The effort by leagues to attract younger fans was examined on ESPN’s “OTL” yesterday afternoon, with ESPN’s Bob Ley noting all sports are "focused on attracting and keeping millennial consumers.” Ley: “The NFL was roundly praised recently, praised from the cultural heavens for relaxing the strict policing of on-field celebrations beginning this fall, and also, it's all about time and speed and pace." MLB also has "instituted speedup rules with an eye on the younger fans." Ley: "Who are these millennials? Well, they're one quarter of the U.S. population, some 77 million individuals and by next year, millennials will have the most spending power of any American generation.” Ley noted L.E.K. Consulting Media & Entertainment conducted a survey which predicted millennials have a projected income in '18 of $3.4 trillion. It is a generation that has "sent a shiver through this industry because of cord-cutting." Ley: "It's the generation that has embraced esports as a spectator and participatory activity, even spawning the phenomenon of drone racing.” The L.E.K. survey of 3,000 millennials is a “generation with particular tastes about their new sports and our old ones.” The study reported 61% of millennials "identified the NFL as 'sleazy'" and 67% of millennials "don’t trust NFL players" ("OTL," ESPN, 6/29).
