Do stats enhance the enjoyment of sports? [Reality checks]

The latest episode of Reality checks with Brian Reitz features Rick Wolf, President at GameDay Sports Network, diving into the world of sports statistics.

A member of both the Fantasy Sports Hall of Fame and the Fantasy Sports Writers Hall of Fame, Wolf said on Reality checks, "I've played everything from bass fishing to wakeboarding to every single Olympic sport... when I was with NBC, we invented an Olympics game for Coca-Cola so that you could have fantasy players every night that you hoped would medal. It just makes every viewing experience of sports better."

The survey

To uncover the reality, Rick and the YouGov team collaborated on a 4-question survey:

1. Which of the following applies to how you watch sports? (Casual fan, team fan, fantasy sports player, sports bettor, etc.)
2. If all of these sports were on TV at the same time, in which order would you watch them? Please rank from most likely to watch at #1 to least likely to watch at #10.
3. When watching a sports game or event, which types of information do you find enhances the viewing experience?
4. Which of the below devices do you use during a game to look up stats not included in the broadcast? 

What kind of sports fan are you? Most Americans say: “Just casual”

In an era of fantasy leagues, sports betting, and hyper-specialized sports content, our survey found that the most common type of American sports fan is still the most laid-back: casual.

When asked to describe how they engage with sports, 42% of U.S. adults identify as “casual fans,” more than any other category. Loyalty to a team (35%) also outpaces newer trends like fantasy sports (7%) or sports betting (6%), suggesting that while the sports landscape is evolving, core fandom remains rooted in tradition.

When breaking this down by age, Americans between the ages of 18 and 30 are more likely to say they’re fans of players (18% vs 14% gen pop), an emerging phenomenon YouGov explored in-depth in the June 2025 report Star power: The role of individual athletes on sports fandom.

America’s favorite sport to watch isn’t entirely straightforward

If every major sport aired at the same time, Americans wouldn’t agree on what to watch. While football leads with 34% ranking it as their #1 choice, interest quickly fragments beyond that.

Basketball, baseball, and even combat sports like boxing and MMA attract top-three votes across the board. Meanwhile, esports lands at the bottom, with 30% of Americans ranking it as the last sport they would watch.

The results reaffirm that while football leads in popularity, Americans are far from unified in their sports passions.

Stats enhance the viewer experience, but fans are split on which are most important

Modern broadcasts are more data-packed than ever, and fans are paying attention. The majority of sports fans (54%) say real-time stats improve the viewing experience. Historical stats (33%), standings (38%), and coach/player interviews (38%) are also popular, while newer metrics like win probability (21%) and predictive player stats (18%) have a more niche following.

This shows that fans want more than just to watch the game being played, they want insights that enhance their understanding of the game being played.

When it comes to which sport fanbases have the biggest demand for statistics, basketball fans, defined as choosing to watch the sport first or second out of ten options, stand out as the most data-hungry: 70% say they look up stats, followed closely by soccer fans (68%) and football fans (63%). Hockey and tennis fans, by contrast, are more laid-back, with fewer than half seeking extra numbers during the game.

Phones may not be the “second” screen for much longer

For fans who dig into stats mid-game, the phone reigns supreme. 62% of stat-seeking fans use their mobile phones, with laptops (14%), tablets (13%), and desktops (10%) trailing far behind. Despite the ‘second-screen' experience often being marketed as high-tech or immersive, for most fans, it’s still a quick Google search on their smartphone.

In fact, fans have become so reliant on their phones that Rick Wolf told us “There was a conference I was at a couple of months ago, SportsPro OTT, they were saying that the phone is the first screen and the television is actually the second screen.”