ESPN Study Finds Increased Platforms Increases Time With Brand

Latin America, with its rapid population and economic growth, has seen an increasingly large consumer base spending increased amounts of time on more platforms to get their sports fix. Sports fans in the region who use a variety of ESPN platforms spend a longer time with the brand. ESPN commissioned a study -- with Knowledge Networks and IPSOS -- testing media usage across multiple platforms in Latin America. The study surveyed 5,104 people from March-April '11, ages 14-64, in the general population of the region, and offers an early read into the consumption habits of a region with growing importance as it prepares to host the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Summer Olympics. ESPN currently offers six platforms throughout the region: television, Internet, broadband, radio, magazine and mobile, with TV consistently ranking the highest. ESPN Int’l VP Rikki Groeger said, “Sports fans, for the most part, don’t differ in what they do. What’s different is what’s available for them and how those platforms evolve.” Groeger added that ESPN’s goals span further than just bringing consumers the content they want -- but understanding their lives to know when and where they want it.
 
DIVING IN: The study showed that Brazil had 9.037 million people who watched, listened or logged-on to an ESPN platform daily in '11, spending on average 97 minutes a day with the brand, the highest in the survey. The number of users jumped 37% since '09. With the growth of the middle class in Brazil, people are gaining more access to technology, and the country ranks at the top as what Groeger calls “early adopters.” Although Brazil is most known for football, Groeger noted that their sports fans consume the widest variety of sports. Argentinians do not spend as much time with ESPN as respondents in other markets, but they have seen growth in all mediums. Digitally Argentina logs the fewest users, but at the same time is seeing the most growth in that area. The country has the strongest focus of any region on radio, with an AM and FM ESPN station, where 19% of people claim that is the platform on which they most rely. Mexico accounts for the strongest usage of non-TV platforms, which results in the average person spending 6 ½ hours a day on multiple ESPN platforms -- the highest of any country. In the past Mexico has been pacing behind other countries in the digital space, Groeger explained, but now the country is rapidly playing “catch-up.” Groeger explained that because providers are more effectively and affordably packaging content, more people are subscribing, which in turn forces prices to go down -- creating a very lucrative environment. Groeger said that the next round of the study will focus on tablet usage and social media (SBD Global).

ESPN users' weekly consumption (000s):

In an average week ESPN content in Argentina, Brazil and Mexico attracts an audience of more than 20.4M individuals who spend nearly 11 hours with the brand.