Sports execs have ramped up efforts to connect to Gen Z, like NBA bringing TikTok stars to All-StarNBAE/Getty Images
The U.S. sports industry is “confronting a Generation Z problem,” as those in that demo have “eschew traditional television-viewing and subscribe to digital habits that make grooming a new generation of sports fans a challenge,” according to Rick Maese of the WASHINGTON POST. That challenge is “being met with a sense of urgency in some corners of the sports world and a sense of alarm in others.” The failure to “hook young people might not devastate today's bottom line, but it threatens to muddle the future of every league, every team and every sport.” Monumental Sports & Entertainment CEO Ted Leonsis: “If you lose a generation, it destroys value and the connective tissue. It’s what some of the big sports leagues are nervous about.” Maese reported while many teams and leagues recently have embraced digital platforms, they were “slow to tailor their offerings to the youngest generation.” ESPN data shows that 96% of 12- to 17-year-olds “still identify as sports fans, a consistent figure over the past decade,” thought the “share of fans who call themselves 'avid'” has dropped from 42% in '10 to 34% last year. NFL CMO Tim Ellis: “There’s no strategy for bringing in a 35-year-old fan for the first time. You have to make them a fan by the time they’re 18, or you’ll lose them forever.” Execs from MLB, the NBA, NFL and NHL “say they’ve been diligently studying Generation Z” and have “ramped up their efforts to connect" (WASHINGTON POST, 11/24).
