Sports Participation, Viewing & Fandom in the UKA new report by:

October 2019

About this report

o Harris Interactive set out to understand UK sports in a holistic way, capturing:

o Weekly participation in sports (matches, competitions, training)

o Sports viewed in-person or via live broadcast

o Sports fandom

o As well as reporting these as separate KPIs, we have created a Sports Index to summarise engagement levels across a mix of 21 team and individual sports.

o Research was conducted on the QuickSurveys platform, owned by Harris Interactive and Toluna, among 1,000 representative members of the UK population on September 13th 2019.

o For further information about this study or details of how your organization can leverage QuickSurveys, please contact the report author below or your account manager at Harris Interactive or Toluna. Lee Langford

Research Directorllangford@harrisinteractive.co.uk+44 (0)7966 339 606

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Our key findings

o Individual sports versus team sports

o With the key exception of Football, individual sports – Swimming, Tennis, Cycling and Athletics – out-perform team sports on our Sports Index.

o Whilst driven by participation levels, this higher engagement with individual sports largely holds true for sports viewing and fandom.

o Other individual sports that perform well in terms of participation are Golf, Martial Arts and Gymnastics.

o The most popular team sports from viewing and fandom perspectives – other than Football – are Rugby Union and, to a lesser extent, Cricket.

o Sports and gender

o Traditional gender stereotypes apply with women much less likely than men to participate in sports, watch sports and consider themselves ‘fans’.

o There are, however, a few exceptions and surprises:

o The most popular participation sport overall is Swimming with 33% of women taking the plunge each week compared with 29% of men.

o The only other sports with weekly participation higher than one in ten among women are Cycling and Tennis.

o Women are much less likely than men to (have opportunities to) take part in team sports with only Netball making their top 8.

o Football is now the 2nd most popular sport for viewing among women, just behind Tennis.

o Men are more likely to favour team sports from a viewing perspective with Football, Rugby Union and Cricket all in their top 10.

o 35% of men watch Football in-person which is almost twice as many as for their next most popular sport … Cricket at 18%.

o Motorsports ranks 3rd among women on fandom, ahead of high participation sports like Swimming, and higher than among men (5th).

o Sports and age

o Whilst it might be expected that people will participate less in sports as they age, the level of drop-off is a little surprising and, perhaps concerning:

o Only two sports – Swimming (21%) and Cycling (12%) – are practised weekly by more than 10% of those aged 55+ years.

o The top participation sports tend to be consistent across age groups with Swimming and Cycling to the fore followed by Tennis or Golf.

o Sports viewing and fandom see greater levels of differentiation with Boxing and MMA relatively more popular among 18-34s and Rugby Union and Golf more so among older people.

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Our key findings

o The top 10 on our Sports Index

o Football is THE dominant sport in the UK by a clear margin:

o Number 1 for viewing and fandom across all demographics; participation levels much higher than any other team sport.

o Swimming, perhaps surprisingly, ranks 2nd overall:

o Highest participation levels ... only sport higher among women than men; ranks 3rd on fandom among both women and 18-34 year-olds.

o Tennis is in a clear 3rd place with broad appeal and fandom:

o Participation levels rank relatively higher among women than men; ranks top among women for live broadcast viewing.

o Cycling ranks 4th overall, driven by high participation levels:

o Ranks 2nd on participation among all demographic groups; however, ranks only 11th overall on live viewing and 8th on fandom.

o High live viewership pushes Athletics up to 5th place overall:

o The 3rd most popular live viewing sport for women; participation levels are much lower … as low as 5% among women.

o Rugby Union ranks 6th overall driven by high viewing & fandom among older men

o Ranks 4th overall on viewing and 3rd on fandom; participation levels generally much lower – ranks 15th among 18-34 year-olds.

o High participation masks lower interest in and fandom for Golf:

o Resonates most with older people when it comes to participation and viewing.

o Motorsports punches above its weight given low potential for participation:

o Ranked only 16th on participation, motorsports is boosted to 8th overall due to high viewership (5th) and fandom (4th) levels.

o Cricket ranks 9th overall, some way below other team sports like football and Rugby Union:

o Viewership and fandom hold up well among older men; but very few cricket ‘fans’ among female and younger people nowadays.

o Gymnastics’ 10th place ranking driven by high engagement among women:

o One of the few top 10 sports with a significant gender engagement skew: ranking 7th on fandom among women and 15th among men.

