The Fan Experience

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Sports are all about relationships. Not just the geometric relationships of the athletes to the ball or puck, their teammates, and the opposition, but more importantly, the personal and emotional relationships of fans to their favourite players, teams, and sports. But who are these fans, and how, when, and where are they experiencing sports? 

Let’s start with the big picture, and the only surprise here is just how BIG it is:  

TREND 1: Sports are a way of life for Canadians

7 out of every 10 Canadian adults follow sports. That’s just over 21.5 million Canadians, including 81% of men, and 57% of women (9 million). We are seeing more women engaging with sports than before. Of those, 66% connect to their sports content on digital platforms, and 60% via traditional TV. 

 This year Canadians spent over 104 million hours watching sports content, even more than the pre-pandemic levels of 2019, and they’ve consumed an incredible 338 million hours of sport content online, which is on par with online consumption in 2019.  

By 2036; it’s expected that 30% of Canadians will be of South Asian descent. 89% of South Asian Canadians follow sports, Basketball tops the list of most popular sports among this community, followed by hockey and soccer. Chinese Canadians are big sports fans too as 68% (7 out of 10) follow sports, with 46% following hockey as their favourite sport, and basketball close behind at 39%.  

TREND 2 : Sports betting will usher in a new level of engagement!

Over half of Canadians say they are interested in sports betting and that interest is even higher among younger and more diverse audiences.  75% of adults aged 20 to 34 say they’re interested in placing a wager, and 66% of Asian Canadians want to put some money down on a game.  

 It is estimated by the Canadian Gaming Association that Canadians currently spend $10B annually on illegal sports betting and another $4B with offshore betting sites.  

TREND 3: Live sports streaming is on the rise

The shift towards streaming continues to grow across all demographics. The usage of streaming live sports increased in 2021; 59% of Canadians 18 years and older state they stream live sports, this is up 40% in 2022.   This trend is heavily influenced by sports and these groups follow not being readily available to watch on TV, as half of hockey fans say they follow an out-of-market team, so they rely on streaming platforms to watch. 

 59% of Canadians aged 18-34 streamed their live sports this past year, with soccer and basketball being the most popular sports among streaming audiences. 

On Sportsnet Now, we saw incredible growth, with 96.4 million streams between August 2020 and July 2021.  That’s 2.6 BILLION MINUTES of streaming content – 2.5x more than in 2019.  

TREND 4: Content and innovation together will drive fan engagement 

 67% of fans said they were looking for more analysis from sports experts, and more data-driven analysis. That may be related to the increased interest in fantasy leagues and sports betting.  

 61% of fans said they want the ability to watch an event remotely but simultaneously with friends. According to a recent Canadian sports study, women are more interested in behind-the-scenes content while men are more interested in watching games in 4k resolution. Gotta sees that sweat fly!  

TREND 5: Branded content leads to greater fan engagement 

We recently conducted a study to measure the impact of branded content and sponsorships in sports broadcasts.  

 54% of fans agree that branded content catches their attention, with 45% saying they’d be likely to share branded content. Branded content has a powerful effect on how fans feel about your brand, and on what they buy. In fact, fans gained a 28% more favourable opinion of a product or brand after viewing branded content versus a traditional ad, and they are 35% more likely to buy brands that use branded content.  

For more information and insights, watch the event recording here.