“In response to the growing consumer trend of more diverse sports interests and active lifestyles, brands are advised to develop tailored products that are both fashionable and functional, and that can cater to the broader needs of sports scenes. Future opportunities are seen in specialized sports goods for segmented trendy sports like biking or skiing, as well as in the realm of cybersports that leverage somatosensory and VR technologies. Additionally, there is significant potential for capitalizing on the passionate sports fans, particularly females aged 30-39, and enthusiasts of affluent sports like tennis, auto-racing, and golf. To sustain the long-term participation rates in trendy sports, it is also vital to keep strengthening consumer engagement through integrated offline sports activities, incorporating trendy, social and entertaining attributes to better draw young consumers.”
– Shannon Liu, Senior Research Analyst
Key Issues covered in this report:
- An overview of the current sports market – from current drivers and challenges to consumer and industrial trends as well as their implication to brands.
- Highlighting the innovative and successful strategies/practices in sports-related sectors, and the reasons behind these based on Mintel’s observations and expert opinions.
- Tracking of consumers’ participation rates and future interest in both mass and trendy sports in the last 12 months to detect opportunity areas.
- Investigation of the popularity of different sports events watched by consumers, and investigate the consumer profile, preferences, behaviour and interested sports-related activities of different types of sports fans.
- Decoding consumers’ opinions about factors that can lead them to be fans of a sports brand and their attitudes towards sports and active lifestyles, to understand the business implications for brands.
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Overview
- What you need to know
- Key Issues covered in this report
- Covered in this Report
- What you need to know
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Executive Summary
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- The market
- Authorities issued plans to promote the involvement of young people in sports activities
- Increased presence of sports facilities to drive sports participation
- Figure 1: Total number of sports venues (thousands), 2022
- Sports interests and needs are diversifying
- Marketing Activities
- Introduce fashionable and entertaining elements into mainstream sports
- Promoting a lively and energetic way of living via leveraging trendy sports activities
- Connecting with the young generation through online and offline community-focused marketing
- Market highlights
- Sports brands incorporating fashion styles
- Product innovations meeting the emerging needs in trendy sports settings
- Commercial real estate sector embracing the concept of “business + sports”
- The consumer
- Badminton remains most popular while ping-pong players are increasing among the youth
- Figure 2: Sports participation in the last 12 months, 2020 and 2023
- Young people’s engagement with the trendy sports is hard to maintain
- Figure 3: Participation rate in (trendy) sports in the last 12 months, 2020 and 2023
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- Figure 4: Re-participation and future participation interest in (trendy) sports in the last 12 months, 2023
- The biggest fan base is found at Olympic and football competitions, while young people tend to be drawn to basketball and e-gaming events
- Figure 5: Sports competition watched in the last 12 months, by age, 2023
- Opportunity to target females in their 30s with sports marketing events
- Figure 6: Interested sports-related activities: extremely interested, by age, 2023
- Catch GenZ through distinctive co-branding design and sports idols
- Figure 7: Factors for becoming sports brand’s fan, by age, 2023
- Help GenZ lead an active lifestyle within their financial means
- Figure 8: Behaviour tendency towards sports, by age, 2023
- What we think
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Issues and Insights
- Create goods cater to diverse segmented sports needs
- Figure 9: Women’s cycling jackaet inspired by the Classic of Mountains and Seas, by Neza, 2023
- Somatosensory and VR technology have fuelled the rise of cybersports
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- Figure 10: Pico 4 VR headset by ByteDance, 2023
- Capitalize on sports fans by tailored marketing strategies
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- Figure 11: Prada’s announcement to partner with the Chinese Women’s National Football Team, 2023
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- Figure 12: THE ROGER Pro Clay clay tennis shoes, 2023
- Create goods cater to diverse segmented sports needs
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Market Factors
- The scale of the national sports industry is expected to grow further rapidly
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- Figure 13: The Gross output value of the national sports industry, 2017-21
- More diverse sports interests and needs
- Imbalanced resource of sports venues
- Figure 14: Total number of sports venues (thousands), 2022
- Integration of sports and tourism
- Figure 15: Mountain climbing at Longxu mountain in Jixi, Anhui Province, 2023
- The scale of the national sports industry is expected to grow further rapidly
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Marketing Activities
- Inject social, trendy and entertainment attributes into mass sports
- Figure 16: Street Ball Bully Beijing Station, 2023
- Marketing activities centering around a vibrant lifestyle
- Figure 17: “Road Life Festival” held by Xiaohongshu in Shanghai, 2023
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- Figure 18: “Outdoors Life Festival” held by Douyin, 2023
- Leading sports brands keep enhancing their community marketing
- Upgrade offline community marketing by conveying unique brand value
- Figure 19: “Summer Fun Challenge” held by Lululemon, 2023
- Nike are undergoing digital transformation of its online consumer platforms
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- Figure 20: Contents of Nike app in China, 2023
- Inject social, trendy and entertainment attributes into mass sports
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Market Highlights
- Cross-border cooperation of sports brands to incorporate fashion trends
- Figure 21: The MINE77 collection cobranded by Burton and Run DMC, 2023
- New commercial model – “business + Sports”
- Figure 22: the effect diagram of “SS-ONE project and the completed outdoor Kerry Stone American Football Field, located in Shunyi District in Beijing, 2023
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- Figure 23: Xuperman coffeeshop by Xuxin, in Shanghai, 2023
- Develop products tailored to specific customer needs in sports scenes.
