Sports remain a popular form of entertainment and it is a lucrative industry. The global sports market has already reached a value of over 388.3 billion USD last year and it is set to keep on growing in the coming years. Experts project that the industry could be worth over 440 billion USD by the end of this year with a CAGR of 13.5 percent.

With a growing industry, the future is looking fine for the sports business. We’ve seen sports associations hopping on what’s trendy like NFTs and gambling. Online betting from 10CRIC India and other betting sites is getting more popular now that more sports events are getting back on track. However, even if the sports industry is set to grow, things could get tougher post-pandemic.

Why Sports Viewership is Down

The COVID 19 pandemic played a big role in restraining the sports market last year. For the first time, people have seen so many sports events canceled or postponed. The biggest sports tournaments like the English Premier League, March Madness, the NBA, and the Olympics all had to be suspended. At a certain point last year, there were almost no sports events that people could watch.

This year, the international sports scene is looking better but it’s not doing as well as how it was pre-pandemic. The NFL which is extremely huge in the US is one of the major sports events that seem to be struggling this year with viewership that is down 15 percent compared to its last season. 

There is no exact reason as to why sports viewership is not doing as well as how it used to. Some are pointing out that age is one factor for the decline. Sure, sports leagues are continuously bringing in young athletes on the field but this is not so much of the case in terms of the audience.

An example is how NBA viewers are estimated to have an average age of 37 years old. Meanwhile, the NFL has an average viewer age of 47 and MLB with 53. What could happen here is that these events could age out of the entertainment sphere. It makes sense because younger people nowadays seem to be more interested in other forms of entertainment like gaming and the use of social media.

The pandemic has just added one more reason why viewership is going down as it changed the viewing habits of people. Dennis Deninger, a sports communicators professor at Syracuse University spoke to Forbes about how viewing habits have changed since the pandemic.

Deninger said that there were major disruptions in people’s behavior patterns. He thinks that it’s going to take a number of years for sports viewership to come back to how it was before the pandemic. They found that more people are starting to prefer streaming services.

“Flexibility and freedom are the definitions of streaming services,” Deninger says. In the pre-pandemic era, when people were living more on schedules, watching a game in the evening became part of your schedule. Now if you have a big flexible schedule, your viewing patterns have changed tremendously.”

Sports events are scheduled and it’s something that’s not exactly flexible compared to other forms of entertainment that are basically on-demand. There is also the fact that kids are starting to lose interest in sports activities because of technology. 

Is the Sport Industry Set to Die?

These factors do not necessarily mean, however, that the industry is set for a doomsday. Sports are unlikely to die but this is unless the people in the business are constantly trying to find ways to stay relevant. The good thing is that they are doing exactly this by adapting to the latest trends.

Fan inclusion is also something that sports businesses are exploring. It’s been something that is continuously involved in the business for a while now. An example is how NBA fans can vote for the MVP. This is a form of inclusive marketing that is simply a must in the modern era. Audience engagement is the focal point of many industries and people in the sports business know this so well. Many of them have found how the use of blockchain can be of great help.

Digitalization is taking over many industries. We’ve seen the rise of NFTs and how sports leagues have dived into it. It’s not like collecting sports memorabilia is a new thing but the existence of NFTs has modernized this. Today, the most expensive NFT that is sports-related is called the Statue of LeBron which is valued at 21.6 million USD.

While sports viewership is still recovering from the effects of the pandemic, we can still be sure that the sports industry as a whole will continue to do well in the future. The industry always seems to have something new to venture into and the younger generations could still be lured into the greatness of following sports.

Disclaimer:

• As per the Public Gambling Act of 1867, all Indian states, except Goa, Daman and Sikkim, prohibit gambling
• Land-based casinos are legalized, with certain guidelines, in Goa and Daman, as per the Goa, Daman and Diu Public Gambling Act 1976  
• Land-based casinos, Online gambling and E-gaming (games of chance) are legalized in Sikkim under the Sikkim Online Gaming (Regulation) Rules 2009
• Only some Indian states have legalized online/regular lotteries as per and subject to the conditions laid down by state laws. Kindly refer to the same here
• Horse racing and betting on horse racing, including online betting, is permitted only in a licensed premise in select states. Kindly refer to the 1996 Judgement by the Supreme Court Of India here and for more information
• This article does not endorse or express the views of Qrius and/or any of its staff.

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