Thread by @bopinion

The sports industry is big business these days:

🏈 In 2018, the value of the global sports market reached almost $500 billion
⚾️ More than 100 sports franchises are worth $1 billion or more bloom.bg/2jGjKN7

But the sports business is changing. Fans are becoming:

⚽️ Older
🏀 Fewer
🎾 Less loyal bloom.bg/2jKR9X2

Research suggests we’re entering the age of the “fluid fan” whose allegiances and attention shift rapidly.

⚽️ In the U.K. already, almost half of younger fans support more than one soccer team bloom.bg/2jGjKN7

It’s unlikely that lower youth sports participation is the reason for the shift.

Almost half of U.S. high school students participated in school athletics last year, up from less than a third in the early 1970s bloom.bg/2jGjKN7

It’s more likely down to an explosion in easily accessible sports:

🏄🏾‍♀️ Diversified content
🎞Bite-sized clips on social media

Fans are watching fewer and shorter sessions, and clicking away from low-stake games bloom.bg/2jGjKN7

With many sports games disappearing behind a paywall, younger viewers are switching off from traditional sports.

📺This is a threat to Comcast’s Sky, who has built a pay-TV empire by charging loyal fans 👀 bloom.bg/2jKR9X2

The giants of Silicon Valley will soon showcase the following sports:

🏆 Amazon will broadcast Premier League games
⚽️ Facebook has deals to show Spanish soccer in India
⚾️ YouTube will show some Major League Baseball games bloom.bg/2jKR9X2

If Sky wants to rekindle the appetite for watching live sports on TV and inspire a new generation of viewers, it should embrace new fandom and make like the tech giants: Show some games for free bloom.bg/2jKR9X2