Football Fan Interest – A Comparison of Global Data from the Past Half Century
Football is one of the rare things that are equally beloved all over the world. This simple game has a way of enchanting people and in recent decades the number of fans is growing even in places where football is not a part of the social fabric. There is no doubt that the sport has advanced in leaps and bounds and transformed into a global business of tremendous proportions, and this process is not slowing down.
To truly understand how football fandom has changed over time, we need to take a look at the numbers that illustrate the current level of interest for high-level matches.
Football Spectatorship Was Always Driven by Quality
A vast majority of football fans around the world tune in for the big tournaments or matches with championship implications, along with an army of casual viewers. That's why World Cup viewership numbers are truly incredible and rival any other TV program. More than 600 million unique viewers watched the 2010 World Cup final, more than 200 million in Europe and around 75 million in North America. That's mostly in line with the numbers over the past 3 decades as this event has been broadcast in nearly every country since the 1980s. In some football-obsessed nations, the percentage of households tuning in to World Cup games exceeds 80%.
Top club competitions such as UEFA Champions League, English Premier League, or Spanish La Liga also enjoy global popularity and feature total number of viewers in the billions every season. This sheds some light on the structure of football's fandom – the sport as a whole is definitely number 1 in the world, but the lion's share of attention is directed towards a handful of competitions and a couple of dozen star players. The quality of national leagues in Europe is at a high level while the MLS is making strides lately, so it can be expected that the circle of elite competitions will at least widen a bit.
Young People Are Discovering the Game
There is a strange generational shift going on with soccer fans. Boomers were traditionally seen as the generation that is most betrothed to the game, but they are giving up the mantle to the millennials, who now account for the biggest group of fans. This process is especially pronounced in North America, with the average age of a soccer fan as low as 35, and people from this group making up around 46% of total active fans.
There are several reasons why the digital generation is so eagerly buying into football tradition. The coverage of high-quality football is nearly universal, and watching a game that takes place anywhere in the world is as simple as clicking on a live stream. At the same time, in countries like Canada sports bets can be readily made from a smartphone. This explains why the attendance in top leagues is lagging behind historical peaks while TV ratings and merchandise sales are at a very high level. We are witnessing a transformation of the way people interact with football teams and much of it is driven by generational preferences.
Decentralisation Is Well Underway
Traditionally, Europe and South America were regarded as hotbeds of football and home to the majority of diehard fans. That's not entirely the case anymore – while the teams from those continents still dominate international competition, other parts of the world are catching up fast. That wouldn't be possible without local interest, which is rising all over Asia and North America, as well as Africa to a certain degree. You'd be surprised to find out that the list of top 10 nations ranked by the percentage of football fans among all people who follow sports includes Mexico (81%), South Africa (77%), and South Korea (66%).
In addition to broadcasts of global competitions, fans in these countries can watch quality play in their local stadiums. Investments in infrastructure and training programs are obviously bearing fruit, setting the stage for an even more globalized game in the future. In particular, nations in the Middle East are trying very hard to join the big boy's table, as evidenced by the organisation of World Cup in Qatar in 2022 and Saudi Arabia in 2034.
Women's Football Is Drawing in New Fans
Female football was long considered an afterthought in the grand scheme of things, but neglecting this dimension of the sport today would be naïve. While not nearly as popular as the men's game, it contributes to the overall interest more than you would think. In fact, over the past couple of years there has been an explosion of interest, driven largely by increasing quality of play. More than a half of people watching women's football say they started following within the past 3 years – and many of those new fans are in the athletically active age between 18 and 24.
Importantly, a good chunk of new audience are female, helping to get a better balance among football fans. According to some surveys, around 45% of women follow football online – still not nearly on the same level as men but certainly encouraging. This data is challenging the outdated notion that football is purely a man's domain, and indicating that its popularity transcends nation, gender, age, or any other demographic factor.
|
