Ticketmaster Study Finds Under 35s Driving Women’s Sport Growth

Young people are three times more likely to have attended a women’s sports event, according to new data published as part of Ticketmaster’s State of Play 2018 report.

The ticketing provider’s annual survey of 12,000 people focused this year on attitudes towards sport in the United Kingdom, with a particular emphasis on football, rugby union and cricket.

Among the key findings was a growing appetite for women’s sport, with three in ten sports fans reporting that they are “likely to attend” a women’s match in 2019.

Over three in five people agreed that women’s sport is “on the rise,” with the report providing new evidence to show that fans under the age of 35 are leading the charge in attending women’s matches. 

The data also pointed to the important role of broadcasters and promoters in driving engagement and attendance, with almost half the fans polled (46%) saying they would watch women’s sports if shown by broadcasters. A fifth of respondents (17%) claimed they simply don’t hear about the games. 

Ticketmaster released the findings at an event held in the new East Stand hospitality suite at Twickenham Stadium.

A panel featuring footballer-turned-broadcaster Alex Scott, fellow broadcaster Karthi Gnanasegaram, AELTC’s Sally Bolton, Olympic Champion Hockey captain Kate Richardson-Walsh and Lisa O’Keefe, director of insight at Sport England, debated a range of issues related to growing women’s sport.

O’Keefe said: “If we want to see more people take part, have interest in, or become fans of sport we need to do two jobs. First we need to encourage sports fans to grow their interest in their favourite sports or teams to include the women’s teams. Build on their affinity to the brand to engage them in great entertainment. 

“Secondly, we need to work hard to make sport work better for the many girls and women who have concluded its not for them.  We know that children are more likely to be active if their mothers are, so the benefits here could be long lasting.”

Fellow panelist Richardson-Walsh added: “Once companies start investing more money in women’s sport, the growth will be massive and immediate. A little bit of sponsorship goes a long way. In short everyone wins.”

Other key findings in the Ticketmaster study included a shift in the concept of fandom, particularly in football, where almost a third of fans said they would consider switching teams. 

Support for local teams is particularly thriving, with the research showing that the main reason fans switch teams is to support a local team instead. Almost half (48%) of sports fans indicated that they regularly attend local and grassroots matches.

Commenting on the findings, Tina Mermiri, director of research & digital analytics at Ticketmaster International, said: “This is our sixth State of Play report looking at significant areas of the live event and ticketing experience, demonstrating our commitment to understanding our audiences and supporting the many industries in which we work.

“Our 2018 report is the largest and most comprehensive yet with a sample of 12,000 lifting the curtain on what people in the UK really think about sport in this country, with complementary analysis from our database of over 100m ticket purchasers and transactional data from sports clients. 

“This in-depth comparative study between football, cricket and rugby fans highlights macro and micro trends, from an unexpected love of Bovril to hardcore football fans, coming together to form full picture of the sporting world, its challenges and opportunities.”