SPORTS BLOG
Are you looking for topical insights and industry intel? You’ll find it here in our blog.
NFL’s brand enjoys its strongest start to the season for years
BLOG | by Victor Gras ... Following a challenging start to the season last year, this year the NFL’s brand health is in its best start-of-season condition since at least 2014 among the general population.
NBA suffers from China crisis – both home and away
BLOG | by Scott Horowitz ... As the row between the NBA and the Chinese state dies down, we thought we’d look at the metrics we track on the league to see what, if any, damage the brand sustained. So let’s take a look at the story the data tells us.
The Indian running boom – distance running’s big business for sponsors
BLOG | by Joseph Eapen ... If I asked you to think of the traditional homes of distance running, I suspect you’d be pretty far down your list before you got to India. Yet in January next year, more than 45,000 runners will gather in Mumbai for Asia’s largest long-distance race – the Tata Mumbai Marathon. In short, long-distance running is growing fast in India.
What makes people in major football markets attend games?
BLOG | by Charlie Dundas ... With all football seasons across Europe now well-underway, we have been thinking about what draws people to attend matches – and whether those factors differ across leagues. So we polled football fans in five countries which are home to major soccer leagues and asked these supporters what made them turn up each week – as well as what keeps them away. As you might expect, we found some interesting differences between markets.
The most valuable real estate in Merseyside. The front of Liverpool’s shirt
BLOG | by Charlie Dundas ... As you may have read this month, sports apparel manufacturer New Balance is taking Liverpool FC to court to extend its kit deal with the club. Reports suggest that New Balance matched Nike’s offer, as they were entitled to under a clause in their current contract, only for the Reds to plough ahead with a deal with the Oregon-based manufacturer regardless. We thought we’d take a look at why New Balance is quite so keen to renew its deal with the club.
Do gamblers use social differently to the rest of the population?
BLOG | by Charlie Dundas ... Later this autumn, YouGov will be publishing a White Paper which tackles honesty on social media platforms. It will cover attitudes towards the importance of honesty on these networks and ask whether we are more or less forgiving of unreliable content when it comes from, for example, influencers or companies. Read also … And has 32Red’s Wayne Rooney sponsorship shifted the needle yet?
Rugby World Cup: The lesser-spotted US rugby fan
BLOG | by Tracy Schoenadel ... Although it remains a minority sport in the US, rugby still has its share of die-hard fans. In fact, our data tells us that 2.8m Americans follow the sport. So with the Rugby World Cup already in full flow in Japan (and the USA playing on Thursday), we wanted to profile those planning to watch the World Cup and build up a more detailed picture of your average American World Cup watcher.
Will time differences deter Rugby World Cup fans around the world?
BLOG | by Victor Gras ... The Rugby World Cup starts today. And while the large and lucrative American market enjoys a fair amount of clout when it comes to the scheduling of sports events taking place in other time zones, it’s slightly less mighty when it comes to rugby union.
Which NFL stadium sponsor gets the best return from its deal?
BLOG | by Victor Gras ... In the third and final of our series of NFL blogs, as the season begins we thought we’d focus on sponsors. Stadium naming rights are now a common feature of major league sports and the NFL is no different. But, with many being tied up to long-term deals, do they retain an impact on fans?
Arabian Gulf League – Reasons to be cheerful
BLOG | by Frank Saez ... With the Arabian Gulf League now underway, we have polled people living in the United Arab Emirates to get a feel for what they perceive as the competition’s strengths and weaknesses.
Vast majority of sports fans believe athlete pay should be based on skill, not gender
BLOG | by Bruce Cook ... Ahead of the 5th Annual Diversity Summit being run alongside this week’s Solheim Cup, we took a look at whether fans of different sports have varying attitudes towards diversity issues.
Which NFL teams are the hottest topics of conversation this pre-season?
BLOG | by Tracy Schoenadel ... Following up on last month’s piece on the hottest tickets in NFL, today we thought we’d take a look at the league’s most talked-about teams.