Rematch on the Gridiron! Giants and Patriots Fans Divided by Teams and Interests

NEW YORK, Feb. 2, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- The field is set for an epic rematch between the New York Giants and New England Patriots at this years' Super Bowl XLVI (view infographic). A new study from Scarborough Sports Marketing, a consumer marketing firm specializing in sports and fan insights, reveals findings that show demographic and lifestyle differences between Giants and Patriots fans in the New York and Boston markets. After the Giants upset the Patriots in Super Bowl XLII four years ago, fans have been waiting with excitement for the two teams in this newfound rivalry to faceoff once again.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120202/NY46747)

Scarborough Sports Marketing defines fans as American adults who say they watched, attended or listened to a Giants or Patriots game in the past 12 months and live in the New York or Boston markets. Giants fans account for 41% of adults 18+ living in the New York local market while Patriots fans account for 67% of their Boston local market.

Many differences exist across the Patriots and Giants fan bases and the local markets in which they live. According to Scarborough, 11% of Giants fans played football in the past 12 months as compared with the Patriots fans' 8%. Meanwhile, Patriots fans did more hiking (17%) in the past year than Giants fans (13%) as well as more snow skiing and snowboarding (11% of Patriots fans, 8% of Giants fans). New Yorkers were more active indoors with 34% of Giants fans belonging to a health club as compared with 26% of Patriots fans and 44% of Giants fans attended live theater in the past 12 months versus just 22% of Patriots fans.

Super Bowl XLVI also falls in an election year, another area where the fan bases compete. Politically, Giants fans identify most as Independents (34%), then Democrats (32%) with fewer identifying as Republican (23%). Half of the Patriots fans identify as Independents (50%) with nearly one-fourth (24%) identifying as Democrat and 15% as Republicans. 85% of Patriots fans say they always vote in presidential elections versus 81% of Giants fans.

Affluence is another area in which the two fan bases differ from one another. 42% of Giants fans have an annual household income (HHI) of $100K or more and 9% have a HHI of $250K or more. 34% of Patriots fans have a HHI of $100K or more and 5% have a HHI of $250K or more. In terms of fans who own homes, 35% of Giants home-owner fans have a home valued at $500K or more while only 17% of Patriots fans have the same. Conversely, 30% of Patriots fans have a 401K while 27% of Giants fans invest in that retirement plan.

"The Super Bowl is by far the country's biggest sporting event and as such, their appeal to advertisers has become infamous," said Bill Nielsen, Vice President of Sales for Scarborough Sports Marketing. "Despite a tough economy, Super Bowl advertising becomes a bigger spectacle and can demand a higher price point each year thanks to the audience it brings in. Advertisers get the benefit of a national event, while maintaining the ability to target and tailor their messages to the lifestyle differences across the local markets."

In terms of diversity, Patriots fans have a higher concentration of women – 45% versus Giants fans' 37%. Giants fans, however, are more ethnically and racially diverse with 12% identifying as Hispanic versus Patriots fans' 5% and 13% of Giants fans identifying as African American (non-Hispanic) versus Patriots fans' 4%. 35% of Giants fans had at least a college degree while 37% of Patriots fans had the same.

Continue the dialogue with Scarborough Sports Marketing over Twitter by reaching out to @ScarbSports or @ScarboroughInfo using hashtag #SuperBowl and be sure to visit us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ScarboroughSports.

This data is from Scarborough USA+, Boston 2011 Release 2 and New York 2011 Release 2. Scarborough measures 210,000 adults aged 18+ annually across a wide variety of media, lifestyle, shopping and demographic categories.

If you are interested in additional Scarborough Sports Marketing reports, please contact Brad Sherer, 480.659.7395/[email protected].

About Scarborough Sports Marketing

Scarborough Sports Marketing (www.scarboroughsportsmarketing.com, [email protected]) measures local and national consumer and lifestyle information by interviewing over 210,000 adults (18+) in 77 Top-Tier Markets, including all professional sports markets. Scarborough sports measurements include fan avidity; multi-media measures including sports viewing and listening; corporate sponsorship information including fans' shopping and product/service usage; and leisure activities. Scarborough delivers twice-yearly updates of its local market reports to a diverse client base, spanning all major media, advertisers and their agencies. Scarborough Sports Marketing is a division of Scarborough Research, which is a joint venture between Arbitron Inc. and The Nielsen Company.

SOURCE Scarborough Sports Marketing