How Different Generations Are Consuming Sports Content – Live Sports vs. Analysis/Commentary
In a continuation of our biweekly blog series featuring findings from our annual State of Sports Media report, we will be looking at how different age demographics prefer to consume sports content. The 2023 State of Sports Media report features over 900 interviews with sports fans nationwide, to paint a detailed portrait of the sports media landscape.
Let’s get into today’s area of focus.
A lot of noise has been made in the sports media world over how younger audiences will come to consume sports content. Specifically, a lot of noise is being made over whether younger audiences will watch live sports in the years to come, with the common wisdom being that younger folks are just not as primed to watch live sports as much as their elders. As it turns out, this is the correct analysis. Younger audiences are indeed less enthusiastic about live sports, for whatever reason (e.g., diminishing attention spans, the surfeit of available content, social media).
However…
While the panicky headlines about a decreasing desire among younger audiences for live sports do contain a kernel of truth about the contemporary nature of sports media consumption, the preference in content overall is still skewed towards live sports. This makes logical sense, in that a live game with a live timer, with real, living players is an integral process in the creation of sports media content.
At the end of the day, for sports content to even exist, the games must be played. Programs like PTI and Around the Horn can’t exist in a live sports-free vacuum (I shudder to think of what these programs would be like without the sports). And people will watch the games. Let’s look at the data.
Graph (below): Do you prefer live sports or sports analysis/commentary?
46% of the 18-39 demo want mostly live sports content. Combined with the 18-39 year-olds that want a balance between live sports and analysis, that is 78% who are in all likelihood seeking out live sports just as much, if not more, than analysis and commentary. Only 22% of the younger 18-39 demo prefer mostly analysis/commentary, with only 8% expressing a strict preference for sports analysis.
The generational differences in the desire for live sports vs. analysis/commentary, ultimately come down to the fact that 40-59 and 60+ demos basically have a limited tolerance for analysis and commentary (13% for the former…and 1% for the latter). Arguably, younger demos crave the hot takes, having been reared on social media and ESPN’s daytime program wheel, and are consequently more inclined towards personality-driven analysis/commentary (looking at you, Pat McAfee).
Suffice to say, the immediacy of live sporting events transcends generational differences.
