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sports surfers
Who they are, where they go, and what they buy
By Marty Beard
Sports buffs are easy to find off-line: They tend to show up in predictable venues, ranging from sports bars to gyms to stadiums to the living room couch.
The same patterns hold true on the web, where the behavior of sports fans is fairly predictable, according to a recent study by Forrester Research.
Online behavior can largely be predicted by the extent to which sports fans are engaged in sports in the real world.
"All sports fans are not alike. It matters whether they prefer to watch or play," says the study’s author, Steve Yonish, a Forrester quantitative specialist.
"The role the internet plays for sports fans is a direct extension of their interest in sports. People who like to play are more likely to purchase merchandise and visit health sites. People who like to watch are more likely to purchase event tickets and visit sports information sites."
The report notes that sports fans aren’t a monolithic group. It breaks them down into four subsets: Fanatics, Jocks, Spectators and No-Shows.
Fanatics both play sports and attend sporting events. Spectators attend sporting events but do not play. Jocks just play sports but don't attend games.
No-shows are armchair warriors who tend to expend as little effort as possible in partaking of sporting events.
With this information, where sports surfers go online and where they’ll buy stuff online can be predicted, more or less.
According to the report, media people would be well advised to reach sports fans of all types on the web.
Fanatics make up 11 percent of the total population off-line, and 64 percent of them are online. Their average household income is $59,100, and they have been online for an average of 3.1 years.
Thirteen percent of fanatics have purchased tickets online, more than any other group of sports fans. Nine percent of both spectators and jocks have bought sporting goods online.
And 20 percent have bought event tickets online, second only to spectators, 24 percent of whom have picked up event tickets online. Fifteen percent of jocks have picked up sporting-event tickets online.
Additionally, fanatics are 44 percent more likely to purchase sporting goods via the web than are other consumers.
Off-line, fanatics spend 3.7 hours a week playing sports, compared to jocks, who comprise 14 percent of the overall population and spend 4.7 hours a week playing sports.
Jocks are even more pro-technology than fanatics, with 60 percent expressing optimism about technology. Sixty-seven percent of jocks are online, and they have been online for an average 3.2 years. Jocks are the wealthiest online sports fans, bringing in an average household income of $60,800.
Off-line, the majority, or 68 percent, of people are no-shows; 55 percent of them are online. They also aren’t as wealthy as avid sports fans of all stripes. No-shows’ average household income is $46,300.
Spectators and fanatics are the most likely to log onto sports sites, use auction sites and sign up for online fantasy sports leagues.
Almost half of fanatics and spectators play games online, as do almost 40 percent of jocks. Almost 40 percent of fanatics and spectators visit sports sites, compared to less than 20 percent of jocks, who are likely too busy playing soccer to spend time surfing for information on Mia Hamm.
According to Yonish, sports sites are among the most visited sites. Roughly 17 percent of web surfers log onto sports sites at least once a week. Newspapers, stock quotes, and TV network sites are the only categories visited more frequently.
"The message for online advertisers is very simple--appeal to event-goers at sports sites and to equipment buyers at health sites," Yonish says.
November 27, 2001 © 2001 Media Life
-Marty Beard is a staff writer for Media Life.
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