Can sport provoke positive change? In our recent Future Of Sport survey we looked at how it is playing out with the major forces – from sustainability to fandom – and where sport is changing the rules, for good…
Sport is at its best when it is inspiring us, and we found plenty to be inspired by in our Future Of Sport Survey. We wanted to find out how sports has the power to challenge attitudes around the major forces of Inclusion, Equity & Diversity, Sustainability, Performance & Success, Game Play and Fandom. We used these cultural shifts as a roadmap to what sports might look like for tomorrow’s players and fans.
For the full survey on The Future Of Sport, contact hello@crowdDNA.com
In this survey, we got to interesting provocations around:
Inclusion, Equity & Diversity
Traditional barriers are being challenged (such as improved equity in sports, whether financial, gender or physical access), and questions about inclusion (especially for non-binary or trans people in sport) and the relationship between sports and politics are under scrutiny.
We found that…
96% of Americans agree it’s important to make everyone feel welcome within the sports community
50% of Americans agree that sportswashing is a problem
96% of Americans agree it’s important to make sports accessible to everyone
Sustainability
New solutions are being found to create more climate positive events, for example FIFA has committed to net-zero emission by 2040; and Formula 1 has a strategy to become a net zero carbon sport by 2030.
We found that…
87% of Americans feel it is important to reduce the carbon footprint of sporting events and experiences
37% of Americans feel the transparency from sporting organisations and events around global issues such as their sustainable impact will improve in the next five years
Performance & Success
As athletes like Simone Biles and Naomi Osaka withdraw from events to prioritise their mental health, it’s no longer success at any cost.
We found that…
68% of Americans agree that the mental wellbeing of athletes is more important than their performance
72% of Americans agree that athletes achievements are rooted in their story off the field, not just what they do on the field
96% of Americans agree it’s important that new technology is developed to protect the physical wellbeing of athletes
Game Play
With eSports eventing firmly established, other challengers to traditional sports play includes the rise of player-driven organisations, and a bigger spotlight on player welfare.
We found that…
20% of sports fans would consider watching eSports in the future
51% of Americans agree that biohacking will become more prevalent in sports
64% of Americans feel the use of technology while watching live sporting events will improve over the next five years
Fandom
People are changing how they watch sports, turning to creators and technology that builds the personality and profile of players online, while teams are meeting fans where they are most vocal: in Twitch streams, Roblox arenas, TikTok, and Twitter threads.
We found that…
69% of American females identify as sports fan, compared to 81% of American males
56% of Americans (61% of sports fans) have engaged with athletes or teams outside of the sport, eg on social media, live streams, or listening to a podcast
For the full survey on The Future Of Sport, contact hello@crowdDNA.com