News & Insight
Posted on November 21, 2024
By Two Circles
Global sports’ fanbase will grow from 3.2 billion to 4 billion by 2033, creating a significant opportunity to drive value across the industry. However, as we explore in our latest findings – Nurturing Lifelong Fandoms – most fans will remain casual rather than core, with sports is fuelled by pockets of passion.
Currently, 66% of sports consumption comes from just 20% of the most dedicated fans. Yet the untapped potential lies in the remaining 80% of casual fans, who often hold substantial untapped intent, interest and spending power.
In this next phase of growth opportunity, rights holders and brands face two fundamental challenges in growing their audiences: Maximising engagement of passionate core fans and optimising engagement among casual fans while building pathways to obsession.
Knowledge of fans – understanding who they are and what they want – will be the differentiator that drives winning organizations towards these strategies. This whitepaper explores in further depth three levers that organizations can pull in order to nurture fandom. How sports properties and brands grow their audiences most effectively, by tailoring approaches to fans at different stages of their fandom, will be a key battleground over the coming years. And right now.
Knowledge is Passion
Knowledgeable fans are more passionate fans. By focusing on creating more knowledgeable fans, sports can build pathways to curiosity and knowledge, therefore creating stronger fandom.
Our data reveals a significant ‘knowledge gap’ between core and casual fans, with casual fans, on average, knowing three times less than cores across multiple touchpoints. To transform curiosity into habitual consumption and eventually obsession, IP holders must find ways to enhance fans’ knowledge of their sports and products. Greater knowledge sparks curiosity, fueling a virtuous cycle that can drive long-term rewards for IP owners.
Building fan knowledge is essential for sparking and sustaining curiosity. As we know, core fans are three times more knowledgeable than casual fans and for Gen Z, social media (35%) has overtaken live viewing (33%) as the primary source of knowledge building. Strengthening pathways to curiosity and knowledge fosters deeper fan engagement.
One barrier to accessing this increase in knowledge on social media has been the apparent risk of patronising your core audiences. However, as platforms and feeds become more and more curated, educational forms of content will become increasingly apparent.
And many are already doing this. For example, 30% of the AELTC’s social content strategy for The Championships 2024 is non-tennis-related – creating broad content that appeals and connects with casual fans.
Friction is the Enemy:
For many sports, focusing on removing fan friction is just as important as increasing motivation when nurturing lifelong fandoms. By removing ‘friction’ from as many stages as possible, sports can simplify the engagement process for both casuals and cores. In a nutshell, make being a fan as easy as possible.
Fan Friction, such as a reduction of disposable income, time or injury, is the primary reason for half of sports fandoms to fall from their peak. While 50% of sports fandoms are formed by age 14, 90% of those decline before age 30 with life events – changing schools, leaving home, starting work or having children – often getting in the way.
50%
While 50% of sports fandoms are formed by age 14, 90% of those decline before age 30 with life events
So how can we prevent this decline? Digitally enabled platforms and tactics are creating new ways for sports properties and brands to identify and mitigate against this risk of friction for fans watching, playing, following or attending.
By nurturing casual fans in manageable ways and addressing their sources of friction, IP owners can increase the likelihood that fans will return to their favourite sports with greater enthusiasm as their circumstances change.
Advocacy is Exponential:
Core fans are your biggest advocates and loudest voices. By creating spaces that empower them to share their passion, you can amplify their reach and bring casual fans along on the journey. Perception and engagement shape fandom, and by building and engaging advocates, you increase the chances of turning casual fans into core fans.
Social connections and communities shape interests and perceptions, with isolated fans – those who support a team alone – only 12% likely to be defined as ‘passionate’. However, this jumps significantly to 79% once they share their passion with a community of like-minded fans.
When fans strongly connect with a brand’s values, advocacy grows. 21% of fans are likely to advocate when they understand a club’s values, as well as 16% when fans will that their clubs prioritise them. For Gen Z, “love for the brand” is the top motivator for online advocacy, laying the foundation for passionate cores to share and amplify IP.
Known audiences, who are twice as likely to advocate for a sports property as earned audiences, highlight the importance of data-driven strategies and deeper engagement through owned channels rather than broader touchpoints like broadcasts or third-party platforms.
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