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5

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8

9

10

1

2

329

212

158

11786

61 57 43 36 32 31 20 16 13 12 9 8 7 5 4 3

Index of participation, live viewing and fandom – sports in the UK

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Sports Index calculated: Weekly participation x Live viewing x Fandom__________________________________________

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Football stands apart from all other sports when the KPIs are indexed with swimming, tennis and cycling ranking 2-4 in the hierarchy of sport in the UK.

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Football is THE dominant sport in the UK by a clear margin

Number 1 for viewing and fandom across all demographics.

Ranks relatively lower on participation; 3rd among men and 7th among women.

However, participation levels much higher than any other team sport.

Dominance even clearer among men with over half seeing themselves as fans of the sport.

Data helps explain the triennial bidding war for EPL packages as well as recent interest from Facebook and Amazon.

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Swimming, perhaps surprisingly, ranks 2nd overall

Overall ranking driven by high participation levels among both women and men ... the only sport with higher participation among women.

Also number 1 for participation among all age groups including 21% of over 54s.

Ranks higher among women than men on live viewing and fandom.

Ranks 3rd on fandom among both women and 18-34 year-olds.

Data suggests swimming merits a higher share of media coverage than it gets right now.

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Tennis in a clear 3rd place with broad appeal and fandom

Participation levels rank relatively higheramong women (3rd) than men (6th).

One of the few sports where viewing levels are similar for men and women.

In fact, tennis ranks top among women for live broadcast viewing.

Equally popular from a participationperspective among young and old.

Data confirms why the BBC invests so much in retaining its annual Wimbledon coverage … and why other broadcasters are investing in alternative opportunities to showcase this popular sport.

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Cycling ranks 4th overall, driven by high participation levels

Ranks 2nd on participation, behind swimming, among all demographic groups.

However, despite the greater prominence of cycling in the media in recent years –think Cavendish, Wiggins, Froome and Thomas in the Olympics, Tour de France and SPOTY – live viewing and fandom levels remain relatively low:

• Cycling ranks 11th overall on live viewing and 8th on fandom

• Rankings are even lower among 18-34 year old audience

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High live viewership pushes athletics up to 5th place overall

The 3rd most popular live viewing sport for women.

5th most popular among women from a fandom perspective and 6th among men.

Participation levels are much lower by comparison: as low as 5% among women and a significant drop off from 17% of 18-34 year-olds to zero 55+ year-olds.

High profile media coverage of athletics is justified but should perhaps be looked at in relation to more popular sports swimming and cycling – a fairer balance.

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Rugby Union ranks 6th overall driven by high viewing and fandom among older men

4th overall on viewing and 3rd on fandom.

However, if we consider women and younger adults, the picture is much less positive for this sport.

Participation levels are generally much lower – particularly among younger people with RU ranking 15th.

Whilst attracting a high ABC1 male TV audience for set-piece internationals and major tournaments, RU would clearly benefit from reaching out to a broader demographic.

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High participation masks lower interest and fandom for golf

Whilst ranked 4th among both men and women on participation, golf ranks only 9th overall on live viewing and 10th for fandom.

Golf resonates most with older people when it comes to participation, ranking 3rd overall among 55+ year-olds.

However, among 18-34 year-olds, golf ranks only 13th on live viewership.

Wall-to-wall TV and radio coverage of the British Open supplemented with other majors throughout the year unlikely to appeal to the majority of viewers.

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Motorsports punches above its weight given low potential for participation

Ranked only 16th on participation, motorsports is boosted to 8th overall due to high viewership (5th) and fandom (4th) levels.

Unlike many other sports, which skew by gender or by age group, motorsports holds great appeal across demographics ranking 3rd on fandom among women and 2nd among 35-54 year-olds.

No wonder terrestrial and digital channels have chased after F1 TV rights in recent years – motorsports has the potential to engage the whole family.

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Cricket ranks 9th overall, some way below other team sports like football and RU

Despite the excitement of this year’s ODI World Cup and home Ashes series, cricket has largely disappeared from terrestrial TV in recent years and this is reflected in our findings:

• Only 6% participate weekly and engagement is much lower among women and 35-54 year-olds, who are both more switched on to football.

• Whilst viewership and fandom hold up relatively well among older men, there are very few cricket ‘fans’ among the female and younger demographic nowadays.

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Gymnastics’ 10th place ranking driven by high engagement among women

Along with cricket, gymnastics is one of the few top 10 sport with a significant gender engagement skew:

• Ranking 7th on fandom among women and 15th among men.

With a 5th place ranking among women on live viewership, gymnastics, along with swimming, has the potential to attract women to engage more with sport if it occupied a greater share of the media landscape … i.e. not just once every 4 years during the Olympic Games.