- Audi activesphere concept car integrates personal mobility, outdoor lifestyle and sustainability
- Figure 24: Audi Activesphere concept car, 2023
- Earbuds designed specifically for sports scenes
- Figure 25: Open-ear earbuds by Shokz(韶音), 2023
- Luxury brands are making a foray into the trendy sports sector to draw GenZ
- Figure 26: Linea Rossa collection by Prada and Faction, 2023
- Cross-border cooperation of sports brands to incorporate fashion trends
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Sports Participation
- Badminton remains most popular while Ping-Pong players are increasing among the youth
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- Figure 27: Sports participation in the last 12 months, 2020 and 2023
- Males and females have distinctive sports preferences
- Figure 28: Sports participation in the last 12 months, by gender, 2023
- Different age groups have distinctive pursuits in sports
- Figure 29: Sports participation in the last 12 months, by age, 2023
- Opportunities lie in multi-child families, new moms, and highly-educated groups
- Figure 30: Sports participation in the last 12 months of selected demographics, 2023
- Badminton remains most popular while Ping-Pong players are increasing among the youth
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Interest in Participating in Trendy Sports/Fitness Activities
- Hiking and biking are the two most popular trendy sports
- Figure 31: participation in (trendy) sports in the last 12 months, 2023
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- Figure 32: Participation rate in (trendy) sports in the last 12 months, 2020 and 2023
- Major opportunities are seen in hiking/backpacking, biking and skiing/snowboarding
- Figure 33: Re-participation and future participation interest in (trendy) sports in the last 12 months, 2023
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- Figure 34: Re-participation and future participation interest in (niche) sports in the last 12 months, by age, 2023
- Niche and trendy sports enthusiasts also actively participate in mass sports activities
- Figure 35: Participation rate of mass sports, by consumers who have participated and have future interest in selected trendy sports in the last 12 months, 2023
- Hiking and biking are the two most popular trendy sports
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Sports Competition Watched
- Olympics and International football league games enjoy largest audience base; basketball games and e-gaming appeal to the young
- Figure 36: Sports competition watched in the last 12 months, by age, 2023
- Males exhibit a higher interest in watching sports competitions
- Figure 37: Sports competition watched in the last 12 months, by gender, 2023
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- Figure 38: Sports competitions watched in the last 12 months, by age and gender, 2023
- Golf, combat sports and tennis game fans are most active in sports
- Figure 39: Average number of sports activities participated in the last 12 months, by sports competition watched in the last 12 months, 2023
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- Figure 40: Sports participation rate, by sports competition watched in the last 12 months, 2023
- Olympics and International football league games enjoy largest audience base; basketball games and e-gaming appeal to the young
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Interest in Sports-related Activities
- Live/rebroadcast sporting events and sports games have strong appeal among sports fans
- Figure 41: Interested sports-related activities, by age, 2023
- Community building opportunities lie in skiing, surfing, diving, skateboard, marathons and rock climbing
- Figure 42: Selected sports-related activities of interest: extremely interested, by consumers who have participated in niche sports in the last 12 months and have interests in participating again, 2023
- Auto-racing, golf audiences are high commercial value sports fans
- Figure 43: Selected sports-related activities of interest: extremely interested, by sports competition watched in the last 12 months, 2023
- Live/rebroadcast sporting events and sports games have strong appeal among sports fans
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Factors for Becoming Sports Brand Fans
- The overall shopping experience is key
- Figure 44: Factors for becoming sports brand’s fan, 2023
- Catch GenZ through distinctive co-branding design and sports idols
- Figure 45: Factors for becoming a sports brand fan, by age, 2023
- Sophisticated consumers expect brands’ efforts across multiple facets
- Figure 46: Factors for becoming a sports brand’s fan, by selected demographics, 2023
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- Figure 47: Factors for becoming sports brand’s fan, by selected mass sports participants, 2023
- Figure 48: Factors for becoming a sports brand fan, by selected trendy sports participants who are interested in doing again, 2023
- The overall shopping experience is key
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Adoption of a Healthy and Active Lifestyle
- Females aged 30-39 are leading the trend towards active lifestyles
- Figure 49: Behavior tendency towards sports, 2023
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- Figure 50: Adoption of active lifestyle: Yes, by selected demographics, 2023
- Enable more GenZ to embrace active lifestyle by considering their budget limits
- Figure 51: Adoption of active lifestyle: Yes, by age, 2023
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- Figure 52: Adoption of active lifestyle: Yes, by monthly household income, 2023
- Females aged 30-39 are leading the trend towards active lifestyles
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Appendix – Methodology and Abbreviations
- Methodology
- Abbreviations
- Methodology
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