52 INSIGHTS: The Enhanced Games, When Sport Breaks The Rules

In late 2025, a new sporting experiment is rattling traditional values: the Enhanced Games, an ‘Olympics-style’ event where performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) are permitted, under 'medical supervision.' For many young athletes and fans, it’s framed as freedom and fairness, but for others, it's a dangerous gamble with an unpredictable future. But with the rising costs of living and financial precarity, athletes like our own Shane Ryan are making tough choices.

In this week’s edition of 52 Insights, we are delving into The Enhanced Games and what this new, controversial sporting event means for culture, for brands and indeed the sports industry as a whole.

Pushing limits and breaking rules

Sport has long been celebrated for discipline, fairness, and pushing natural limits. But the economic reality for many elite athletes, especially outside of high-paying commercial sports, is far from glamorous. According to Shane Ryan (Swimmer and ex Olympian), after many years competing for Ireland, he earned well below a living wage, just '€18,000 for a number of years.'

The Enhanced Games, conceived by Aron D'Souza, propose to overturn traditional rules: allow the use of PEDs (performance-enhancing drugs, or steroids more colloquially), so long as athletes are medically monitored, and reward record-breaking performances with financial prizes - up to $500,000 per event, plus a $1 million bonus for world record results.

Backed by wealthy (and controversial) investors including Peter Thiel, the Games are not just a sports experiment but a business and philosophical challenge to what 'sport' means in the 21st century. Recently, they’ve been valued at 1.2bn (including debt, and dependent on an in-progress merger), meaning a strong future looks likely.

That 1.2bn evaluation comes at a telling time for contemporary sporting figures. For younger athletes and fans in a world of economic precarity, spiralling costs, and uncertain future, the idea of 'being rewarded fairly for pushing yourself', even if that means using drugs, has a seductive appeal. But at the same time, major sporting bodies and health experts caution that this could compromise athlete wellbeing, encourage risky behaviour, and erode trust in competition.

Money and survival

For many Olympic-level athletes, competing just doesn’t pay the bills. In reality, decades of sacrifice, training, early mornings, and limited earnings often leave athletes with minimal financial security and sport-worn bodies. The Enhanced Games’ offer of high cash pay-outs and a chance to monetise 'peak physical performance' presents a stark alternative.

This economic incentive isn’t hypothetical. Ryan said that with the Enhanced Games, he could 'make six figures' in nine months, with a shot at $600,000 if he performs well. In a climate where housing, cost of living and long-term stability are constant worries, especially for young people, the promise of financial reward is powerful.

A fundamental shift

That challenge to conventional sporting ethics reframes PEDs from 'cheating' to 'enhancement,' akin to technology or medicine. For some young people used to self-optimisation (in fitness, diet, mental health, biohacking), this reframing resonates, a shift from moral condemnation to acceptance of enhancement as part of human evolution. All of this is set against the backdrop of repeated Olympic doping scandals, questioning the validity of a clean sport in the first place.

But critics argue this undermines decades of anti-doping work and the ethos of fairness. As Sport Ireland warned, the event 'risks compromising athlete wellbeing' and sends 'an insidious message - especially to all young athletes.'

In countries including Ireland, gyms and wellness culture are seeing a surge in anabolic steroid and PED use among young people. Experts warn that steroids are being normalised, with side effects such as fertility issues, anxiety, sleep problems and cardiovascular risks.

But for many young people accustomed to self-improvement, body sculpting, and 'hacking' their biology, the lure of controlled doping (such as in the Enhanced Games) or extreme optimisation (as offered by Bryan Johnson’s Blueprint) fits into a broader cultural shift: treat your body like a project, and upgrade it.

A reputational crisis

Because the Enhanced Games are backed by high-profile, controversial investors such as Peter Thiel, the project carries baggage beyond sport. Brands may see an opportunity to align with a disruptive, headline-grabbing event, but risk an association with doping, health dangers, and ethical backlash.

For national sport bodies and clean sport advocates, the stakes are high. They must decide whether to ostracise athletes like Ryan, refuse funding or support, and uphold the principles of fair competition, even if it means losing talent or relevance.

This tension reveals a deeper question for global sport: should fairness, safety, and tradition bend under pressure of market forces and profit, or should they remain foundational?

The future of competition

The Enhanced Games might be a niche experiment now, but it’s already nudging global sport into uncharted territory. For many young athletes around the world, especially those from less privileged backgrounds or countries with limited funding, the lure of money, autonomy over their bodies, and freedom to push the limits can feel liberating. As Shane Ryan put it in response to Taoiseach Micheál Martin’s condemnation, 'People’s opinions aren’t going to pay me. They’re not going to help me set up my future.'

If the trend grows, more athletes sign up, more record-breaking performances get publicised, and sponsors start to pay attention, we could see a slow shift in how youth perceive sport: not as fair competition, but as performance theatre, where enhancement, not just natural talent or hard work, becomes the currency. As explored in one of our earlier issues, niche pockets of young people are already pushing the boundaries in pursuit of their own version of physical perfection.

Yet the risks, physical, ethical, and reputational, are real. Health experts and sports regulators warn of long-term harm: national bodies worry about what message this sends to aspiring young athletes. The backlash in Ireland, condemnation by Sport Ireland, Swim Ireland, and even the Taoiseach, shows just how high the stakes already are.

The future remains uncertain, but one thing is clear: the debate sparked by the Enhanced Games is forcing us all (athletes, fans, brands) to ask: what do we value when we watch or compete? Peak performance? Integrity? Fairness? Or profit-fuelled spectacle?

For brands, especially those targeting younger consumers or investing in sports sponsorship, the rise of the Enhanced Games poses a real dilemma. Associating with the Games could bring visibility and tap into a rebellious, trans humanist dream of 'performance without limits.' But it also carries serious reputational risk.

As one Irish journalist put it, brands should be wary of 'faux-scientific arguments' backed by billionaires chasing profit, not athlete welfare. Sponsoring the Enhanced Games could alienate consumers who value authenticity, fairness, and long-term health, especially for a generation increasingly focused on ethics and trust.

If a brand’s values lean toward sustainability and fairness, a safer bet is to back grassroots sport, clean sport programmes, or wellbeing initiatives.

Ultimately, partnering with controversy may gain attention, but at what cost?

Invitation: Climate Cocktail Club Christmas party!

Climate Cocktail Club is hosting another incredible event on December 11th focused on sport. Game Changer will explore how rising temperatures, shifting weather patterns and sustainability pressures are reshaping everything from stadium design to sponsorship deals. You’ll hear from the likes of Bohemian Football Club and Munster Rugby. Find more information on the event here. If you’d like to attend, please reach out to your Client Service contact. THINKHOUSE are proud Brand Partners of Climate Cocktail Club.