With sports slowly returning to our screens, our research with NBCUniversal found that more than 76% of sports fans felt they weren’t themselves while live sports were off the air, and 78% felt that brands that advertise in sports are an important part of the overall experience.
Using a nationwide survey of over 2,300 US sports fans, mobile ethnography, in-depth interviews and interviews with academic experts, we explored how live sports are uniquely able to fulfil the needs of sports fans, using the shutdown of live sports as a chance to explore the needs and behaviours of deprived fans. We also found that brands are well-placed to reap dividends from the loyalty fans show to brands that advertise during live sports.
You can read more about this research, and how NBCU are using it in their push for a wider set of advertisers, in Variety (NBC Plans Bid to Draw Wider Set of Advertisers to Sports).