Sports & gaming Archives | Nielsen Audience Is Everything™ Thu, 11 Apr 2024 17:00:16 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://www.nielsen.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/10/cropped-nielsen_favicon_512x512-1.png?w=32 Sports & gaming Archives | Nielsen 32 32 197901765 Webinar: How World Athletics is driving host city success beyond economic impact https://www.nielsen.com/insights/2024/webinar-how-world-athletics-is-driving-host-city-success-beyond-economic-impact/ Thu, 07 Mar 2024 18:43:37 +0000 https://www.nielsen.com/?post_type=insight&p=1542435 Learn in this webinar how positive impact can be sustained long after the athletes and fans have left town.

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Major sporting events have the ability to uplift entire cities, communities and economies. See how positive impact can be sustained long after the athletes and fans have left town. In this webinar you will learn:

  • How World Athletics enhanced their hosting strategy and event delivery
  • Ways to justify investment through long-term value and legacy impact
  • Enhanced analysis methods beyond economic factors
 

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Evolving the measurement of sports events https://www.nielsen.com/insights/2024/world-athletics-case-study/ Wed, 28 Feb 2024 21:26:16 +0000 https://www.nielsen.com/?post_type=insight&p=1539901 Nielsen worked with World Athletics on new measurements of success for hosting major sports events.

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A women running from start point in a running race

Evolving the measurement of sports events

Evolving the measurement of sports events

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World of athletics

Key findings

Seven of the nine evening sessions sold out in Budapest, bringing event attendance to 404,000, up from 150,000 in Oregon. 

Environmental initiatives put in place at the 2023 World Championships in Budapest resulted in a reduction of 1,700 tonnes of CO2 emissions–a savings of US$240,000.

Nielsen found that 77% of spectators at Budapest 2023 agreed that they were inspired to participate in track and field more often, an increase on 41% who felt the same having attended Oregon 2022.

Budapest 2023 generated US$408M in total event impact across Nielsen’s five pillars: economic, media, social, environmental, and attendance.

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How it works

With a network of analysts stretching across the globe, Nielsen can transform large data sets into actionable insights, helping clients connect to the audiences that matter most – regardless of sport, league, event or location.

Nielsen Sports has been working with World Athletics since 2019, measuring events including the World Indoor and Outdoor Championships, World Cross Country Championships, Road Running Championships and Relay Championships. The EIA Framework is modular and flexible, meaning it can be scaled down for smaller events and run fully for major championships.

Women athletics over the globe
Demonstrate the value of sports events with Nielsen’s EIA Framework
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Tops of 2023: Sports https://www.nielsen.com/insights/2023/tops-of-2023-sports/ Mon, 18 Dec 2023 13:00:00 +0000 https://www.nielsen.com/?post_type=insight&p=1444752 Audience engagement with sports on TV remained a major pastime this year, with fans in the U.S. spending more than 1.7...

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Few things engage audiences like sports do, and 2023 did not disappoint. Headlines across the world of sports have been ample, and each of them raised the profile of sports to new heights with fans, sponsors and advertisers. 

Select highlights include:

  • The final in the ninth FIFA Women’s World Cup was the first to not feature either the U.S. or Germany.
  • The 2023 MLS season was the first in a new, 10-year TV rights deal with Apple TV.
  • Lionel Messi kicked off his arrival at Inter Miami FC by scoring a game-winning free kick in this year’s Leagues Cup just six days after his deal with the MLS club was announced.
  • The introduction of a pitch clock shortened MLB games by an average of 24 minutes.   
  • The NFL Sunday Ticket made its debut on YouTube.
  • The Olympics announced four new sports for the 2024 summer games in Paris: Breaking, sport climbing, surfing and skateboarding.
  • Sports Illustrated named Coach Prime the Sportsperson of the Year after his first year of coaching the University of Colorado football team.
  • The budding romance between Taylor Swift and Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce has amplified the profile of the NFL and its games.

Headlines aside, audience engagement with sports on TV remained a major pastime this year, with fans in the U.S. spending more than 1.7 trillion minutes watching games from the five most-watched U.S. sports leagues. While impressive in aggregate, time spent watching NFL games accounted for 55% of the total.

From a viewership perspective, nothing attracts audiences like the Super Bowl, and the matchup between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles for Super Bowl LVII was the second-most watched game in league history. In total, audiences watched just under 48 billion minutes of the matchup. For context, viewers spent 52 billion minutes in 2022 watching Stranger Things, the year’s most-streamed program. And given the immense popularity of the NFL, playoff and Thanksgiving games accounted for the other nine most-watched games of the year. And what’s more, this year’s Thanksgiving games all attracted significant percentages of viewers who watched away from home.