7%

7%

8%

8%

8%

10%

11%

11%

12%

13%

13%

14%

15%

15%

17%

18%

20%

21%

22%

23%

37%

Field hockey

Softball

Lacrosse

Netball

Volleyball

Martial arts

Basketball

MMA

Rugby League

Gymnastics

Horse racing

Golf

Boxing

Cycling

Cricket

Swimming

Athletics

Motorsports

Rugby Union

Tennis

Football

4%

5%

5%

5%

5%

5%

6%

6%

6%

6%

6%

6%

6%

7%

7%

9%

12%

12%

13%

23%

31%

Field hockey

Horse racing

Lacrosse

MMA

Motorsports

Rugby League

Basketball

Boxing

Cricket

Netball

Rugby Union

Softball

Volleyball

Gymnastics

Martial arts

Athletics

Football

Golf

Tennis

Cycling

Swimming

16

8%

11%

13%

16%

16%

17%

17%

19%

26%

31%

33%

34%

34%

35%

35%

38%

41%

45%

48%

53%

74%

Lacrosse

Softball

Field hockey

Volleyball

Netball

MMA

Martial arts

Basketball

Rugby League

Horse racing

Cycling

Golf

Boxing

Gymnastics

Cricket

Swimming

Motorsports

Rugby Union

Athletics

Tennis

Football

In-person

Broadcast

Favourite

Fan

Weekly participation Live viewing Fandom

Overview of participation, live viewing and fandom – sports in the UK

1%

1%

2%

2%

2%

2%

2%

2%

3%

3%

3%

4%

4%

4%

4%

5%

5%

6%

11%

18%

33%

Lacrosse

MMA

Rugby League

Field hockey

Softball

Rugby Union

Horse racing

Motorsports

Cricket

Boxing

Volleyball

Basketball

Football

Martial arts

Gymnastics

Netball

Athletics

Golf

Tennis

Cycling

Swimming

Weekly participation in sports

Which of these sports, if any, do you take part in at least once a week during their respective seasons? This could either be taking part in actual matches / competitions etc., or in training for these.

7%

7%

8%

8%

8%

8%

8%

9%

9%

9%

9%

10%

10%

10%

10%

12%

15%

18%

21%

28%

29%

Netball

Field hockey

Horse racing

Volleyball

Lacrosse

Basketball

Motorsports

Martial arts

MMA

Gymnastics

Boxing

Rugby League

Softball

Rugby Union

Cricket

Athletics

Tennis

Golf

Football

Cycling

Swimming

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WOMEN MEN

9%

10%

11%

12%

12%

13%

13%

14%

14%

14%

14%

14%

14%

16%

16%

17%

19%

22%

25%

38%

43%

Lacrosse

Field hockey

Horse racing

Rugby League

Volleyball

Rugby Union

Motorsports

MMA

Cricket

Basketball

Netball

Martial arts

Softball

Gymnastics

Boxing

Athletics

Golf

Football

Tennis

Cycling

Swimming

Weekly participation in sports

Which of these sports, if any, do you take part in at least once a week during their respective seasons? This could either be taking part in actual matches / competitions etc., or in training for these. 18

18-34 years 35-54 years 55+ years

2%

3%

3%

4%

4%

4%

4%

5%

5%

5%

5%

5%

6%

6%

6%

9%

9%

11%

14%

21%

31%

MMA

Boxing

Motorsports

Field hockey

Horse racing

Softball

Netball

Lacrosse

Volleyball

Rugby League

Basketball

Cricket

Martial arts

Gymnastics

Rugby Union

Golf

Athletics

Tennis

Football

Cycling

Swimming

0%

0%

0%

0%

0%

0%

0%

0%

0%

0%

0%

0%

0%

1%

1%

1%

2%

4%

7%

12%

21%

Basketball

Gymnastics

Rugby League

Softball

Volleyball

Motorsports

Boxing

Field hockey

MMA

Rugby Union

Lacrosse

Netball

Athletics

Cricket

Horse racing

Martial arts

Football

Tennis

Golf

Cycling

Swimming

4%

7%

8%

12%

13%

14%

14%

14%

20%

21%

21%

25%

26%

28%

32%

34%

39%

40%

43%

50%

58%

Lacrosse

Softball

Field hockey

Volleyball

Netball

MMA

Basketball

Martial arts

Cricket

Golf

Rugby League

Horse racing

Boxing

Cycling

Rugby Union

Motorsports

Gymnastics

Swimming

Athletics

Tennis

Football

Sports like to watch live

Which of these sports you really like to watch? This could either be in-person live at the match / competition etc., via a live broadcast or both. 19

