Competition in Emerging Sports Markets

In yesterday’s chart, we looked at how sports like soccer have grown in Asia Pacific over a short period of time. In today’s chart, we will profile sports fans around the world to shed some light on this trend.

Fewer internet users in APAC say they’re strongly interested in watching sport, but they watch over 7 on average. There’s a trend among fast-growth markets here, with fewer established domestic sports industries, tending to pick and choose the content they watch. In North America and Europe viewership is concentrated on a more select group of sports, helped by the decades of revenue they have been able to use to support their position in the market.

That’s not to say that sports fans watch in silos, though; followers of the most popular sports, like football, tennis, and boxing, are likely to be watching action from one of the other disciplines.

Sports viewers in APAC may not see themselves as fanatics but they are watching regularly, and choosing the sports they want to watch from a long menu. As we saw in yesterday’s chart, APAC is unique in lacking the dominant sports other regions have, which makes it an ideal region to expand awareness and engagement.