Roughly two thirds of Americans follow sports – more than 215 million adults. Following sports has been a popular pastime in the US for decades. It continues to be popular as it has evolved to meet fans’ needs. Technology has impacted the way fans follow their favorite teams each season; modern fans expect to be targeted digitally and will increasingly expect leagues to offer a seamless experience across various digital platforms.

Key opportunity: Sports fans are more likely to be male than female (57% versus 43%) and there are opportunities for sports leagues and sports marketers to engage women.

Key obstacle: One important issue facing the industry is that kids’ interest in sports has been trending downward which could mean fewer fans in the future.

Other issues to contend with include the perception that the industry is prioritizes profits over the game, and the impact of bad publicity (eg, players making headlines for breaking the law).

For the purposes of this Report, Mintel has defined sports fans as:

• An individual who watches at least half of his/her team’s games/events for one or more sports (professional or collegiate). Olympic sporting events and other amateur competitions are excluded.