In addition to satiating the needs of football fans, this year’s NFL games are helping fill the void caused by a lack of new primetime programming as a result of the writers strike. Compared with last year, all of this season’s Monday Night Football games are being aired on ABC in addition to ESPN and ESPN2—making it the only day of the week with one game that’s aired on multiple channels. 

The adjustment has been a boon for viewership, with the games on ABC attracting larger audiences than the traditional primetime programming did a year earlier. The week 4 matchup this year, for example, had an audience of 8.7 million on ABC, compared with an audience of 5.7 million for the two programs that ran at the same time on ABC a year earlier. And the Taylor Swift-Travis Kelce romance is attracting more female viewers.  

Sponsorships deliver significant value for brands

Fans weren’t alone in enjoying the action of the 2023 year in sports. Brands, always eager to partner with opportunities that broaden their exposure with new and existing audiences, continued to benefit from the growing sponsorship opportunities available to them. 2023 was the inaugural year for sponsorship patches on baseball team uniforms, and two of the year’s most valuable brand activations were on MLB jerseys. Across the league, Avnet benefited the most, aided by the fact that its sponsorship involved the Diamondbacks, who competed in the World Series. In total, the top 10 most valuable sports sponsorships delivered more than $259 million in media value1 for brands in 2023.

Brands aren’t the only beneficiaries of the exposure that media delivers to the sports world. The teams themselves also benefit, especially when it comes to social media. And while the Golden State Warriors have perennially been the leader in social media value, Lionel Messi joining Inter Miami FC catapulted the MLS squad to the top of the list this year. In fact, the average simulated value2 of a post for the team was more than twice that of one from the Warriors.

Well-positioned for 2024, the sports industry remains a fixture with a growing fanbase of audiences and brands. The undeniable appeal of sports, combined with audiences’ growing engagement with streaming content, however, has amplified the competition for broadcasting rights—a factor that could affect viewership among casual viewers. 

For true NFL fans, for example, watching every game requires access to several traditional broadcast channels, access to Amazon Prime Video and a subscription to the Sunday Ticket on YouTube. Similarly, New York Yankee fans needed access to broadcast, cable, Amazon Prime and Apple TV if they wanted to see all the action during the 2023 season. True sports fans will typically go where the action is, but holistic sports viewing growth will be tough to come by in an a la carte, game-by-game approach.

Through the lens of the audience, finding ways to ease sports viewers’ transition to streaming will be critical. The way in which ESPN is approaching NHL games is a good example, as it provides access to more than 1,050 out-of-market games from every team on its subscription ESPN+ service, while broadcasting another 100 games exclusively across ESPN, ESPN+, Hulu and ABC. The Apple TV-MLS deal is another stand-out, as it provides a consistent service and experience for nearly all MLS games. Sports remain the biggest draw for TV audiences, but ensuring that they can find the games they want without having to continue adding services and fees will be critical in the long run.

Notes:

1 Nielsen Sports’ Quality Index Media Value is the calculated media value of the live broadcast exposure received by the sponsor.

2Simulated social media value refers to the value of a post if a team were to sell a sponsorship for it.

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The Big Ten effect: With 4 new football teams next year, the NCAA conference will extend its TV reach in key markets https://www.nielsen.com/insights/2023/the-big-ten-effect-with-4-new-football-teams-next-year-the-ncaa-conference-will-extend-its-tv-reach-in-key-markets/ Thu, 28 Sep 2023 15:13:46 +0000 https://www.nielsen.com/?post_type=insight&p=1412386 As colleges align their sports teams with the most lucrative TV deals, local TV viewership changes will follow.

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In addition to engaging millions of fans across the country, sports are big business, especially when it comes to television rights. And when we look at commercial opportunity, nothing tops football—something the media industry has experienced firsthand amid the most recent member changes within the top NCAA conferences.

The changes aren’t likely to affect individual team fandom, but the shifts, which are the most extensive in recent history, will affect how teams show up on TV and who will get to see their games.

As with many aspects of the media industry, the audience is the key factor in the conference realignment, much of which won’t take effect until the 2024 season. That’s when eight teams will leave the Pac-12 to join conferences with more lucrative TV deals: Four will join the Big Ten and four will join the Big 12.

Unlike the other Power Five1 conference members, the Pac-12 does not have a long-term TV rights deal, which has a direct impact on the revenue each member school receives. For example, the Big Ten expects its seven-year deal with CBS, FOX and NBC to be lucrative enough to distribute between $80 million and $100 million annually to each member school. The $8 billion deal is the biggest in the history of college athletics, and it gives the contract holders access to some of NCAA football’s highest-ranked and most-watched teams, including Michigan, Ohio State and Penn State.

Conference membership affects all sports within each member school, but the shifts in recent years have all been motivated by the rights associated with live football games. Based on an analysis of the value associated with each conference’s TV exposure during the 2022 season, the realignments that take effect next year will have a significant impact for the SEC, Big Ten and Pac-12.

