A Repucom study found that global sport is expected to see growth and more fan engagement during the next five years. Its greatest challenge will be making sport more appealing to young people. The survey, unveiled to delegates at the SportAccord Convention this week in Turkey, gives an insight into the minds of the leaders of sport. Repucom polled more than 1,500 participants of the 12th annual sport summit. The survey found that disability sports (cited by 72% of respondents), women's football (58%) and snowboarding (58%) were the genres mentioned most often as increasing in relevance during the next five years. More than 90% of those taking part in the survey said that the Internet and mobile media would become stronger while 86% of respondents agreed that the significance of women in sports would grow around the world. Making sport more relevant to young people was cited by 94% as a key challenge ahead, while 91% said that using social, digital and mobile media was the best way to get young people engaged. Repucom Global Dir of Marketing & Communications Thomas Zimmerman said, "You can only have an influence on how sports events will be structured and marketed if you understand the sport business and how it is changing" (Repucom).
