Touting higher results for home TV sports viewing versus live, in-stadium/arena viewing, video advertising association VAB says 72% of sports fans “prefer” sports viewing at home. which compares favorably to in-stadium/arena viewing at 19% and out-of-home locations at 8%.
Advertising with TV sports viewing also has better results than advertising associated with in-stadium/arena watching, the study finds.
VAB commissioned Dynata, a research company, to conduct a September 2019 online survey of 1,023 U.S. adults 18 years and older who identified themselves as casual, moderate or avid sports fans.
The study points to some key reasons: TV screens (73%) and off-field TV interviews/highlights (68%), as well as the watching other sports/events during natural sports breaks (85%).
Some barriers to live in-stadium/arena watching include higher ticket prices (among casual fans), at 84%; the time spent traveling to games, at 74%; less-than-viewable seating, at 68%; and difficulty in following sports action (for causal fans), at 52%.
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Strong advertising metrics are associated with live TV sports viewing.
The study says that avid sports fans are 24% more likely to have visited a website for a product they saw advertised on TV compared to one seen within a stadium or arena, with 40% of sports fans more likely to have purchased a product advertised while watching sports on TV than a product or service seen advertised within a stadium or arena.
The advertising "metrics" part of this study, Wayne, are rather vague and very impressionistic. I would be more impressed if they took a sample of brands that advertise on TV sports as well as at the stadiums and showed specific results per visit and per telecast viewing.
There is no doubt the at-home TV sports experience is getting better every year as technology and production quality improves (multi-camera 4K > 8K resolution, hi-fidelity sound etc) but smarter stadium owners are also upping the customer experience anti - bringing fans and their teams closer together. The TV experience no matter how good it gets will never match the raw energy and emotion of a large crowd at a thrilling sports spectacle or concert. The FOMO gets only stronger as scarcity increases.