The value of TV exposure is clear. One-third of Americans say they’re college football fans2, making the league the fourth-most popular in the U.S. (behind the NFL, NBA and MLB). And big teams draw big viewership: More than 17 million viewers3 watched last year’s marquee late-season matchup between Ohio State and Michigan, the highest viewership of the regular season. For comparison, nearly 2.3 million viewers3 watched the Brooklyn Nets play the Philadelphia 76ers in the first round of last year’s NBA playoffs.

While top-ranking teams and storied rivalries will always command national TV coverage, the implications of the conference membership changes will have different outcomes at the local market level. Last year’s week 8 game between UCLA and Oregon (which will both leave the Pac-12 next year) attracted a national audience of 3.34 million3. Once these two teams join the Big Ten, they will expand the conference’s TV audience across the entire country and both coasts.

To better understand how the conference changes will shape local TV viewership beyond individual games, we examined the difference between Pac-12 and Big Ten TV viewing in Los Angeles, Portland and Seattle during the 2022 season. These designated market areas (DMAs) are home to four West Coast teams4 that will switch conferences next year.

Due to the size of these three markets, last season’s Pac-12 programming reached 123% more households and 151% more individual viewers than Big Ten programming did5. And while the 0.1 difference in co-viewing might seem insignificant at face value, it becomes far more meaningful when you multiply it by the total viewing population of the three DMAs.

When we break down the aggregate conference viewing, we can see the impact that the conference changes will have on each individual market. Despite the sprawling population of Los Angeles—home to UCLA and USC—Portland stands to gain the biggest percentage lift in viewership next season.

While the Big Ten will benefit next year from the arrival of USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington, the Big 12 will benefit from the arrival of the University of Colorado, home to this year’s hottest college football story. The Colorado Buffaloes have been in the news ever since NFL legend Deion Sanders took over as head coach last year, but the team’s 3-1 start, including an upset over TCU (Texas Christian University) to open the season, has made their games must-see TV for football fans. In fact, the team’s double-overtime victory over Colorado State on Sept. 16 attracted 9.3 million viewers3 despite the fact that it didn’t start until after 10 pm ET. The team’s Sept. 23 game against Oregon attracted more than 10 million live and same-day viewers, the largest audience of the season.

While our national TV exposure value analysis doesn’t suggest a significant change (+1%) for the Big 12 when Colorado joins next year (along with Arizona, Arizona State and Utah), the impact on local TV viewing is a different story. The impact of Coach Prime was immediate, as the Denver TV audience for the Buffaloes’ first game was 117% higher than last year’s. And that was just a starting point.

In aggregate, the increased attention bodes well for the Pac-12 this year and the Big 12 next year, as the average viewership at the household level is up 976% and up more than 1,100% among viewers 2 and older. The hype over the Buffaloes is also boosting co-viewing by 15% this year.

There’s no mistaking the appeal of NCAA college football among sports fans, especially when big matchups come to town. And while marquee rivalries will always command national TV exposure, we can see how local market TV viewership contributes to the value associated with the teams involved with the most recent changes among the Power 5 NCAA conferences.

Sources

1The five most prominent and highest-earning athletic conferences in Division I NCAA football: ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12, SEC
2Nielsen Fan Insights; Q2 2023
3Nielsen National TV Panel; live + same day viewing (3 a.m.-3 a.m.)
4UCLA, USC, Oregon, Washington
5Nielsen Local TV measurement

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2023 Women’s World Cup tournament predictions https://www.nielsen.com/insights/2023/2023-womens-world-cup-tournament-predictions/ Fri, 14 Jul 2023 12:00:40 +0000 https://www.nielsen.com/?post_type=insight&p=1298839 Explore our 2023 Women's World Cup predictions with Gracenote’s Head of Analysis Simon Gleave as he takes us through...

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The why and how behind the who
 

The 2023 Women’s World Cup is here and so are our predictions for which teams will advance and who will go on to take home the gold. Gracenote’s Head of Analysis Simon Gleave talked us through the dynamic dataset and how we make sure it stays accurate throughout the tournament.

Game predictions are just a slice of the insights available for sports broadcasters and content providers through Gracenote.

Access to a constant flow of data like schedules, live results, athlete profiles, medal tables and more to build engaging audience experiences that keeps sports fans tuned in.

4 people watching sports on the couch

Learn how you can deliver a winning fan experience.

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Women’s sports viewership on the rise. https://www.nielsen.com/insights/2023/womens-sports-viewership-on-the-rise/ Mon, 10 Jul 2023 13:00:00 +0000 https://www.nielsen.com/?post_type=insight&p=1288579 Women’s sports viewership is on the rise ahead of the 2023 Women’s World Cup. Learn how broadcasters and sponsors can...