13%

15%

19%

19%

19%

21%

21%

25%

31%

31%

36%

37%

38%

43%

47%

48%

52%

53%

55%

59%

91%

Lacrosse

Softball

Volleyball

Field hockey

Netball

MMA

Martial arts

Basketball

Rugby League

Gymnastics

Swimming

Horse racing

Cycling

Boxing

Golf

Motorsports

Cricket

Athletics

Tennis

Rugby Union

FootballWOMEN MEN

In-person Live broadcast

Sports like to watch live

Which of these sports you really like to watch? This could either be in-person live at the match / competition etc., via a live broadcast or both. 20

18-34 years 35-54 years 55+ years

17%

19%

26%

30%

32%

34%

35%

35%

36%

37%

40%

43%

44%

45%

47%

48%

50%

51%

56%

61%

80%

Lacrosse

Field hockey

Softball

Netball

Volleyball

Basketball

Rugby League

Cricket

Golf

Martial arts

MMA

Cycling

Horse racing

Motorsports

Rugby Union

Gymnastics

Swimming

Athletics

Boxing

Tennis

Football

8%

8%

12%

13%

13%

14%

15%

20%

24%

26%

29%

29%

32%

32%

33%

34%

41%

43%

46%

50%

78%

Softball

Lacrosse

MMA

Volleyball

Netball

Martial arts

Field hockey

Basketball

Rugby League

Golf

Cycling

Horse racing

Gymnastics

Cricket

Boxing

Swimming

Rugby Union

Motorsports

Athletics

Tennis

Football

1%

1%

1%

4%

4%

5%

6%

7%

16%

19%

21%

27%

29%

31%

35%

38%

39%

46%

47%

49%

64%

Lacrosse

Softball

MMA

Volleyball

Martial arts

Basketball

Field hockey

Netball

Boxing

Rugby League

Horse racing

Gymnastics

Cycling

Swimming

Motorsports

Golf

Cricket

Athletics

Tennis

Rugby Union

Football

In-person Live broadcast

3%

3%

3%

4%

4%

6%

7%

8%

8%

8%

8%

9%

9%

11%

11%

13%

15%

16%

16%

21%

24%

Lacrosse

Softball

Field hockey

Martial arts

Volleyball

Netball

MMA

Rugby League

Horse racing

Basketball

Golf

Cricket

Boxing

Cycling

Gymnastics

Rugby Union

Athletics

Swimming

Motorsports

Tennis

Football

9%

11%

12%

12%

12%

14%

15%

16%

17%

17%

19%

19%

20%

21%

21%

24%

25%

25%

27%

31%

52%

Netball

Field hockey

Softball

Volleyball

Lacrosse

Basketball

Gymnastics

MMA

Martial arts

Rugby League

Cycling

Horse racing

Swimming

Golf

Boxing

Athletics

Motorsports

Cricket

Tennis

Rugby Union

Football

Level of sports fandom

How would you describe yourself in relation to these sports? 21

WOMEN MEN

Favourite Fan

Level of sports fandom

How would you describe yourself in relation to these sports? 22

18-34 years 35-54 years 55+ years

13%

16%

16%

17%

17%

19%

20%

20%

20%

20%

21%

22%

23%

24%

25%

25%

26%

28%

30%

32%

40%

Field hockey

Softball

Lacrosse

Netball

Volleyball

Cricket

Horse racing

Golf

Rugby League

Martial arts

Cycling

Basketball

Gymnastics

MMA

Rugby Union

Motorsports

Athletics

Boxing

Swimming

Tennis

Football

Favourite

6%

6%

7%

7%

8%

9%

11%

11%

11%

11%

12%

14%

15%

16%

16%

17%

20%

20%

22%

22%

42%

Lacrosse

Softball

Netball

Volleyball

Field hockey

Martial arts

MMA

Basketball

Golf

Gymnastics

Rugby League

Horse racing

Boxing

Swimming

Cycling

Cricket

Athletics

Rugby Union

Motorsports

Tennis

Football

0%

0%

0%

0%

0%

1%

1%

2%

5%

5%

6%

7%

8%

9%

12%

13%

16%

16%

18%

21%

30%

Lacrosse

MMA

Softball

Volleyball

Field hockey

Basketball

Netball

Martial arts

Boxing

Rugby League

Gymnastics

Horse racing

Swimming

Cycling

Golf

Athletics

Cricket

Motorsports

Tennis

Rugby Union

Football

Fan

About Harris Interactive

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For more information visit www.harris-interactive.co.uk

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