Survey: More Immersive, Personalized Viewing Experiences Crucial to Retaining Gen Z Sports Fans

Athlete’s point of view, behind-scenes access are desirable features of SVOD

While sports fans remain extremely enthusiastic, younger fans crave more-personalized and interconnected digital experiences. That’s according to data from Deloitte’s Sports Fan Insights survey, which polled more than 3,000 U.S. sports fans ages 14 and older. Whether watching from home or attending an event, Gen Z sports fans seek interaction as part of the experience, and that may be crucial to developing them as sports fans.

Check out the all the insights from Deloitte’s 2023 Sports Fan Insights Study HERE. 

More Than Half of Gen Z Fans Report Increased Interest in Sports

The study found that 72% of Generation Z fans and 82% of Millennial fans rate their interest a 7 or higher (on a scale of 1-10). The passion of Gen Z fans is growing: 60% said that they were more of a fan today than they were three years ago.

In addition, 61% of the time, Gen Z fans watching live sports from home with other people (compared with 53% of Generation X and 48% of Boomer fans). Nearly 40% of Gen Z fans say they are more likely to watch an event from home if they are watching with friends or family.

Around half of Gen Z fans say they have used social media —either to read comments and opinions by others or to interact with others — while watching live sports from home. They’re also more likely than some older-generation fans to use streaming-video-on-demand (SVOD) features that allow more-integrated social capabilities, such as co-viewing with family and friends while watching sports and a live social feed right on the screen.

About a third of Gen Z fans would also like the ability to watch the game from an athlete’s point of view and to have access to behind-the-scenes content as part of the SVOD sports-viewing experience.

Nearly all Gen Z fans use social media to consume sports-related content and are more likely than those in older cohorts to consume interviews with athletes, posts from athletes, and posts from athletes’ families on social media. Similarly, around 80% of Gen Z fans follow a professional athlete online, which leads them to watch and attend sports events that the athlete participates in, follow brands or other athletes that the athlete interacts with, and buy products promoted.

A quarter of Gen Z fans say the main reason they enjoy attending professional sports events is to experience the event with friends and family. While attending, many Gen Z fans say, they text with friends and family about the event or post to social media.

More Insights on SVOD, Social, Sports Betting, VR, NFTs

Other key findings include:

Enhancing the SVOD Viewing Experience 

• 30% of all fans have paid for a subscription to a streaming-video service to watch sports over the past 12 months. For Millennials, that increases to 46%. Fans watching sports from home estimate that 22% of their time is spent on a streaming-video service, compared with roughly 60% spent watching through traditional providers (cable, broadcast, satellite).
• 56% of fans said they had a better viewing experience when watching the event on a streaming-video service than on cable or broadcast TV. Key drivers of this were ease of finding it (42%), video quality (17%), and the ability to watch on a wide range of devices (15%).
• About a third of all fans want real-time stats and analytics (35%) and different camera angles (34%) included as part of their SVOD service. Other appealing features include watching the game from an athlete’s POV, co-viewing with friends and family, and behind-the-scenes content from athletes. Such things as integrated social feeds, betting capabilities, and shopping experiences aren’t as highly desired.

Customizing the At-Home Viewing Experience 

• On average, a vast majority of sports fans (88%) surveyed watch live sports from home at least weekly. In addition, 71% say that live events are their favorite type of sports content. However, this drops to only 58% for Gen Z and Millennial fans.
• 74% of all fans use a television to watch live sports from home, on average, as opposed to mobile devices, laptops, and tablets. That percentage is 58% for Gen Z fans, 61% for Millennials.
• 77% of sports fans say they have done at least one additional game-related activity (social media, watching another game on a separate device, betting, playing fantasy sports) while watching a sports event from home. Older generations are more likely to say they aren’t doing any of these activities and focus simply on the event itself.

The Evolution of Sports Betting 

• 22% of sports fans over age 21 have bet on a professional sports event in the last 12 months. For Millennial and Gen Z fans, this increases to 30%. Of those surveyed, bettors are more likely to have attended a game in person, bought sports merchandise, paid for a streaming-video service to watch sports, and participated in fantasy sports over the past 12 months.
• 8% of sports bettors have bet through a website or mobile app while watching live sports. In venues, 23% of bettors use their mobile device to place sports bets while attending an event. In the future, 66% want the capability to bet on different aspects of a game in real time on a mobile device while they attend in person.

VR for Live Sports Has a Long Way to Go, But Interest Remains 

• Although Deloitte estimates that there will be an installed base of about 22 million VR headsets worldwide this year, only 5% of all sports fans surveyed have used VR to consume some type of sports content in the last 12 months (for Gen Z fans, it’s 9%; for Millennials, 7%). However, when given a list of six sports-related VR experiences, roughly 70% of Gen Z and Millennial fans were interested in at least one of them.
• 62% of Gen Z and 66% of Millennial sports fans would pay to watch a sports event in real time from an athlete’s point of view in VR. In addition, 59% of Gen Z and 65% of Millennial sports fans would pay to watch a sports event in VR from the seat of their choice at a venue.

Live Sports 2030: How the Viewing Experience Will Change 

• When asked how professional-sports consumption at home will be different in 2030, 67% of fans said it will be more interactive, 57% easier to access, and 54% more immersive than today. Also notable, 72% think the future will be more expensive.

Check out the all the insights from Deloitte’s 2023 Sports Fan Insights Study HERE.