Kudos to Simone Biles for prioritising her mental health over simply "pushing through" and performing because that's what everyone expects her to do. It really does feel like things have changed recently, with top athletes being more open about the pressures of doing what they do. None of us can really imagine what it's like … Continue reading The pressure of being a superstar athlete
It's Pride Day today so I thought I'd take a look at how the LGBT+ community in the UK engages with sport - from both a fan and participant perspective. It's fair to say that many sports are still failing to successfully engage LGBT+ people, but there is quite a marked difference between men and … Continue reading Sport and the LGBT+ community
The youth audience is a big focus for many brands and rights-holders in sport, with an eye on engaging young people that could be fans and consumers for decades to come. 16-24s are often the demographic that we think about, but it's a tough crowd to reach, with multiple interests competing for their time, and … Continue reading A snapshot of UK 16-24s
On the back of the Ronaldo/Coca-Cola issue this week, and also NZ Rugby/Ineos, I've seen quite a lot of chat about how sport needs to adapt to a "Gen Z" or "Millennial" audience that is increasingly concerned about environmental issues and social responsibility. Thought I'd check out the data on this. I've broken the 16-24s … Continue reading Are young people more concerned about social responsibility?
With the market for digital banking, finance and payments become ever more competitive, and an increasing number of brands using sport as a platform for growth, I've taken a look at how sports fans in the UK interact with the sector. Using GWI data, I've looked at UK-based fans of football, cricket, rugby, golf and … Continue reading FinTech x Sport
I was watching the opening games of Euro 2020 and it struck me how many of the sponsors are no longer the kind of 'blue chip' brands we've been used to seeing over the years. The image below show Euro 2000 vs. Euro 2020 main sponsors. Many of the brands and even categories on the … Continue reading How things change
With Euro 2020 almost upon us, I wanted to take a look at the demographics, interests, brand and media preferences of football fans from across the continent. I've used GWI data to paint a picture of football fans from England, Scotland, Wales, Germany, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Russia and Turkey. Here are some … Continue reading Anatomy of a European football fan
The Lions just announced a partnership with skincare brand Dove Men+Care for the upcoming tour of South Africa. According to the announcement, the activation theme will be about ‘respect and caring’ - and specifically showing how the players balance rugby with parenthood. “Dove Men+Care will work with brand ambassadors and the Lions to showcase what … Continue reading Do rugby fans moisturise?
On the day the UK goes to the polls in various local and national elections, here's a look at the political leaning of the country's sports fans, plus a few other insights that I found interesting. #1 F1 fans are the most conservative Actually it’s neck and neck between F1 and golf - 33% of … Continue reading Ten quite interesting things about UK sports fans
On the same day as the ESL project bit the dust (at least for now), the PGA Tour launched its Player Impact Program in which an extra $40m bonus pool will be shared out among the players who “move the needle” the most in terms of social media impact and brand recognition (but not directly … Continue reading So what exactly is a future fan?
Yesterday I wrote up a few thoughts on the ESL and the concept of "future fans". YouGov have now released some initial data on how the ESL proposal has gone down with fans in the UK. The topline result is that 79% of football fans oppose it, with only 14% showing any support. Even among … Continue reading ESL: No-one likes us, we don’t care?
So the proposed European Super League has caused quite a stir. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a proposal be met with such universal disapproval from fans, media, NGBs, federations and governments. Putting aside the general debate on whether this is good for the game as a whole (I don’t think it is), does the … Continue reading ESL and the ‘fans of the future’
