Eco-supporters rule – sports clubs must wake up to the demands of younger fans

If sports brands, teams and athletes want to attract the support of a new generation of fans they’ll need to show greater CSR and environmental commitments than ever before, research shows.

Why it matters

The rapid rise and fall of the European Super League demonstrates that sport is about more than money and that organisations need to listen to fans – and what the younger generation wants is different to their elders.

The research

Market research company GWI’s study, The Sports Playbook, collates the views of some 23,000 internet users aged 16 to 64, who are interested in, play, or otherwise participate in sports across 15 countries. Eight in ten of these young sports fans follow soccer.

Key findings

• More than two thirds support environmental change, and they have significantly higher expectations than previous generations that sports people and teams should reflect and support these green values.
• They want to see action that helps the community, addresses inequality and promotes sustainability. This new generation of fans sees sport and politics as increasingly interconnected.
• Brands shouldn’t hesitate to invest in women’s sports, with 60% of fans watching or following at least one women’s sports league or Among women, this figure rises to 70%.
  

Key takeaway

Younger people are no longer necessarily participating in sports that interested their parents but are following the sports they play themselves. Fans of the future are likely to be spread across sports rather differently than they are today. In the US, for example, American football is the top sport followed by adults but it drops to fourth place among sports played by young people.

Sourced from GWI