June 20th, 2022, Fiona Robinson
YouGov’s new report explores attitudes and behaviours of socially responsible sports fans and reveals what it means for marketers
Movements for equal pay in sport have been going on for decades, from tennis star Billie Jean King’s advocacy for equal pay in women’s tennis in 1966, to the more recent US Women’s National Team’s high-profile equal pay lawsuit against the nation’s Soccer Federation in 2019. A new global report by YouGov reveals that sports fans (who follow at least one sport) around the world are similarly passionate about athletes securing equal pay, with seven in ten agreeing that salaries should be based on skill, not gender (68%). This rises further among fans in Indonesia, with over three-quarters saying so (77%), accounting for the highest level of support in Asia.
YouGov’s Global Sports 2022: Uncovering the Socially Responsible Sports Fan, explores the impact of social and environmental priorities within sports and how fans respond to topics like social responsibility and equality across 18 international markets.
Taking a deeper dive into YouGov’s Global Profiles data, a global audience intelligence tool, shows sports fans are also more likely than the average consumer to care about issues associated with diversity and inclusion. With sports a demonstrated platform to bring people from different cultures and nationalities together, almost two-thirds of global sports fans agree diversity and inclusion should be considered when putting on events (65%). A further seven in ten feel more could be done, with 68% agreeing that ‘Sports need to be more inclusive’, suggesting there is room for improvement within the sector.
Looking at support for considering diversity and inclusion during events, Indonesian sports fans were most likely to agree that they should be considered (75%), followed by Hong Kong (73%) and Singapore (70%). Fans in Indonesia and Singapore were also the most likely in the region to say sports need to be more inclusive, with three-quarters expressing agreement (75%).
For more insights and analysis, download the full paper, Global Sports 2022: Uncovering the Socially Responsible Sports Fan, here.
Methodology:
Global Sports 2022: Uncovering the Socially Responsible Sports Fan connects research from our YouGov syndicated research surveys, including YouGov Profiles, YouGov Global Profiles, YouGov Global Fan Profiles, and YouGov BrandIndex, whilst also leveraging a small amount of custom research using YouGov Direct.
YouGov Profiles tracks 2 million+ data variables from YouGov’s 20 million+ global panel members in 49 markets, covering demographic, psychographic, attitudinal, and behavioural consumer metrics, with data collected daily and updated weekly.
YouGov Global Profiles tracks 1,000+ questions in 43 major markets, offering the largest globally consistent audience dataset.
YouGov Global Fan Profiles provides an instant view of the size, make-up, attitudes, and behaviours of fan bases in 50+ markets. Identify how big the fan base is, who the fans are, how they consume content and how they align with the thousands of brands and audience trends tracked daily.
YouGov BrandIndex measures brand health, from thousands of consumer interviews every day across 54 markets.