For decades, the greatest risks in professional sport appeared relatively straightforward. Athletes got injured, events were cancelled by bad weather, and insurers priced policies accordingly. That picture is becoming more complicated.
According to David Griffiths, Senior Advisor for Sport and Entertainment at Miller, some of the most significant exposures facing sporting organisations today originate far beyond the field of play. Griffiths has spent 30 of his 35 years in insurance broking focused exclusively on sport, advising organisations including the Football Association, the Premier League, FIFA and the British Olympic Association.
The changes are most visible in the event cancellation market.
One of the defining principles of insurance is that risk must remain uncertain. Once an event becomes known, cover becomes difficult or impossible to secure.
"Known events can't be insured," Griffiths said. "If something's already happened, you're not going to be able to take out a policy to cover it."
That distinction has become increasingly important as geopolitical tensions have intensified. Organisations that secured cancellation cover earlier in the year were able to obtain protection against disruptions linked to conflicts in the Middle East, including the situation involving Iran. Those entering the market later faced a different set of conditions as insurers reassessed exposures and introduced exclusions.
"As things change, exclusions come into policies," Griffiths said. "We're always telling our clients: as soon as you know you're planning an event, start thinking about insurance at that point – because you're never going to have broader cover than you have at day one."
The challenge for organisers is that insurability itself can disappear over time. A geopolitical flashpoint that remains uncertain today may become an excluded exposure tomorrow once insurers view it as a known risk.
The result is a growing premium on preparation. Insurance is no longer simply a procurement exercise carried out shortly before an event. Increasingly, it forms part of the planning process itself.
For spectators, major sporting events often appear seamless. Behind the scenes, organisers are dealing with a growing web of operational risks.
This year alone, Griffiths said, clients have submitted claims relating to cancelled and rerouted flights, venue changes and equipment shipments redirected around international disruption.
"Those behind-the-scenes issues people don't really see," he said, "but they have huge cost implications for event managers."
The challenge is becoming more acute as global sport expands into increasingly complex markets. The upcoming FIFA World Cup and preparations for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics are generating fresh demand for advice around contractual and liability exposures, particularly in the United States.
"Events in the US do tend to have different types of exposures," Griffiths said. "It's a very litigious environment."
The risks attracting attention are often those that would have sat outside traditional conversations about sport only a decade ago.
The shift is equally evident in player injury insurance. Conventional wisdom suggests the greatest threat to a professional athlete's career comes from competition itself. Griffiths said advances in sports medicine have changed that equation.
"Career-ending injuries are now reasonably rare from on-field sporting incidents," he said. "There's potentially a higher risk from off-field incidents than from playing injuries, because medical support is so strong."
The observation highlights how risk evolves alongside the industries insurers serve. As treatment, rehabilitation and performance science improve, some of the assumptions that once shaped underwriting no longer hold in the same way.
Player injury insurance remains a critical protection for athletes whose earning potential depends on their ability to compete. Yet the nature of the threat being insured is no longer exactly what it was a generation ago.
Weather presents a similar challenge. Outdoor sports remain exposed to disruption, particularly cricket, but changing weather patterns are forcing insurers to reassess how those risks are modelled and priced.
"Sport is very exposed to weather," Griffiths said, "particularly cricket."
The complexity of modern sport helps explain why Miller's 55-person sports and entertainment team works exclusively within the sector.
"We build our teams around dedication to the sector," Griffiths said. "We don't work with clients outside the sector. It's 100% focused on the area."
The firm's recruitment of former professional athletes reflects the same philosophy. Griffiths said their experience helps advisers understand not only the insurance implications of injury, but also the physical demands, medical realities and career pressures that shape risk in elite sport.
"It's really important around the playing side, the injury side – where you understand the stresses of day-to-day life as a professional sports person and, to some degree, the medical aspects and potential injuries that come out of it," he said.
For Griffiths, the broader lesson extends beyond sport. Markets often regarded as high risk become easier to assess once insurers develop a deep understanding of the underlying exposures.
"The fear of high-risk areas within general broking, and certainly underwriting, is real," he said. "But you can't underwrite a high-risk area if you don't understand it thoroughly. Once you do, you understand there's always a rate, there's always a price for risk."
The challenge for insurers is not that sport has become uninsurable. It is that the risks increasingly shaping events, athletes and organisations sit far beyond the field of play.
