SPORTS MEDIA FUMBLE WITH FAN NEEDS AND PASSIONS SAYS NEW SURVEY FROM ESSENTIALLYSPORTS

More than Half of American Sports Fans are Tired of Non-Stop NFL Coverage, Two Thirds Struggle to Find Enough Coverage of Sports They Follow

Fans of Women's Sports Struggle Even More (69 Percent), and Nearly 4 in 10 Men Clamor for More WNBA

AUSTIN, Texas, Nov. 19, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- "America's pastime" has always been sport, and aside from the moon landing, 9 of the 10 most-watched television broadcasts in U.S. history have been football games. But despite our collective love of the game, media seem to be getting it all wrong when it comes to serving the actual interests of fans, according to a new nationwide survey¹ conducted by Wakefield Research and leading sports publisher EssentiallySports.

More than half of all sports fans (54 percent) admit to being tired of wall-to-wall coverage of the NFL, and even 49 percent of self-identified football fans have had enough. But it's not just an obsession with the gridiron that's leaving fans fatigued.

The survey shows the majority of fans (59 percent) enjoy following three or more sports, yet the more sports a fan follows, the more likely they are to struggle to find the level of coverage they desire. Seven in 10 fans struggle to find enough coverage because most media only focus on the same one or two sports each season, a timely challenge given that the NBA season has recently tipped off under a bigger, broader TV rights agreement.

When asked what sports fans wish they could read about and consume more frequently and easily, more than a third (35 percent) pointed to the WNBA – even after coming off a banner year of viewership, ticket and merchandise sales – perhaps also portending pent-up appetite for Unrivaled, the new women's basketball league launching in early 2025. In fact, more men than women are looking for more WNBA, 38 percent to 32 percent, respectively.

Fans also feel underserved by coverage and access to gymnastics and combat sports, 29 percent and 27 percent, respectively – signaling a break from the historical "Big Four" sports in America that have dominated both broadcast and analysis for decades, and for gymnastics specifically, the power and importance of widespread coverage following the Olympic Games.

"No sports fan is one-dimensional, but editorial media and league distribution deals have increasingly forced fans into one, simple box," said Harit Pathak, co-founder of EssentiallySports. "Our survey shows that fans deeply desire wider coverage of a broad mix of sports they love, and that they would engage even more if their needs were being met by the media."

These fan desires also span generations. Nearly three quarters (73 percent) of both Gen Z and Millennials struggle to find the level of coverage they want for the sports they follow. Millennials, specifically, are more eager for coverage of sports like tennis (32 percent) and golf (24 percent), and Gen X would most like to see a greater level of coverage of motorsports like NASCAR (28 percent). And while Boomers were less likely to be tired by the expanse of NFL attention, they still want to see more when it comes to sports like gymnastics (27 percent) and the WNBA (25 percent).

Fans' repeated reference to the WNBA points to more than "the Caitlin Clark effect" and the historic achievements of other players this past season. More than 80 percent of fans say they enjoy women's sports, and for half of fans, the coverage of these sports has not kept pace with their interests. Nearly 6 in 10 self-identified women's sports fans (58 percent) say they would increase the amount of time they spend with sports media if the outlets began covering a wider range of sports.

Zooming out, the data points together suggest a larger, more engaged readership and viewership for both the media and leagues if there were just more attention on sports below the proverbial fold. This insight underpins the editorial strategy of EssentiallySports, which focuses on delivering in-depth coverage of "traditional" sports like football and basketball equivalently to others like golf, soccer, tennis, track and field, boxing and others.

About EssentiallySports

EssentiallySports is the home for the underserved fan, delivering storytelling that goes beyond the headlines. As a media platform, EssentiallySports combines deep audience insights with cultural trends, to meet fandom where it lives and where it goes next – offering by-the-minute coverage and expert analysis of 14 different sports, from the NFL and NBA, to NASCAR and WNBA. One of America's 10 biggest sports media platforms, EssentiallySports serves fans across hundreds of owned and operated fan communities, exclusive interactive podcasts and newsletters, including its flagship NASCAR property, "Lucky Dog on Track." Founded in 2014, EssentiallySports now reaches more than 30 million active monthly users.

CONTACT

Dan Mazei
All Tangled Roots, for EssentiallySports
[email protected]

SOURCE EssentiallySports