Crowd React Media, a division of Harker Bos Group, has released its “State of Sports Media – 2023” whitepaper, which explores various industry trends through internal research. The nuanced view of the profession grants readers the ability to better understand in-depth proclivities and make informed decisions about future endeavors.
Research took place during the spring and summer of 2023, covering an age range from 18 to 70+ and a split of 65% male respondents and 35% female respondents.
The second annual undertaking expounds on results from the 2022 edition and splits results into age groups to render a more comprehensive analysis. Throughout the synopsis, trends related to sports preferences, sports betting habits, social media consumption related to sports, and sports audio are conspicuously presented and thoroughly explained. For example, Crowd React Media finds that football – which encompasses both the NFL and collegiate play – is followed by 84% of the general sports audience.
Conversely, a mere 30% of audience members follow ice hockey, and extreme sports attract a defined niche audience of 13%.
A key finding within the study pertains to viewership methods and how persons aged 18-39 are consuming sporting events and related programming through streaming platforms more than ever before. Consistent with a rising trend in cord-cutting – one that is estimated to cause less than half of U.S. households to have a cable subscription – 83% of study respondents in this demographic utilize the service. Pertaining to the entire sports audience, 69% of them stream events, a higher figure than standard cable and satellite television (60%), along with viewing through social media platforms (33%).
ESPN continues its reign as the “Worldwide Leader,” with 74% of cable/satellite viewers affirming they watch the network, but other outlets focused on more niche content are also driving scores of viewership, evidenced by NFL Network (45%) and MLB Network (33%).
Furthermore, ESPN remains the most utilized source to find sports news (58%), while younger audiences exhibit proclivities to pair ESPN with other content outlets such as Barstool Sports and The Athletic.
While sports radio on traditional AM and FM signals has a higher consumption rate among older demographics, younger audiences remain interested in audio content. Among podcast listeners, those aged 18-39 rank the highest in usage at 40%, while 57% of these respondents also consume terrestrial sports radio.
The study’s conclusion emphasizes the importance of stratified content plans to appeal to different sectors of the audience and balancing tradition with innovation.
