Commonwealth Games 2022 – which countries are paying most attention?

The Commonwealth Games, which concluded on 8 August, has drawn attention of a sizeable chunk of consumers in various markets, data from YouGov BrandIndex shows. The findings are based on the Attention score, which is the percentage of consumers that have heard something positive or negative about a sports property, either in the media, or from friends and family, in the last two weeks.

Tracking Attention scores over the last month, we find noticeable improvements in a few key markets. In Australia, the score has risen from 23% on July 6 to 30% on August 4. Australia’s Attention rate for the Commonwealth Games surpasses other markets both at the start date as well as the end date of our analysis period. This might have to do with the fact that they came into this event as the reigning champions on the medals tally and are again dominating the charts in Birmingham.

In the host market, scores have risen sharply. Only one in ten UK residents said they were hearing about the Games on 5 July, but that number has risen by 15-percentage points as of August 4.

In India, a fifth of consumers (19%) said they were hearing about the event a month ago and that share has grown to a quarter of consumers (24%). Among Malaysians the growth in Attention rate has been slightly more modest, increasing from 19% to 22%. Compared to the other markets, the Commonwealth Games has attracted relatively modest Attention among Canadians, with scores rising from 3% to 5%.

Examining Buzz scores among esports fans

The Birmingham Commonwealth Games played host to the first Commonwealth Esports Championships.

Scores from over the last quarter don’t reveal a significant uptick in Buzz scores among esports fans in each respective market compared to the overall population. Canada being the exception to the trend, records a notably higher Buzz among esports fans.

In Malaysia, UK, India and Australia, the Buzz scores for the Commonwealth Games among esports fans closely mirrored that of the overall population.

Methodology: YouGov BrandIndex collects data on thousands of brands every day. Attention score is based on the percentage of people who say they have heard anything, positive or negative, about a sports property in the past two weeks. Scores are based on an average sample size of 515 to 1044 adults in each market between July 6 – August 4, 2022. Figures are based on a four-week moving average. Learn more about BrandIndex.