Bryan Perez (l) noted how 40% of all Gen Z ticket purchases occur within a week of the eventTony Florez
While Gen Xers represent the largest number of sports fans, partly because they have the most free time, sports executives also have their eyes on the unique consumption habits and wants of the members of Gen Z.
Bryan Perez, CEO of ticketing company AXS, and
Jason Robins, the co-founder & Chair of DraftKings, addressed the topic during a forward-thinking panel, “Sports Consumption and Fan Engagement Patterns We Need to be Watching” on Day 1 of the CAA World Congress of Sports in L.A. ESPN personality
Mina Kimes moderated the panel.
Perez noted that 40% of all Gen Z ticket purchases occur in the seven days before an event, double the percentage for Gen X.
Perez said, ”If all of our marketing is geared towards a much earlier purchase timeframe, and the fan of tomorrow is last minute, they have options, they're always deciding, ‘What do I want to do tonight?’ not What do I want to do two months from now?’ we're going to have to completely retool the way we market to them, where we reach them, and how we speak to them.”
Robins said the average age of a DraftKings bettor is early 30s with the biggest concentration more in Gen X and Gen Y. “I think that, as time goes on, you're going to see that age a little bit,” Robins said. “I think that naturally people, especially if you've been betting with a bookie for many years, who are maybe on the older side, maybe less inclined to use mobile devices, aren't adopting as quickly as some of the younger generation, the 30, 40-somethings.”
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That is not to say betting trends aren’t apparent in younger bettors, especially an interest in prop bets.
“You see more popularity in player props with younger betters,” Robins said. “For example, NBA is a player prop heavy sport. NFL is. Some other sports, less so. ... I think that they're more focused on players than older bettors, but there's not a huge difference.”
Robins and Perez both noted attracting younger fans will center around creating experiences.
“What is the new generation going to want? Because that's where you're going to see an evolution,” Robins said. “It doesn't really have anything to do with betting. It has to do much more with how they're consuming everything in general. And I think they will want a different live sporting experience than the generations X and earlier will want.”
Perez pointed to the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival and he noted, “the number of people that are running around taking pictures of themselves, kind of here I am in this moment, they don't want the same picture as everyone else. And so they're always looking for these kind of personalized opportunities.”
That desire for a personalized experience also could impact stadium and venue construction and design.
“Where we're starting to see that play itself out from a venue and a live event standpoint ... is what I call this kind of atomization of the premium opportunity,” Perez said. “Historically, we used to build suites and they were hundreds of thousands of dollars a year, or I got to buy a club seat and that's $7,000 a seat and I got to buy more than one because it's the entire season. Now what we're seeing is some of that suite inventory coming out of the mix, being repurposed for more communal opportunities and then being sold on a nightly basis.
“The experiences themselves need to be individualized.”
