Smg Insight Finds Pirated Sports Content Becoming The Norm

An SMG Insight poll for the BT Sport Industry Awards has lifted the lid on the sports viewing habits of millennials and revealed a number of challenges for the sports sector.

Whilst millennials are just as interested in professional sport as the rest of the population, their viewing habits show a number of differences:

• More than half (54%) of young millennials (18-24) admit to having watched sport on unofficial streams (compared to 21% of non-millennials)
• A third of young millennials are likely to watch unofficial streams (compared to just 8% for non-millennials)
• Cord-cutters or not, millennials are much less likely to pay for sport on TV with only 14% of millennials (18-34) having a paid sports subscription channel, compared to 24% of non-millennials
• Millennials are twice as likely to have an OTT service like NOW TV but either way this is still very much a minority pursuit (5% v 2%).

However, some similarities in habits belie some assumptions about millennials:

• Like the rest of the population, they still prefer to view sport live on TV, with highlights packages coming a distant second, with live on a tablet or phone an even more distant third
• Only 2% of millennials prefer to watch their sport as clips on social media, although they are twice as likely as the rest of the population to watch on a tablet or phone
• Traditional broadcasters like the BBC and Sky remain the main provider of sports content for all groups, albeit that alternative online providers like Twitter and Facebook are the main source for 11% of young millennials compared to just 2% of non-millennials.

Nick Keller, chairman of the Sport Industry Group, organisers of the BT Sport Industry Awards, believes that the findings will provoke action across the industry.

“The polling shows that sport is still captivating for audiences of all ages. But what continues to change is the way younger people consume their sport.

“Unless we are careful, we will have a generation of young people who consider pirated sports content to be the norm. That’s a significant challenge not just for rights holders but the whole sector – from sponsors and athletes to ticketholders. It’s in everyone’s interests, not least the fans who enjoy a quality product, to make sure that the value of sport is maintained by delivering a quality product through the best means to appeal to the audience.”

The BT Sport Industry Awards is the most prestigious commercial sports awards in Europe and the industry’s flagship event. Attended by 1,750 high profile guests from the British and international sport industry including business leaders, celebrities, sporting legends and media. 

The results, says Richard Brinkman, managing director of SMG Insight, add depth to a picture that was already emerging.

“That millennials are moving to other mediums comes as no surprise. But what is interesting is that the pace of change remains slow and that traditional forms of sports consumption – like sitting in front of a big TV – remain by far the favourite option.”