From memes of Tyrese Haliburton doing Reggie Miller’s famous choke celebration to a seemingly neverending stream of international soccer content leading up to the FIFA World Cup, sports are everywhere these days—even if you’re not on NBA Twitter.
In fact, more than half (56%) of US adults watch sports in some capacity at least once a week, according to a survey conducted by independent ad agency PMG. A similar share (51%) said the performance of their favorite team or athlete has some impact on their mood.
The survey was conducted Sept. 30–Oct. 9 among 1,200 people over the age of 18 in the US who watch sports “at least once every few months.”
“The days of simply watching a game and turning off the TV when it’s over are long gone; modern sports have transformed into a cultural phenomenon that keeps fans connected before, during, and after the game,” PMG wrote in a report about the survey results.
In addition to providing insights into why and how fans engage with sports, the report explores the role of brands in the sports ecosystem, the evolving crossover between athletes and creators, and what other trends are on the horizon for sports.
Here are some of the report’s takeaways.
Loyalty test: Sometimes, sports fans are born, not made. According to PMG, being raised as a fan of a team from childhood is a top factor that contributes to fan loyalty, along with living in the city a team plays in. Smaller shares of respondents said they’re loyal to a team because it was the first one they watched when they started following a sport, or because their friends are fans. Less than 20% said they’re loyal to a team because it’s trendy—so sports fans, fear not the bandwagon.
PMG’s report suggests that advertisers can capitalize on these findings by leaning into regional and local approaches to their sports marketing and customizing their messaging to each community to maximize brand loyalty.
Generational fandom: While many people come to sports fandom at a young age, their preferences for engaging with sports shift across generations, PMG found. Gen Z has more of a “communal focus” when it comes to their fandom, with 46% saying they participate in viewing parties, according to the report; among older generations, though, the act of watching games and their outcomes is more important than socializing. Millennials are particularly attached to team performance, PMG found.
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“Gen Z’s emphasis on community engagement, rather than strict allegiance to individual teams, indicates a new form of sports fandom that values shared experiences over traditional loyalty,” the report’s authors wrote. “Meanwhile, the strong emotional connection seen among millennials and Generation X fans highlights the importance for brands to leverage the significant impact sports can have on personal identity and loyalty, especially within these emotionally invested fan segments.”
Brands might consider taking generational differences into consideration when crafting their sports marketing strategies, embracing community-oriented digital and social content for Gen Z and focusing on team loyalty and rituals for millennials and Gen X, per the report.
Follow the leader: It’s not only the fans that sports marketers should consider—it’s the athletes, too. PMG found that 51% of survey respondents connect specific brands with their favorite sports teams or players, and that a quarter take an athlete’s values into account when thinking about brands. Marketers who partner with athletes that have similar values to those of their brands, therefore, will likely make more authentic connections with consumers, according to the report.
Then there are sports content creators, who “have become integral to how younger fans consume and interact with sports” and “compete with traditional athletes for influence,” per PMG. Almost half (44%) of millennials follow sports content creators. Brands may want to consider partnering with these figures in addition to athletes, PMG suggests.
Paradox of choice: In addition to the growing cache of sports content online, fans and brands have a broadening slate of sports and leagues to engage with, as niche sports like pickleball become more popular and new women’s leagues, like the Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) and the Pro Volleyball Federation, are introduced.
A majority of US adults still mostly follow traditional sports, per the survey, but 40% said they’ve started to pay attention to emerging sports “to some extent” as well. The United Football League has gained the largest share of attention, followed by League One Volleyball, the United Soccer League, esports, the PWHL, and pickleball, according to the report.