According to a new study from USC Annenberg and Acceleration Community of Companies, 78% of Gen Z only attends live sporting events for the chance to see celebrities, concert performances and/or brand activations, as opposed to purely watching the games outright — with 39% of responders saying they already have, and a further 39% indicating they would.
Plus, the new research from ACC and the Annenberg School of Journalism and Communications found that 49% of the younger generation first gets into sports thanks to content created by athletes, fans and/or viral videos.
“For previous generations, the game was the front door to fandom. For Gen Z, it’s often the last stop,” ACC president Monica Chun said in a Tuesday statement. “Young fans aren’t necessarily falling in love with the sport first. They’re falling in love with the athlete, the story, the creator, the controversy or the community around it. A celebrity relationship or a TikTok video can be just as powerful as the game itself. Sports used to create culture. Increasingly, culture is creating sports fans.”
The weighted study was conducted by 15 USC graduate and undergraduate students working in a think tank alongside ACC staffers. Together, they surveyed 2,154 Gen Z adults (born 1997 or later) online through YouGov, in addition to live local focus groups and a community sample of 146 Gen Z-ers (aged 18-29).
While 26% of participants identify as “die-hard” sports fans and another 26% don’t consider themselves fans at all, 48% fall somewhere in between — with the surveyors labeling these folks as “The New Bandwagon.” The study further determined that Gen Z doesn’t engage with sports via one single app or content length/format.
According to the study, 25% of Gen Z would rather follow an athlete’s individual, personal story rather than their games. Furthermore, 32% agreed that they find themselves supporting individual athletes over any specific organizations or teams.
Among those polled, 50% said that lower ticket prices would be the biggest change that could drive them to attend more live sporting events. On top of that, 31% of Gen Z — including fans and non-sports fans — said that they would rather attend a “mega-event” like the World Cup or the 2028 L.A. Olympics over a single championship game or even three regular season sports games.
“The mega-moment remains the ultimate concentration of attention, participation and spending,” the study noted.
At the same time, those polled expressed fear that they may be priced out of LA28, with 27% of potential Gen Z attendees admitting they feel like the 2028 Olympic events in Los Angeles will be financially out of reach for them.
