According to a new study from USC Annenberg and the Acceleration Community of Companies, 78% of Gen Z attend live sporting events solely for the opportunity to see celebrities, concerts, and/or brand activities, as opposed to purely watching the games live – with 39% of respondents saying they already have, and another 39% indicating they would.
Additionally, new research from ACC and the Annenberg School of Journalism and Communications found that 49% of millennials first come into sports because of content created by athletes, fans and/or viral videos.
“For previous generations, sports was the gateway to fandom. For Gen Z, it’s often the last stop,” ACC President Monica Chun said in a statement Tuesday. “Young fans aren’t necessarily loving the sport first. They’re loving the athlete, the story, the creator, the controversy or the community around it. A celebrity connection or a TikTok video can be just as powerful as the sport itself. Sports used to create culture. Increasingly, culture is creating sports fans.”
This weighted study was conducted by 15 USC undergraduate and graduate students working in a think tank with ACC staff. Together, they conducted an online survey of 2,154 Gen Z adults (born 1997 or later) through YouGov, in addition to local focus groups and a community sample of 146 Gen Z-ers (aged 18–29).
While 26% of participants identify themselves as “die-hard” sports fans and another 26% do not consider themselves fans at all, 48% fall somewhere in between – pollsters have labeled these people as “the new bandwagon”. The study further determined that Gen Z does not engage with sports through a single app or content length/format.
According to the study, 25% of Gen Z would rather follow an athlete’s individual, personal story than their game. Additionally, 32% agreed that they find themselves supporting individual athletes rather than specific organizations or teams.
50% of those surveyed said that lower ticket prices would be the biggest change that could motivate them to attend more live sporting events. Additionally, 31% of Gen Z – including fans and non-sports fans – said they would prefer to attend a “mega-event” such as the World Cup or the 2028 LA Olympics rather than 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 said.
Additionally, those surveyed expressed fears that they might be priced out of LA28, with 27% of potential Gen Z participants admitting that they think the 2028 Olympic event in Los Angeles will be out of their reach financially.
