Young consumers are no longer attending sporting events and consuming them through audiovisual media, which is setting off the alarm bells in sport. Five years ago, around 90% of young people between 15 and 24 years old had attended a sporting event or had consumed it in audiovisual media. In 2020, only 75% had consumed it by audiovisual means and only 30.8% had attended in person, 20 points less than five years ago, according to the Sports Habits Survey.
Faced with this scenario, sport has had to consider changing its model and seeks to attract new generations. What is the profile of the young man who is still a follower of the sport really like?
The young person who accesses sport does so because he is a practitioner: 77.6% of those who practice sports in this area consumed it through audiovisual media and 35.9% attended a sporting event in person. Among the various age groups analyzed by the survey, young people who practice sports are the ones who consume the most sports.
The young person who practices sports is generally an amateur
Young people are the ones who attend sports events the most, compared to other sports bands: 30.8% of young people attended sports events in 2020 compared to 25% of people between 45 to 54 years old or 20, 9% of people from 25 to 34 years old. These figures can be misleading for a number of reasons.
First of all, it must be taken into account that, within this age, football, the king of sports, wins by a landslide: young people consume the most football, both in person and through audiovisual media, compared to other age groups. 20.8% of young people went to see a football match in 2020, 7.3% of basketball and 10.3% did so with other sports, while 6.7% of young people attended shows individual sports.
Soccer continues to rule compared to other sports and other age groups
If young people have to choose when it comes to consuming sports through audiovisual media, they bet on football, basketball, some handball and other sports. This age group is the one that consumes the least motorsports, tennis, swimming and athletics, compared to other age groups. Therefore, young people want variety and leisure alternatives, since it is the group that has consumed the most other team sports.
Young people are also the ones who bet the most to attend individual sports events and who consume the most sports on television (68.6%) and of course, on the Internet (25.9%). On the other hand, They are the ones who consumed the least sport on the radio (5.9%). 13.9% of young people consumed football online in 2020 and 8.7%, basketball online.
Athletics has shown that it has done its homework and understood the importance of attracting new generations: with 3.5%, it was the third most successful sport among young people on the Internet. On the other hand, while soccer and basketball continue to be the two sports that were most consumed on television in this age group, the sport that completes the podium is tennis and both basketball and tennis were almost consumed on television, with 23.7 % and 22.6% respectively.
The young consumer wants free and masculine sport
On the other hand, in this age range It is where women’s sport is most popular. Young consumers continue to bet on men’s sports, so 26.2% of them attended a men’s match and only 5.4% went to a women’s event in 2020. In fact, after the 25-year-old group to 39 years old, is the group that has consumed the least female sport in audiovisual media (20.1%) and, on the contrary, it is the group that has consumed the most male sport.
Finally, the young man wants sport and he wants it for free. Half of the young people who attended a sporting event did so for free, being the group that most opted to go to open access competitions. However, 58.9% attended face-to-face events paying, but this is a lower percentage than the other age ranges.