Research  
    
Profiling the American TV sports fan

They earn more and they are better-educated

By Diego Vasquez
MediaLife.com
Sep 11, 2008


Ratings for most sporting events have been falling for years, and yet March Madness, football and baseball often seem to command some of the highest prices per 30-second spot on television. The reason is that sports fans are a hugely desirable audience for advertisers, and a new study from Experian Consumer Research backs that up. The study found that sports fans tend to be more educated and have higher incomes than non-sports fans. What’s more, female sports fans are more open to product placement than the average adult, and sports like soccer, wrestling and ultimate fighting have fan bases with median ages well below the national average. John Fetto, manager of applied media research at Experian Consumer Research, talks to Media Life about the traits sports fans share, which sports are most popular among minorities, and what TV shows sports fans shun (think daytime television).


What are some characteristics that sports fans generally share?

Fans of any sport tend to have high levels of education with 29 percent having graduated college, compared to 16 percent of adults who are not fans of any sport.

They skew male (53 percent) and have high household incomes: 31 percent have annual household incomes of $100,000 or more compared with only 21 percent of non-sport fans.

Seventy-six percent are non-Hispanic whites compared to 54 percent of non-sport fans. Politically, they are more likely to say they have views that are “middle of the road” (34 percent compared with 26 percent of non-sport fans).

Sixty percent are married compared with 50 percent of non-sport fans.

Sport fans share certain attitudes and opinions as well: 45 percent of fans of any sport agree that they are interested in international events compared with 28 percent of non-sports fans. Forty-two percent of sports fans agree that they are good at fixing mechanical things versus 29 percent of non-sports fans, and 36 percent of sports fans agree that they enjoy taking risks compared with 27 percent of non-fans.

Whether their team wins or loses, sports fans are more likely than non-fans to say that they are optimists (57 percent vs. 43 percent).


Which sports league has the largest percentage of minority fans? Why?

Non-Hispanic whites make up 71 percent of the U.S. adult population. We found that fans of the WNBA have the lowest share of non-Hispanic white fans (60 percent), followed by fans of soccer (61 percent), fans of men’s or women’s tennis (67 percent) and fans of the NBA (69 percent).

The sport with the highest share of non-Hispanic white fans is the NHL with 85 percent of fans being non-Hispanic whites. Looking closer, we find that the WNBA, NBA and men’s and women’s tennis have higher than average concentrations of African-American fans. Similarly, we know that soccer has higher than average levels of Hispanic fans.

We cannot speculate on why.


Hispanics are obviously big soccer fans. What other sports are they interested in? Where has their fanship been growing?

Interestingly, soccer is the only sport that reports a higher-than-average concentration of Hispanic fans with 24 percent of the fan base being Hispanic. Hispanic interest continues to grow in soccer, though. In fall 2005, 20 percent of Hispanic adults said they were interested in soccer and by winter 2008 31 percent of adult Hispanics said they were interested in soccer.

Hispanics are showing increasing interest in a number of other sports as well. Hispanic interest in the NFL rose 43 percent between fall 2005 and winter 2008, from 16 percent to 23 percent claiming an interest. Interest in the NHL among Hispanics also grew 35 percent during the same time period to 6.5 percent. Interest in the NBA among Hispanics rose 32 percent to 17.3 percent of Hispanics claiming they are fans of the NBA in winter 2008.


Which sports have the oldest and youngest fan bases?

MLB fans are actually older than the average adult (48.1 years old vs. 46.7 years old). The sports with the oldest fan bases are: horseracing (51.7), PGA/LPGA (51.2), Olympics (48.3).  

The average NBA fan is actually younger than the average adult at 45.9 years old compared with 46.7 years old. The sport with the youngest fan base is WWE/Ultimate Fighting Championship; the average fan is 40.0 years old. Soccer fans are the second youngest on average at 42.2 years old.


Why do we see such a large range of fans in the 45-54 age group?

Twenty percent of all adults are ages 45-54 and 21 percent of sport fans fall into this age range, so it's not that this age group is extremely more likely to be fans of sports, rather they are reflecting the population trend at large.  


You say that female sports fans are more likely to notice products used in TV programs and are more open to product placement than the average adult. Why?

I can't really say why, but we also know that women in general are more likely to be receptive to advertising than men. This may help to explain their tendency to notice and accept product placement in TV shows.


What types of sports programs are sports fans most likely to tune into (outside of games/events)?

We really only measure sports events and games. When it comes to types of TV programs watched in general, we see that, as expected, sports fans are 88 percent more likely than non-sports fans to watch primetime network sports shows. But they’re also 76 percent more likely to watch syndicated “how-to” shows like “This Old House.”

Other types of TV programs watched by sports fans at higher than average levels include syndicated game shows, early evening network news, primetime reality, primetime sitcoms, and primetime dramas.

They’re less likely to tune into daytime dramas, primetime feature films and syndicated court shows.



Diego Vasquez is a staff writer for Media Life.