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How can broadcasters and sponsors fuel the momentum?

Interest in women’s sports is growing at a meteoric pace. 

The 2023 NCAA tournament drew nearly 10 million viewers for the final game between Iowa and LSU—up 103% from the previous year. The WNBA draft audience increased 42% between 2022 and 2023 and was up 89% with female viewers1. Interest in the Women’s Super League increased 81% from 2022 to 20232, and this year, 41% of the global population are excited for the Women’s World Cup, rising from 34% before the 2019 Women’s World Cup3

This massive shift hasn’t occurred in a vacuum. It’s the result of brands, sponsors and broadcasters investing in and prioritizing women’s sports. 

Visibility for the win

Consider how the BBC approached women’s football in the past four years. Previously, women’s football fans had to search high and low to watch their favorite teams compete. While a few games were shown on main linear channels, the rest were tucked away in digital space. But then, in 2019, the broadcaster doubled down on the Women’s World Cup, showing nearly triple the number of matches compared with the Women’s Euro 2017 on Channel 4. Three years later, the broadcaster did it again, prioritizing the UEFA Women’s Euro 2022 by airing 26 matches in total4.

Source: British Audience Ratings Bureau

The BBC not only gave more prominence to channel slots, but they also promoted the coverage of the 2019 and 2022 tournaments—along with other women’s sports—through an integrated campaign.

Between 2017 and 2019, U.K. viewership rose from 11.7 million to 68.6 million. In 2022, 57.9 million people watched the UEFA European Women’s Football Championship. This growth was largely led by women ages 35+, but in looking at new male audiences, younger fans are particularly interested in women’s sports, reinforcing the diversity of the growing appeal5.

These major tournaments are drawing bigger and bigger audiences, creating a halo effect of opportunity for the players, the fans and the sponsors. Nearly 80% of the general population are now aware of the 2023 Women’s World Cup and 40% find it appealing—the highest scores for any female competition6.

The takeaway is clear: Prioritizing the access and promotion of women’s sports increases visibility and grows audiences and sponsorship opportunities. To do so, broadcasters and sponsors must internalize these three facts.

1: Fans want to watch women’s sports but coverage is still hard to find. 

When sports fans were asked about the barriers that prevent them from keeping up with women’s sports, they cited two main factors: Lack of information and lack of access.

According to Nielsen Fan Insights, nearly a quarter of the U.S. population (22%)7 said that there isn’t enough information in the media to keep up with women’s sports. This isn’t just perception, it’s reality. According to the Fans Are Changing the Game report, Nielsen analysis found that ESPN SportsCenter provided 91 seconds of coverage for the average WNBA game and 266 seconds of coverage for the average NBA game, despite claimed interest in the two leagues being much closer.

The second barrier cited is lack of access to live broadcasts. Almost a fifth of U.S. fans (18%)8 said live airings of women’s sports aren’t easily accessible to them. Clearly, fans —including young ones—still want to watch sports play out in real time. Per Nielsen Fan Insights9, 36% of global audiences ages 16-29 are interested in watching the 2023 Women’s World Cup live, which is an even higher interest than viewers 50-69 years old (32%). That’s all the more impressive considering that the Women’s World Cup is in Australia and New Zealand this year—not a particularly convenient time zone for much of the world.

This coverage problem presents a valuable content opportunity. Understanding audiences’ appetite for women’s sports can help inform how content distributors’ programming is organized, described and tagged to help improve and capitalize on organic search and discovery among fans.

When both the conditions of access and coverage are met, fans tune in. 

2: Fans want broadcasters and sponsors to take charge in promoting women’s sports.

Sports fans feel that both the media and brands should be responsible for promoting women’s sports10. There are several ways to do this, but they all require intentional, integrated strategies.

Take the BBC example again. Along with broadcasting more of the women’s football matches live, they promoted the tournaments with a full media blitz of TV trailers, out-of-home advertising and digital content. Before the 2019 tournament, the BBC launched a trailer featuring South London rapper Ms Banks. And before the 2022 women’s EURO tournament, the “We Know Our Place” campaign promoted women’s participation not only in football, but also in Wimbledon, the Commonwealth Games, the European Athletics Championships and The Hundred cricket tournament.

Investing in access to and promotion of the actual games is critical to growing women’s sports fandom, but it shouldn’t stop there. Audiences are hungry for more. Nearly 40% of global sports fans are interested in non-live content related to live sports events. This number jumps to 44% when looking at fans ages 16-2911. For both broadcasters and brands, this underscores a clear opportunity to create, promote and sponsor the women’s sports stories fans want. 

