The sports market has always been in a state of flux as sports rise and fade in popularity. Right now, two sports – padel and basketball – are witnessing a huge boost in traction in the UK – with consequent opportunities for marketers.
Indeed, a key sign that a sport is at a point of significantly developing its fanbase is a surge in participation – and that is exactly what we have seen with both basketball and padel in Britain in recent years, through insights from our dedicated sports measurement solution, SportScope.
Basketball’s growth brings huge commercial opportunities
Basketball has seen both its participation and following treble in the UK since the start of this decade. Sportscope shows that one in every five Brits now watches this sport, compared to one in 17 four years ago.
It is a sport that lends itself particularly well to highlight snippets and short form videos, so perhaps little wonder that 80% of basketball fans claim to check basketball content on social media daily.
Indeed, the commercial opportunities the sport facilitates are considerable. From merchandise and famous streetwear brands (e.g. Jordan sneakers and Nike apparel), to a quarter of the sport’s followers watching NBA TV, to 4 out of 5 followers having placed a bet in the past month – the sport’s growing appeal brings with it many opportunities for brands.
Padel’s players represent a uniquely valuable audience
Whereas basketball is a sport that has existed for well over 100 years, padel has seemingly come out of nowhere in the UK in the last 5-10 years from its early roots in Mexico and Spain. Sportscope reveals that in 2020 150,000 Brits were playing padel, but this has jumped to a quarter of a million today. Whilst certainly still a niche sport, its rapid growth has caught the attention of many brands – and not just for overall numbers of participants, but also for the commercial potential of those who play it.
Young professionals in particular are taking to the sport, with half of those who play aged 25-34 and they are twice as likely as others in this age group to earn £50,000 or more. The sport’s participants are also very London-concentrated.
They are also a distinctive group by their media consumption. TGI reveals that they are around two-thirds less likely than the average adult to watch live broadcasts of the biggest three spectator sports at home – football, tennis and F1. But when it comes to Linkedin, 3 in 5 of them use it – far higher than the 1 in 4 Brits generally who do so. Such distinctive media engagement lends itself well to highly effective targeted campaigns.
Unlike some other sports whose legacy can sometimes act as a block to participation, padel’s youth gives its reputation something of a blank canvas and thus it carries the potential to appeal to a broad base. This has helped it achieve its burgeoning popularity, with the number of padel courts in Britain up from just 40 in 2019 to over 500 today, according to Time Out.
Basketball and padel both offer extensive commercial opportunities for marketers to engage players and fans at a time when both sports are witnessing a surge in popularity. Our Sportscope data reveals how to make the most of the opportunities on offer. Discover more about Sportscope here.