Menu
Leagues and Governing Bodies

Millennials Driving Growth In Attendance At U.K. Sporting Events

Millennials and younger audiences are the "driving force behind a strong growth in attendances at sports events," boosting a U.K. industry that has "thrived since" London 2012, according to Murad Ahmed of the FINANCIAL TIMES. The number of people buying tickets for sports events across the country is expected to reach 74.5 million in '18, "not including one-off fixtures," up from 63 million six years ago when the London Games "helped to convert more Britons into watchers of live sport." The research by Two Circles "is based on the declared attendance figures" for regular annual professional sports events in the U.K. It shows that crowds have risen 2.8% on a yearly basis since '12. The surge "is due in large part to young people passing through the turnstiles of Britain’s stadiums in ever larger numbers." They do so, despite TV broadcasters "becoming concerned that millennial audiences are unwilling to sit through live sports matches for long periods," thanks to distractions from social media and on-demand entertainment such as Netflix. Two Circles co-Founder Gareth Balch said, "It is well-documented that millennials are the first postwar generation that are less wealthy than the generation before. That has caused those individuals to have a different psychology about how they invest their time and money." The research showed that the percentage of ticket buyers aged between 16 and 24 for U.K. sports events was 23% this year, up from 15% in '12. The number of millennials -- born between '81 and '96 -- attending sport has increased to 21% this year, up from 16% in '12 (FINANCIAL TIMES, 11/25).

SBJ Morning Buzzcast: March 25, 2024

NFL meeting preview; MLB's opening week ad effort and remembering Peter Angelos.

Big Get Jay Wright, March Madness is upon us and ESPN locks up CFP

On this week’s pod, our Big Get is CBS Sports college basketball analyst Jay Wright. The NCAA Championship-winning coach shares his insight with SBJ’s Austin Karp on key hoops issues and why being well dressed is an important part of his success. Also on the show, Poynter Institute senior writer Tom Jones shares who he has up and who is down in sports media. Later, SBJ’s Ben Portnoy talks the latest on ESPN’s CFP extension and who CBS, TNT Sports and ESPN need to make deep runs in the men’s and women's NCAA basketball tournaments.

SBJ I Factor: Nana-Yaw Asamoah

SBJ I Factor features an interview with AMB Sports and Entertainment Chief Commercial Office Nana-Yaw Asamoah. Asamoah, who moved over to AMBSE last year after 14 years at the NFL, talks with SBJ’s Ben Fischer about how his role model parents and older sisters pushed him to shrive, how the power of lifelong learning fuels successful people, and why AMBSE was an opportunity he could not pass up. Asamoah is 2021 SBJ Forty Under 40 honoree. SBJ I Factor is a monthly podcast offering interviews with sports executives who have been recipients of one of the magazine’s awards.

Shareable URL copied to clipboard!

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Global/Issues/2018/11/27/Leagues-and-Governing-Bodies/Millennials-UK-attendance.aspx

Sorry, something went wrong with the copy but here is the link for you.

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Global/Issues/2018/11/27/Leagues-and-Governing-Bodies/Millennials-UK-attendance.aspx

CLOSE