At GSIQ, we’re launching groundbreaking research on the next generation of sports fans. We’ve polled young people around the globe to better understand where these fans are coming from, what motivates them and how open they are to new sports.

The reports are wide-ranging (more details at the bottom of this blog) but a stand-out finding in the UK relates how difficult the established sports market may be to break into.

More than a quarter of young Brits (27% of 15-25 years old) told us that they would never follow a new sport or league, even if it had media backing and support from brands. That makes this group of fans the most entrenched in any of the eleven markets we polled. Fewer than a half told us they would consider a well-supported new sport or league, putting it well below the 57% all-market average.

What makes this particularly curious is another fact the data reveals. Alongside those in a combined market of Saudi Arabia and UAE, young people in the UK are the most intense sports fans we found. Twelve percent consider themselves ‘Superfans’, while a further 15% say that they are ‘Passionate fans’. But maybe it’s this intensity that prevents many fans from considering a sport other than those which they already follow.

In any case, almost of young British people (49%) say they expect to follow sports more in the next five years. That’s good news for rightsholders and sponsors – and a glimmer of hope to those hoping to break into the market.

This is just a glimpse of the riches contained in our white paper on the next generation of British sports fans. The paper also covers:

• The sports which young people have ever played, played now and are fans of
• The sports which are best at converting young people from playing to being a fan
• The reasons people quit playing a sport
• The fan intensity of young people across our markets
• The factors that make young people fans and the reasons they stay fans
• The types of sport content they prefer, the platforms they use to consume them and how often they do so
• The sponsorship categories they can authentic in sport
• Their appetite for more sport – and the factors that will encourage them