And fans do love a company that supports their favorite franchise. According to Nielsen Fan Insights, 71%12 of Women’s World Cup fans believe that companies who sponsor the tournament show their commitment to the advancement of gender equality and women’s sports. 

Speaking of sponsors, this year is the first cycle where the Women’s World Cup broadcasting and sponsorship rights have been sold separately from the men’s at large scale. This uncoupling of women’s world cup rights is a boon for brands. Unbundling the sponsorship deals lets advertisers get more targeted with their ad spend and then grow these segmented fan audiences.

As of June 2023, FIFA reached a broadcasting deal with the five major European broadcasters, ensuring the games will be available on free-to-air networks. There will be broad access for fans, but given the delay in negotiations, this will undoubtedly be a challenge for promotion and broadcast sponsorship opportunities in the region as they play catch up a month before the tournament.

3: Fans reward brands that invest in sports.

Given the emotional connection that fans have with their teams, it’s no wonder that they think highly of their sponsors. After seeing WNBA sponsorships during a game, 44% of WNBA fans claim to have visited the brand’s website and 28% claim to have bought something from the brand—compared to 36% and 24% of NBA fans surveyed for the same sponsorship responses13. And 69% of Women’s World Cup fans believe brands are more appealing when they participate in sports sponsorships—that’s 15 points higher than the general population—and those feelings tend to translate into concrete actions14.

Fifty-six percent of football fans are likely to inform themselves about brands that sponsor sports events (17 points higher than the general population) and 59% would pick a sponsor’s product over a rival’s if prices and quality were the same (14 points higher)15.

When brands and broadcasters are all unified behind women’s athletics, it creates a powerful, positive cycle. When ESPN expanded its coverage of the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament in 2021, the audience reach of the first round doubled when compared to 2019. That meant more eyes on the athletes and their sponsors, further solidifying the business case for promoting and supporting the tournament.

Ahead of the 2023 Women’s World Cup, the learnings are abundant. Fans, especially younger ones, want to follow women’s sports but need more information about the players, leagues and seasons and easier access to the games themselves, especially live broadcasts.

To satisfy this demand, broadcasters need to prioritize women’s sports, make them more discoverable and promote them enthusiastically. Meanwhile, sponsors should recognize the business opportunity that women’s sports provide, especially the increase in purchase intent.

When brands, sponsors and broadcasters are in it to win it, the audience is ready to reward.

Sources

1Nielsen National TV Panel, Live+Same Day, 4/11/2022, 4/10/2023, Persons/Men/Women 2+

22023, Nielsen Fan Insights, UK

3Nielsen Brand Tracker, FIFA Women’s World Cup, April 2019 – Jan 2023

4British Audience Ratings Bureau

5British Audience Ratings Bureau

6Nielsen Brand Tracker – FIFA Women’s World Cup, Jan 2023

7Nielsen Fan Insights, March 2023, U.S.

8Nielsen Fan Insights, March 2023, U.S.

9Nielsen Fan Insights, January 2023, Australia, Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Spain, U.K. and U.S.

10Nielsen Fan Insights, January 2023, Australia, Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Spain, U.K. and U.S.

11Nielsen Fan insights, August 2021: Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Nigeria, Russia, South Korea, Spain, Thailand, U.K. and U.S.

12Nielsen Fan Insights, January 2023, Australia, Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Spain, U.K. and U.S.

13Nielsen Fan Insights, US 14Nielsen Fan Insights, January 2023, Australia, Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Spain, U.K. and U.S.

14 Nielsen Fan Insights, January 2023, Australia, Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Spain, U.K. and U.S.

15 Nielsen Fan Insights, February 2022: Australia, Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Spain, U.K. and U.S. 

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The most influential athletes for the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup™ https://www.nielsen.com/insights/2023/most-influential-athletes-for-the-2023-womens-world-cup/ Mon, 26 Jun 2023 09:52:55 +0000 https://www.nielsen.com/?post_type=insight&p=1289785 Learn how the most influential Women’s World Cup athletes can grow the sport’s global fanbase well beyond this...

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Who they are and what they could do for the sport’s future

Interest in women’s football is growing fast. Excitement for the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup is up 7 percentage points from the 2019 tournament1. There are a bevy of reasons driving this rise, but one chief among them is the players themselves. 

The relationship between athletes and fans is powerful. Think back to the first player you connected with. Did they inspire you? Make you feel seen? Sway what cereal you ate or shoes you bought? Sixty-five percent2 of global sports fans agree that female athletes can be role models in society. In some ways, athletes are the original influencers. And finding an athlete you connect with can deepen your interest in the tournament, team and sport itself. 

We tapped Nielsen InfluenceScope to discover Instagram’s 10 most influential athletes and the 10 breakthrough players for the 2023 Women’s World Cup. Given the right platform and brand partner, these athletes have tremendous potential to supercharge the growth of women’s football.

