This report unravels the complex Canadian sports fan’s preferences, engagement and spending habits on sports media. It addresses crucial industry challenges and opportunities, divulges the latest trends in sports media spending across demographics, and emphasizes the necessity for brands to adapt to changing consumer expectations. All aspects of sports media consumption are explored in this report, including the use of social media platforms for sports, the use of AI analytics in sports broadcasting, traditional TV preferences, the emergence of VR broadcasting and innovative blockchain technology for fan engagement.
This report looks at the following areas:
- Sports followed by consumers (as a fan)
- How and why fans watch sports
- How fans follow sports when not watching
- How much time and money fans are spending on sports media
- How fans are engaging with athletes and sports-related celebrities
- How brands can better monetize sports
Canadian sports fans desire affordable media, with diverse sports interest by age, gender and ethnicity. Youth prefer streaming, while elders stick to traditional media. Sustainability, VR, AI shape future of sport media.
Michael Lloy, Research Analyst
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Executive summary
- What you need to know
- What consumers want & why
- Market predictions
- Opportunities
- Leverage social media partnerships and audiences
- Embrace blockchain technology
- Champion sustainability
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The Market
- Market context
- Navigating challenges in the 2024 sports media landscape: strategies for success
- Market drivers
- Costs remain elevated for Canadians
- Graph 1: Consumer Price Index, 2020-24
- Economic indicators signal potential shifts in sports consumer spending amid lower gas prices and high living costs
- Inflation continues to be a primary concern for Canadians across all age groups, but it is particularly troubling for older Canadians
- Graph 2: top three concerns over the next six months, 2024
- Canadians' higher savings rates persist post pandemic amid inflation and economic uncertainty
- Graph 3: household savings rate, 2019-24
- Canada's demographic shift: the growing importance of genuine diversity in marketing and media
- Graph 4: proportion of visible minority in Canada, 1981-2036 (projected)
- Canada's ageing population: brands must adapt engagement strategies for growing elderly demographic
- Graph 5: population aged 0-14 and 65+, 2000-40 (projected)
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Consumer Insights
- The modern sports fan
- The majority of consumers watch sports for a very simple reason – they enjoy it
- Graph 6: main reasons to watch sports (% any rank), 2024
- Viewership of football, basketball, baseball and soccer have increased since 2022
- Graph 7: sports followed as a fan, 2022 vs 2024
- By sport, reasons for fan engagement can differ quite significantly
- Graph 8: main reasons (select) to watch sports (% any rank), by sports followed as a fan, 2024
- By sport, reasons for fan engagement can differ quite significantly
- Graph 9: main reasons (select) to watch sports (% any rank), by sports followed as a fan, 2024
- Uncharted opportunities: older consumers – and women – are significantly less likely to follow sports
- Centring women in sports media can help increase viewership among that demographic
- Age can significantly dictate sports taste
- Graph 10: sports followed as a fan, by age, 2024
- Engaging diverse audiences calls for tailored strategies
- Younger women are just as interested in pro wrestling and hockey as younger men
- Graph 11: followed pro wrestling as a fan, by age and gender, 2024
- Graph 12: followed hockey as a fan, by age and gender, 2024
- Hockey fandom is generally suffering among younger consumers, while there are serious opportunities to engage women
- There are clear ethnic splits in sports fandoms within Canada
- Graph 13: sports followed as a fan, by race, 2024
- For some consumers, fandom means engaging with non-traditional forms of sports media
- Graph 14: "I would rather play sports video games than watch sports," by age and gender, 2024
- Monetizing sports: subscriptions and ads
- On average, sports fans spend $32 on sports per month
- Men aged 25-44 are, on average, bigger spenders when it comes to sports
- Graph 15: average sports media spend, by age and gender, 2024
- Lululemon collaborated with Zac Bell and the NHL to promote its new NHL gear
- Fans of hockey typically spend less on sports media than other fandoms
- Graph 16: average sports media spend, by sports followed as a fan, 2024
- Betting on sports elevates fandom, overall
- Graph 17: sports followed as a fan, sports betters vs sports followers overall, 2024
- Black and South Asian consumers spend significantly more on average on sports media
- Graph 18: average monthly spend on sports media, Black and South Asian consumers vs overall, 2024
- On the whole, Canadians feel that access to sports media is too expensive
- Graph 19: sports media subscription spend attitudes (% agree), 2024
- Older consumers are more likely to find access to sports media too expensive
- Graph 20: access to sports media is too expensive (% agree), by age, 2024
- Younger consumers equally willing to purchase sports packages from streaming providers and traditional cable
