On a Tuesday in early September, I found myself bouncing between the NFL, the US Open quarterfinals and Women’s College Volleyball, with a baseball game or two in the mix. Oh, and the FIBA Women’s World Cup had already finished for the day. Multiply that by every American with a remote and a phone, and you get a picture of what fall sports season looks like.
According to CivicScience’s research, two-thirds of US adults (67%) say they plan to watch at least one collegiate or professional sports “broadcast” this fall, with football leading viewership. Many treat that audience as a closed ecosystem, but marketers should take a more nuanced approach to where and how they show up around this audience.
Because most viewers aren’t giving a broadcast their undivided attention in the first place – they’re often on a second screen – reaching them means understanding what else is competing for that attention.
The second screen matters
Seventy percent of fall sports viewers use a second screen during broadcasts. But their top activity isn’t checking live stats or fantasy scores. Thirty-three percent are consuming content entirely unrelated to the game. Texting, group chats or using social media is a close second at 31%. Checking live stats, fantasy status and/or sports betting is a distant fifth at 20%. These viewers are already in the habit of consuming content while the game is on, treating sports as a dual focus.
Content creators should lean into the opportunities that this multi-screen environment provides, especially given this group’s hunger for subscription content.
The unexpected content subscription overlap
Fall sports viewers pay for content subscriptions at a meaningfully higher rate (55%) than the general population (46%). The willingness of this audience to outpace the general population in paying for content extends beyond sports, most notably to business and health and fitness content.
These viewers are subscribers first and sports fans second. Yet most content providers are still building for it the other way around, treating sports readers, business readers and health and fitness readers as separate acquisition funnels instead of acknowledging the overlap.
The sports section is a legitimate entry point into an audience that already pays for business and health and fitness content, and campaigns that only target “sports” inventory are leaving that reach on the table.
The audience is primed to spend
Fall sports viewers also recall brands they’ve seen advertised online at a higher rate than the general population (51% versus 46%) and they’re receptive to relevant, data-informed advertising. For example, 25% “appreciate more relevant ads, even if personal data is used” versus 17% of the general population.
But they don’t just “appreciate relevant ads.” They take action. Twenty-five percent of this audience say they’re ready to make a major purchase, versus only 14% of the general population, while 27% have already started their holiday shopping (versus 18% of the general public).
What this means for publishers
Publishers building for fall sports viewers need a different playbook than “sports fan” implies. They need content that earns attention in short bursts, offers that acknowledge the existing subscriber relationship and messaging timed for an audience that’s primed to buy – not just watch. This is a viewer who is subscribed, distracted and ready to spend, all at once.
And that audience isn’t fixed.
Women’s sports is a case in point. Four years ago, 27% of viewers said that they were very interested in women’s sports. Today, that number is up to 30%, with another 13% somewhat curious.
The fall sports audience publishers are building for right now won’t look the same in two years. The opportunity isn’t just to reach this audience as it exists this September; it’s to build for where it’s headed.
