How can established sports truly understand what drives fandom and keeps fans engaged?

In today’s attention economy, driven by AI and personalised content, sports rights holders face new challenges. They’re competing not only on the field but also against entertainment providers that use data to capture the lifetime value of Gen Z customers.

What if traditional sports could replicate the tactics and experiences that first attracted their fans? What lessons could they learn from other sports? And how can sponsors align their messaging with the key drivers of fandom?

We developed the 10 C’s of Fandom framework to answer these questions, underpinned by 23 factors that spark and sustain fan interest. Our annually repeatable survey tracks trends across age groups and markets, with initial findings offering insights into fandom drivers across 30 sports from 2,000 respondents in the UK, Germany, Italy, and France.