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Sports & Social Awareness - US - January 2021
Overview
 
What you need to know
The intersection of sports and social awareness has never been greater. The 2020 calendar year put a spotlight on the sports world and the impact it can have on various social causes including the fight for social justice, community support, and more. Fans more than ever want sports entities to be active and take a stand in support of social issues – and that is something Mintel expects to see more of moving forward. This Report will examine the growing connection of sports and social awareness and how that will continue to evolve.

Key issues covered in this Report
●	The impact of COVID-19 on consumer behavior and social awareness in sports.
●	How social awareness in sports changed in 2020.
●	How consumers will engage and connect with social causes and sports in the coming years.
●	The future trends set to take hold for sports and social issues.

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

Sports entities refer to sports leagues, teams, and athletes.

Social awareness in sports refers to any sports entity supporting a cause or social initiative, including but not limited to: COVID-19 pandemic relief efforts, DEI, supporting local communities, honoring the military, disaster relief, educational opportunities, sustainability efforts, and voting initiatives.

A “sports fan” is any respondent who follows at least one of football, basketball, baseball, Olympics, soccer, hockey, golf, boxing/MMA, tennis, eSports or other sports leagues.

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

COVID-19: US context
The first COVID-19 case was confirmed in the US in January 2020. On March 11, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global health pandemic; on March 13, President Trump declared a national emergency in the US.

Across the US, state-level stay-at-home orders rolled out throughout the months of March and April, and remained in place through May, and in some cases June. During this time, referred to as lockdown, nonessential businesses closed, school districts across the nation closed or shifted to remote operations and almost all professional and collegiate sports across the world came to a complete halt. Sports entities looked to provide COVID-19 relief efforts during the sports shutdown

During re-emergence, all 50 states have relaxed stay-at-home orders and allowed businesses to operate with varying levels of social distancing measures in place. The continued spread of COVID-19 infections has driven some states to slow down or reverse course on reopening plans. During this time, sports have returned to resume unfinished seasons or start their new seasons – all with no or limited fans in attendance. The pandemic and a simultaneous rise in social justice movements across the country sparked the increased integration of sports and social awareness that will continue moving forward.

Mintel anticipates the US will remain in a state of flux through 2021, until a vaccine is widely available.

Economic and other assumptions
The analysis provided reflects an estimated range of the market’s prospects in light of the upheaval caused by the COVID-19 crisis. Our economic assumptions are based on CBO 10-year economic projections released on July 2, 2020. The CBO expects US GDP to fall by 5.8% in 2020 and recover to 4.0% growth in 2021.Unemployment estimates from the CBO indicate a 10.6% rate for 2020 and declining to 8.4% for 2021, which is slightly more positive than initial expectations (11.5% in 2020 and 9.3% in 2021) though expectations are that it will remain above 5% through 2025.

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