Global sporting events have the power to command consumer attention and engagement not just in the US but worldwide. Both because of the consumer attention and their short-lived durations, global sporting events offer tremendous opportunities for brands to reach and engage with sports fans across the globe. With the COVID-19 pandemic resulting in the postponement of nearly every 2020 global sporting event, there is now even greater consumer enthusiasm for these events in 2021.

• The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on consumer behavior and the global sporting events market

• Brand integration in global sporting events

• Consumer engagement with global sporting events in 2021 and the coming years

• The future trends set to take hold in global sporting events

For the purposes of this Report, Mintel has used the following definitions:

Sports entities refer to sports leagues, teams and athletes.

A “sports fan” is any respondent who follows at least one of football, basketball, baseball, Olympics, soccer, boxing/MMA, hockey, tennis, golf, esports or other sports leagues. A “global sports event fan” is any respondent who follows any of the following: Summer Olympics, Winter Olympics, FIFA World Cup/FIFA Women’s World Cup, major golf championships, Grand Slam tennis tournaments, Tour de France, other international soccer competitions, Ryder Cup/President’s Cup, Cricket World Cup, Rugby World Cup or other global sporting events.

While global sporting events span a wide array of various sports, the primary focus of this Report is on the Olympics, both summer and winter iterations, and the FIFA World Cup, both men’s and women’s iterations, as they command the most consumer and brand attention. While global tennis and golf events will be discussed in this Report, they will be examined with more depth in Mintel’s upcoming Report: The Other Major Sports: Golf, Tennis, & Auto Racing – US, June 2021.

This Report builds on several titles from Mintel’s Sports and Gaming Library, including: Sports in 2021 – US, December 2020 and Sponsorships and Sports Marketing – US, September 2020.

This Report includes consumer research fielded from January 29 to February 11, 2021. The Report was written in March-April 2021, and the analysis reflects the state of the category and pandemic during this time.

Mintel’s economic assumptions are based on CBO estimates released on February 1, 2021. The CBO’s previous forecast for US GDP to fall by 5.8% in 2020 was revised after a stronger second half of the year and the updated estimate indicates negative 3.5% GDP for the year. The CBO forecasts GDP to grow by 4.6% in 2021 and projects unemployment to continue to fall to average 5.7% for the year.

The first COVID-19 case was confirmed in the US in January 2020. It was declared a global health pandemic and national emergency in early March 2020. Across the US, various stay-at-home orders were put in place in Spring 2020, and nonessential businesses and school districts closed or shifted to remote operations. Nearly all sports across the world were suspended or canceled, while the major global sporting events set to take place in 2020 were postponed one year to 2021. The remainder of 2020 saw rolling orders, as states and local governments relaxed and reinforced guidelines according to the spread of the virus in each region. Sports returned in the Summer of 2020 and throughout the year, all with no or limited fans in attendance.

Vaccine distribution began in December 2020, and it is expected take anywhere from July to December 2021 for 70-90% of the population to be vaccinated to reach herd immunity. Mintel anticipates business operations, including sports, in the US will remain in a state of flux through 2021 as the vaccine is widely administered.