- Graph 21: attitudes towards sports packages (% agree), by age, 2024
- Team loyalty can be a large driver of fandom and brands have the opportunity to leverage this
- Graph 22: "I am interested in purchasing streaming packages for particular team seasons for my favourite sports teams" (% agree), by age and gender, 2024
- Black and South Asian consumers are both significantly more likely to desire purchasing a specific subscription to their favourite teams' seasons
- Graph 23: "I am interested in purchasing streaming packages for particular team seasons for my favourite sports teams" (% agree), Black and South Asian consumers vs overall, 2024
- A large minority of sports fans will purchase things they see advertised during events
- Graph 24: attitudes towards ads in sports (% agree), 2024
- Brands capture the attention of arena crowds with digitally-enhanced signage
- Viewing habits
- Consumers spend nearly two-full work days consuming sports media, per week
- Because of sole fandom, hockey and auto racing fans watch sports for significantly less time on average than most other sports
- Graph 25: average hours spent watching sports, by sport followed as a fan, 2024
- Traditional mediums, like cable, remain the top-utilized method by which consumers are consuming live sports
- Graph 26: method of watching live sporting events in the past six months, 2024
- Younger consumers are gravitating to smartphone viewership over cable, but a wider range of consumers are accessing sports streaming services
- Graph 27: method of watching live sporting events in the past six months (select), by age, 2024
- MLS promoted digital options for watching its games
- There is significant demand for better sports streaming functionality on major streaming platforms
- Graph 28: major streaming apps should have more sports functionality (% agree), by age and gender, 2024
- Younger consumers are more likely to prefer watching sports in public settings
- Graph 29: method of watching live sporting events in the past six months (select), by age, 2024
- Younger consumers are significantly more likely to watch sports solely as a social activity
- Graph 30: "I only watch sports as part of a group," by age and gender, 2024
- Black consumers are nearly twice as likely to have watched sports via smartphone in the past three months
- Graph 31: live sports watched on a smartphone in the past six months, by race, 2024
- Engagement in sports culture
- When not watching live events, the majority of sports fans tend to follow sports using video mediums
- Graph 32: method of following favourite teams/leagues outside of live-watching, 2024
- A sizeable minority of sports fans are loyal to individual athletes over teams, showcasing the power of celebrity in sports
- "New" media is dominated by younger consumers, while "old" media sees higher engagement with Gen X and Boomers
- Graph 33: method of following favourite teams/leagues outside of live-watching, by age, 2024
- Younger consumers – specifically younger men – can be drawn in by celebrity involvement in their sports
- Graph 34: "I am more interested in consuming sports when celebrities I like are involved", by age and gender, 2024
- Younger consumers are significantly more interested in individual athletes, both to follow their athletic achievements and in their personalities
- Graph 35: attitudes towards athletes (% agree), by age and gender, 2024
- Lower income Canadians are following sports on TikTok and YouTube, while higher income Canadians lean towards blogs and radio
- Graph 36: method of following favourite teams/leagues outside of live-watching (select), by household income, 2024
- A significant minority of social media userbases utilize the platforms to follow sports
- Graph 37: using social media to follow favourite teams/leagues outside of live-watching, by daily users of each platform, 2024
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Competitive strategies
- Launch activity and innovation
- VR broadcasting is bringing fans closer than ever to the action
- In a relatively fun ad, Meta promoted courtside sports for the MetaQuest
- Sports leagues are maximizing second screen engagement via AR mobile sports app integrations
- New AI analytics give sports fans a mouthwatering amount of data to sift through
- The new sports media frontier: streaming platforms and social media
- Blockchain and sports tokens offer alternate revenue streams for sports brands
- Sustainability is making waves in sporswear
- Marketing and advertising
- Facebook, Instagram and YouTube are the most widely utilized platforms on a daily basis
- Graph 38: daily social media usage, by age, 2024
- DAZN's top-engaged post humanizes top athletes
- Sports brands commonly promote their events and programming across social media platforms
- The NFL commonly promotes celebrities and relies on social media star power, especially around the Superbowl
- Netflix is securing big ticket events in order to make waves with its transition to live sporting event streaming
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Appendix
- Consumer research questions
- Consumer research methodology
- Generations
- Abbreviations and terms
- Abbreviations and terms (cont'd)
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