Instagram’s 10 most influential female football players

1 Alisha Lehmann
2 Alexia Putellas
3 Alex Morgan
4 Jordyn Huitema
5 Marta
6 Megan Rapinoe
7 Julie Brand
8 Alessia Russo
9 Sakina Karchaoui
10 Samantha Kerr

Note: Leah Williamson (England) would have ranked fourth, but is not included in the list due to injury.
Note: World Cup 2023 is Kerr’s hometown tournament, which could potentially increase her follower growth and sponsor value significantly.
The methodology includes a range of performance and sponsorship-related key performance indicators (KPI) including social following, content engagement, fan base growth, quality, reachability and equivalent media value of branded content published by each player. Leveraging the flexibility of InfluenceScope, different weights are given to each KPI in order to distinguish them in terms of importance. All data is from June 2022 – May 2023.

Take Alisha Lehmann, a Swiss forward who plays for Aston Villa who ranked No. 1 on our list. Her Instagram following has increased by 75% in the last 12 months to more than 13.4 million, making her the most popular Swiss sports person on the platform—even more followed than tennis legend Roger Federer. 

Spain’s Alexia Putellas, the 2022 Ballon d’Or winner, grew her following by 65% over the past year, Manchester United Alessia Russo forward increased hers by 280%, and VfL Wolfsburg and Germany’s Jule Brand’s following went up by an eye-popping 517%, the highest growth by a player in Nielsen’s top-10 most influential players. 

While these players may have less reach than some of their male counterparts, they often have higher engagement and a much more reachable audience. This represents a huge opportunity for brands, says Jon Stainer, Managing Director of Nielsen Sports. 

“The footballers participating at World Cup 2023 are not only exceptional sports women but also social media powerhouses, capable of driving impactful conversations and fostering genuine connections with their followers,” says Stainer.

Instagram’s 10 biggest breakthrough players (born 2000 or later)

1 Lauren James
2 Julia Grosso
3 Jule Brand
4 Athenea del Castillo
5 Lena Oberdof
6 Lauren Hemp
7 Sophia Smith
8 Salma Paralluelo
9 Trinity Rodman
10 Ellie Carpenter

In the case of breakthrough players, leveraging the flexibility of InfluenceScope, more weight was given to the growth in following and performance over the past year than to more static KPIs: the solution allows the weight of each KPI and—at a later stage—of each data point to be changed according to the objectives.

The data shows just how potent the connection is between these athletes and their followers. Across Instagram, more than half of the creators have an engagement rate below 5%. Seven of the women on Nielsen’s top 10 list are above that, and all of the biggest breakthrough players are above that benchmark by wide margins.

Those connections lead to the kind of results that make sponsors’ ears perk up. Seventy-one percent of consumers trust advertising, opinions and product placements from influencers, according to the 2021 Nielsen Trust in Advertising study. In another study, where Nielsen’s Brand Impact service measured the effectiveness of influencer ads in nearly 200 campaigns, the results were even more impressive. An average of 80% of people who viewed influencer ads were able to recall seeing the brand featured in the ads, and the ads also drove a nine-point increase in both brand affinity and purchase intent relative to consumers who didn’t see them. 

When engagement rates are this high, it translates into significant value for sponsors. As a group, the top 10 female footballers deliver an average of over $65,000 USD of media value per post. On her own, Lehmann’s posts embody more than $300,000 USD in media value per post, and Barcelona midfielder Alexia Putellas posts are still valued at $100,000 USD despite being injured for most of the past year. 

These athlete influencers are especially well suited for the platforms they exist on. Instagram is generally dominated by women and younger audiences, allowing sponsors to reach these coveted demographics, who they may struggle to communicate with otherwise.

As we head into the 2023 World Cup, these athletes can be a critical force for unlocking new heights for the tournament, the sport and all of women’s sports for years to come. The fan engagement and brand value is already there, and with the right partnerships and promotion, new audiences are sure to follow.  

For more insights and stats, explore our Women’s World Cup data hub

Sources

1Nielsen Brand Tracker – FIFA Women’s World Cup, April 2019 – Jan 2023
2Nielsen Fan Insights, March 2023, Australia, Brazil, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Spain, U.K. and U.S.

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Building brands with sports sponsorship https://www.nielsen.com/insights/2023/webinar-building-brands-with-sports-sponsorship/ Wed, 14 Jun 2023 12:31:37 +0000 https://www.nielsen.com/?post_type=insight&p=1285895 In this webinar, we explore how to calculate & compare ROI across all sponsorship investments, minimize brand risk and...

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Learn how to calculate & compare ROI across all sponsorship investments, minimize brand risk and grow partnership value. 

