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The media habits of a US sports fan
Hello! Thanks for using Wonder to request information regarding the media habits of US sports fans. The short version is that, after exhaustive research, we were unable to locate any publicly available hard data which outlines the typical sports fans daily media consumption habits, broken down by part of the day, from the time they wake up until the time they go to sleep. However, we were able to locate a wealth of data by broadening the scope to include the weekly media consumption habits of sports fans. You will find a deep dive of our findings below.
SPORTS FAN DEMOGRAPHICS
In understanding the media habits of the US sports fan, we first looked at the demographics of these sports fans. Through this, we learned that 70% of American adults follow sports, which equates to 168 million fans. Of these, 55% are male and 45% are female. In terms of income, 43% make less than $50,000 per year, and 57% make more than $50,000 per year.
The ages of sports fans in the United States are as follows:
Women make up a significant portion of sports fans across various sports. Women make up 35% of fans in the PGA and NFL; 30% in the NBA and MLB. Additionally, the oldest demographics of fans enjoy golf and baseball. "The PGA has 63% of their fan base in the 55+ age classification, while MLB has half of their fan base in the 55+ age classification." By contrast, soccer has the youngest fan base, as 14% fall in the 2-17 age-range.
In terms of race, the NHL and NASCAR have a strong majority of Caucasian/White fans (92% and 94% respectively), while the NBA has a majority of African-American/Black fans. Hispanic fans make up 34% of the MLS fan base.
In terms of income, "the NHL has a greater number of games fans who make more than $100k consistently, [while] NASCAR has the least fans making more than $100k every year, with only 14% of the fan base at this wage level." MLS displays the poorest fan base, with 37% of fans making $40k or less per year. "The normal games fan in the United States makes between $40-75k consistently."
TIME EXPENDITURE VIEWING SPORTS CONTENT
Collectively, sports fans in the US spent over 31 billion hours watching sports in 2015, which was a 41% increase from 2005. Of this, 95% of sports content watched was live.
Individually, sports fans spend more than 7 hours a week viewing sports and sports related content. Fans spend 4.4 hours per week viewing sports on TV, while they spend 1.5 hours "watching sports via an internet enabled mobile device in an average week." In addition to watching sports, fans also spend time viewing sports related content online. The breakdown of this is as follows:
Additionally, "3 in 4 fans that access sports content online via a computer / laptop computer do so at least once a week."
PREFERRED MEDIA OUTLETS
Sports fans consume sports media using the following outlets:
Television:
Television is the most popular outlet for sports media consumption. In fact, 34% of fans have paid to watch a sporting event on TV within a 12-month time-frame. While watching sports on TV, "45% of fans use a second screen device." Football is very commonly watched on TV, with 92% of fans watching via this outlet.
Internet:
In terms of viewing sports content online, 68% of fans consume sports media this way and "81% of sports fans preferring to go online for game updates and sports news." Another 31% of fans use the web to view sports highlights, and 57% are reading sports news online.
Social Media:
The social media platforms sports fans use the most to consume sports content are: (73%) Facebook, (54%) YouTube, (37%) Twitter, (33%) Google+, and (18%) Instagram. Utilizing social media to watch sports is a growing trend, as fans enjoy watching their favorite teams, even on the go. Many fans also enjoy sharing sports clips on their social media profiles, as 19% say they do so.
Mobile Device (smartphones and tablets):
In terms of mobile devices, 42% of fans consume sports content on their mobile devices. Of U.S. "consumers who have used a sports app on their tablet or mobile phone in the past month," 18% used a tablet and 18% used a mobile phone.
Laptop/ Computer:
Of fans who use a computer to access sports content, 38% said that they do so "at least once a day." More specifically, 1 in 2 engaged football fans read online via a computer
CONSUMPTION BEHAVIORS
Sports fans are keeping up with their favorite sports teams even when they can't watch the games, as they can now check the score wherever they are. The places where sports fans are checking the score are as follows:
In addition to catching the scores and highlights, fans like to engage further, as they want to "talk about the game, check out action photos, and ultimately advocate for their team." This reflects the sentiment that modern sports fans are not satisfied with simply watching a game; they want to be immersed and engaged.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Here are some additional facts and stats which you might find valuable.
-- The top three sports with the largest following in the US are: football (49%), baseball (31%), and basketball (28%).
-- "The NBA final produces more than 26 million tweets through the span of no less than 4 amusements."
SUGGESTION FOR CONTINUED READING
Because our sources provided such a wealth of information concerning this topic, we felt you might be interested in taking a further look at one particular source which contains a significant amount of additional data which you might find useful. You can access this report here.
CONCLUSION
To wrap it up, after exhaustive research, we were unable to locate any publicly available hard data which outlines the typical sports fans daily media consumption habits, broken down by part of the day, from the time they wake up until the time they go to sleep. However, we were able to locate a wealth of data by broadening the scope to include the weekly media consumption habits of sports fans.
Thanks for using Wonder! Please let us know if we can help with anything else!