• by Jon Last , Columnist, June 10, 2025

One of the first things  a market researcher learns is that overreliance on the convenient sample of people around you can lead to poor business decisions.  Not to break that rule, but I can’t help but dwell on a recent conversation I had with an avid sports fan over the age of 65, who was bemoaning the challenge he was facing in keeping up with things as greater coverage fragmentation continues to beset the sports world. 

And while sports marketers have always had a disproportionate fascination with younger demographics, the chasm between the needs and desires of various age cohorts could create a tipping point in the not-too-distant future.

As more sports properties increasingly rely on streaming services and social media to deliver their content, both qualitative and quantitative research suggests a growing frustration among older fans uncertain of how they can best follow the teams and events most meaningful to them.

First is a general resistance to pay for what has historically been offered over the air at no incremental cost.  But beyond that phenomenon is a general inability to locate the most meaningful content, navigating past the clickbait. And this cohort often remains lower on the learning curve for all things digital.

Just last month, we found that nearly two thirds of Americans agreed that advances in technology have become too overwhelming for Americans over age 65 to keep up with.  Interestingly, there was a 12-point gap between the youngest and oldest adult fans.  This data point is exacerbated by the finding that 75% of age 65+ sports fans felt that older adults weren’t the focus of marketers, as compared to just 61% of the overall sports fan population.

It may seem easy to continue down this path of disengagement.  The same research shows that while nearly two thirds of fans age 25-34 feel more inclined to support brands that sponsor their favorite teams or sporting events, less than three in ten of the oldest fans felt the same.

But with increased life expectancy, declining birth rates and the disproportionate spending power of those in older age cohorts, we may find ourselves at a bit of an inflection point. More brands want to see a short-term return on their sports investment, rather than rely upon the hope for greater lifetime value and  higher attitudinal malleability that come with the focus on younger adults.

From a strictly demographic perspective, recognize that the Population Reference Bureau projects  the number of Americans aged 65+ will increase from 58 million to 82 million by 2050.  Where and how will these fans feel most comfortable consuming sports content?  What messages will be most resonant -- and most importantly how can sports marketers best captivate and drive share of what should only become a more lucrative and demanding cohort of fans?