, not in a leadership decision.They can make the call.

  • They can commit their function to a trial, and end one, without escalating.

  • A champion is the person who owns the problem, not the person with innovation in their title. If the champion is chosen for enthusiasm rather than ownership, adoption ends the day they change roles.

What CAST gives them

Protected time · Agreed at the alignment session.

Vendor cover · Champions do not run procurement conversations alone against a founder who does this every week. CAST sits in.

A cohort · The three champions meet as a group, not as three separate trials. It gives them peers when something stalls, and it is what makes them capable of coaching the next three.

Year one to year two

Year one

Year two

Champions
Focus
CAST role
Running total

3, coached by CAST
Light lift trials
Leading
3

3 more, recruited by the first cohort
Medium and heavy lift
Supporting
6

Year one program

Year one program

1. Alignment session

1. Alignment session

A 90 minute session with MCC leadership before anything else begins. We agree the named leadership sponsor, the functions the first three champions come from, the weekly time protected for them, what success looks like at three, six and twelve months, and which problems are genuinely open to being solved differently.

2. Technology planning and adoption strategy

2. Technology planning and adoption strategy

The first three months set up everything that follows. Discovery across departments builds the challenge register, a public call for technology brings in and triages inbound interest, platforms are bucketed into light, medium and heavy lift adoption tiers, and a twelve month adoption plan is set with named owners and milestones.

The output is a plan MCC can act on, not a report.

3. Launch announcement · within 6 weeks

3. Launch announcement · within 6 weeks

A joint press announcement positioning MCC as taking a public position on technology adoption in Australian sport and entertainment. It also serves a working purpose: a public call for technology built for venues, membership organisations and live events, inviting founders to come forward with solutions.

Outcome: a pipeline of solutions that exists because MCC asked for it.

4. Ongoing adoption support

4. Ongoing adoption support

Champion coaching and vendor management. Between-session support. One day a month on site, with staff and startups working out of the space. Continuous challenge register maintenance.

Additional opportunities

These sit outside the core engagement and can be added at any point.

01 · Quarterly

Founder sessions

MCC staff in working conversations with founders building at the centre of entertainment. A selected group or open to whole company. Run as a series across the year to get staff curious about technology.

02 · With Solaris

AI capability

An AI education program with Solaris by Build Club: team diagnostics lead into role-based courses mapped to daily work, turning early adopters into AI champions.

03 · Optional activation

MCC challenge hackathon

A public-facing hackathon built around MCC’s operational challenges, bringing staff and external builders together to develop ideas with real application. Working with Build Club

04 · Scoped to participants

League and team technology sessions

Focused sessions for leagues and teams that work with MCC, extending the technology adoption conversation beyond the club.

Year two

Year two

Year one exists to make year two possible. By month twelve MCC has a live challenge register, three champions who have run trials end to end, an internal record of what has been trialled, and a public reputation as an organisation that engages with technology builders.

Year two moves to medium and heavy lift implementation, and the first champion cohort recruits and coaches the second. CAST supports rather than drives.

  • Trial evaluation: retain, extend or retire

  • One medium lift implementation, champion led

  • Challenge register reviewed quarterly with function leads

  • Staff sourcing light lift tools independently

  • Heavy lift candidate scoped, including procurement and data requirements

Scope and investment are set at the twelve month review, against what year one actually produced.

Investment summary

Investment summary

CAST platform subscription, annual, five seats

$1,250

Technology planning and adoption strategy, months 1 to 3

*Fixed cost

$30,000

Alignment session, monthly on site day and between-session support

Included

Ongoing adoption support, months 4 to 12. ($7,500 pm)

*MCC can drop this at any point after month 3. Move back to lower level of support $2,500 pm

$67,500

Year one total

*If full year taken

$98,750

Year two scope and investment

Scoped at 9 month review

Scoped at 9 month review

Year two scope and investment are set at the nine month review against what year one actually produced.

Next steps

Next steps

1. MCC confirms interest in the partnership

2. Schedule the alignment session within four weeks of sign off

3. MCC names the leadership sponsor and the functions in scope for the first champion cohort

4. Agree joint announcement timing and messaging


Bringing the entertainment industry together, to create the future.

Connect with us

Bringing the entertainment industry together, to create the future.

Connect with us

Bringing the entertainment industry together, to create the future.

Connect with us