Bridget Nelson, Head of Brand Performance and Audience Research at MassMutual, joined us as we discussed: 

  • The role of sports sponsorship in MassMutual’s marketing mix
  • Using data to evolve a brand’s sponsorship strategy
  • Optimizing sponsorship investments by holistically measuring impact on business objectives

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U.S. sports fans push pause on their daily routines to watch the 2022 World Cup https://www.nielsen.com/insights/2022/u-s-sports-fans-push-pause-on-their-daily-routines-to-watch-the-2022-world-cup/ Thu, 15 Dec 2022 14:02:55 +0000 https://www.nielsen.com/?post_type=insight&p=1168316 This year’s U.S. viewership of the World Cup illustrates that the allure of live sports is strong enough to entice many...

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Among many things, the arrival of this year’s World Cup validated the immense draw of live sports on traditional TV. While the appeal of live sports is widely known, this year’s U.S. viewership illustrates that the allure is strong enough to entice many Americans to put their lives on hold to watch the action.

Compared with most live sports in the U.S., which air outside of traditional work and school hours, the majority of the World Cup games were held at times when many Americans would be otherwise indisposed. That fact notwithstanding, this year’s World Cup matches, especially those involving the U.S. team, attracted massive TV audiences in the U.S. In fact, three of the matches the U.S. team competed in this year are in the top 10 most-watched English broadcast World Cup matches in the U.S. dating back to 1994. And this year’s U.S.-England match boasted a U.S. audience of almost 15.5 million to the English telecast—the highest U.S. viewership of any men’s World Cup game to date.

For context, consider the viewership associated with new fall TV programming—the primary driver of the annual advertising upfronts. This year, the four primary English broadcast networks1 attracted an average of 3.9 million viewers for primetime programming airing in the first month of the new fall TV season2. The audience grows to 5.5 million when we factor in time-shifted viewing over one week, but the aggregate viewership still pales in comparison to that of the World Cup matches featuring the U.S. Those four matches engaged an average of 12.2 million viewers across English telecasts.

The viewership of this year’s tournament is perhaps more notable when Nielsen Fan Insights indicates that just 28% of U.S. respondents are interested in soccer. Overall, Americans remain most interested in the NFL, the Olympics, the NBA and MLB.

The appeal and interest in this year’s tournament has also withstood some intense competition. From an audience perspective, fall is when linear TV programming gets a boost, and this year was no exception, as sports viewing increased 222% in September as the new American football season kicked off. In October, sports viewing volume increased another 19%, just ahead of the start of the year’s World Cup, which is typically held in the summer.

By the time the tournament started, the matches that were broadcast on traditional cable began challenging other sports events for slots in Nielsen’s weekly top 10 listings. And over Thanksgiving weekend, possibly the biggest sports viewing period of the fall, survey respondents claimed the World Cup was their third choice for sports viewing, coming in behind NFL and college football. Yet perhaps more noteworthy is that the two matches listed in the top 10 cable listing for the week of Nov. 21-27, 2022, didn’t feature the U.S. men’s team:

  • 4.1 million tuned in for the Argentina-Mexico match
  • 3.6 million tuned in for the Spain-Germany match

Given the 90-minute matches, tuning in—especially midday—is a commitment. Most Americans acknowledge the need to balance their interest in the games with other aspects of their daily lives. While the majority of fans are keeping track of the action by watching highlights on TV, many are following on social media and hearing from others via word of mouth, including texting. And with 47% texting and 43%3 scrolling on social media, big moments in individual matches have attracted audiences who might not have already been tuned in.

Take the Group State match between Brazil and Serbia for example. Nielsen Gracenote had given Serbia a 32% chance of advancing, possibly limiting audience engagement for the Thanksgiving Day matchup with tournament-favorite Brazil. But when Brazil’s Richarlison de Andrade, known mononymously as Richarlison, made a dynamic scissor kick goal just before the 73-minute mark, viewership jumped 7% during the five minutes following the goal.

Given the wide appeal of live sports, sponsorship activations remain a key way that brands can engage with new and existing fans. And while long-term success will hinge on bridging the gap between awareness and conversion, sponsorship activations in the sports industry have risen in their ability to convert fans.

For example, our 2022 annual sports report noted that during the pandemic, when we controlled for the impact of changing levels of brand awareness and sponsorship maturity, levels of purchase intent among exposed fans were higher than levels of brand familiarity. In addition, a recent Nielsen analysis of 100 sponsorships between 2020 and 2021 in seven markets across 20 industries found that the sponsorships drove an average 10% lift in purchase intent among the exposed fanbase.

During this year’s World Cup, nearly two-thirds of those who watched or intended to watch live World Cup matches in our World Cup Viewing Habits Survey said they recalled the ads they saw during the matches they watched. And not surprisingly, food, snack and alcoholic beverage brands benefited the most, gaining the best recall among audiences.

The World Cup, like the Olympics, presents a unique opportunity for brands and agencies to attract audiences who might not otherwise be inspired to watch. With an average 4.7 million4 people watching the 2022 men’s World Cup live on cable and broadcast—higher than the average primetime programming we saw this year—advertisers would be wise to consider global tentpole sporting events in their marketing mix.

From a soccer perspective, they won’t have long to wait to score a golden goal, as the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup is just around the corner. The opportunity therein speaks for itself; the 2015 final between the U.S. and Japan was the most watched World Cup match (men and women) of all time.

Notes

  1. ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX
  2. Sept. 20-Oct. 17, 2022
  3. Nielsen World Cup Viewing Habits Survey, Nov. 27-Dec. 1, 2022
  4. Nielsen National TV Panel

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What football’s growing popularity in North America means for 2026 World Cup sponsors https://www.nielsen.com/insights/2022/footballs-growing-popularity-in-north-america-and-the-2026-world-cup/ Thu, 17 Nov 2022 13:00:00 +0000 https://www.nielsen.com/?post_type=insight&p=1140582 Sixteen cities across North America will host the 2026 World Cup, giving brands a chance to connect with football...

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In 2026, for the first time ever, the World Cup will be spread over three countries. Sixteen cities across the U.S., Canada and Mexico will host matches, giving brands and advertisers a chance to expand their reach and build connections with growing football fan bases across North America—if they know where to look. 

The tide of popularity is turning for football in North America, to the benefit of sponsors and advertisers. Since 2015, the U.S. has added 10 clubs to the MLS, while Canada founded the Canadian Premier League in 2017 with eight current teams and Mexico’s Liga MX boasts some of the largest crowds of any North American league1

This new popularity is creating hotspots of football fan bases across future host countries. In Canada, for instance, interest in football in general has increased 32.8% since the announcement that the country will host 10 2026 World Cup matches2. And according to Nielsen Scarborough, in the U.S. Houston is the 2026 World Cup host city with the most football fans per capita, followed by Los Angeles and Miami/Ft. Lauderdale.

World Cup host cities are home to their own football clubs, so fan concentration in these areas makes sense. But, importantly, the popularity of local teams can spread to surrounding areas, enlarging the sphere of influence for advertisers that partner with regional teams or athletes.

To reach these fans, advertisers are using social media sites like Twitter, TikTok and Twitch. According to Nielsen’s 2022 World Football Report, while free-to-air television is still the preferred method of viewing matches (81%) for football fans who watch sports, social media is now a go-to platform, with 72% of fans claiming they use apps to watch the action. 

And when their teams do well, fans flock to social media to follow and like and engage with content. The Canadian men’s team, for example, saw a significant increase in social media content & interactions in the 2021/2022 season after qualifying for their first World Cup in 36 years. The women’s national team saw a similar increase in social media engagement when they won gold in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.

The qualification also sparked interest in football for Canadians in general, with 35.6% saying they are now more interested in watching football than before the team qualified for the World Cup, according to Nielsen Fan Insights.

National team football fans in each host country prefer YouTube for sports news and content. While Twitch is among the lowest used by percentage, fans over index significantly on its use compared to the general population. To further expand its reach for the 2022 World Cup, Twitch is adding a live streaming component to their coverage for the first time, granting Brazilian Twitch influencer Casimiro Miguel the rights to stream matches to his millions of followers.

In addition to the notable on-screen audience exposure that sponsors receive on both live TV and social media, Nielsen’s 2021 Trust in Advertising study found that brand sponsorships in sporting events rank just behind recommendations from friends and family, as 81% of consumers reported either completely or somewhat trusting them (vs. 89% who trust recommendations). Football fans are also eager to learn more about the brands sponsoring their favorite team—56% of percent actively inform themselves about brands engaged as a sports sponsor.

But football sponsorships are more than an opportunity to increase brand awareness—they can be the key to staying top of mind with fans when it comes time to make a purchase. According to Nielsen Fan Insights, 67% of football fans think brands are more appealing when they participate in sports sponsorships, and 59% would pick a sponsor’s product over a competitor’s if price and quality are the same, compared to 45% of the general population. And Nielsen’s 2022 Global Sports Report found that the sponsorships drove an average 10% lift in purchase intent among the exposed fanbase.

As the 2022 World Cup heads to the first match, winners and losers will be decided both on the field and off, with advertisers tallying up the cost of sponsorship against the impact on brand awareness and revenue. Brands that want to get ahead of the game for the 2026 World Cup and start making early inroads in North America need to start planning now for campaigns that can build on the momentum of 2022 and turn today’s fans into tomorrow’s customers.

Notes

  1. The Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football
  2. Nielsen Fan Insights, August 2022

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