• by Wayne Friedman , 3 hours ago

Young consumers are watching more sports than ever -- live and non-live sports content on TV and other devices -- according to Hub Entertainment Research.

This growth is attributable to social media and digital media creators.

“Fandom is diffused across multiple kinds of media and content,” says Jon Giegengack, principal at Hub. “It shows up as a YouTube stream, a group chat during the game, [and] watching live stats on social media while the game is on.”

Viewers 13-17 are watching 50% more sports on TV than a year ago -- with 17% watching “much more” and 32% watching “somewhat more.”

Looking more broadly, 45% of fans 35 and younger now get "more" or "all" of their "non-live" sports content from social media, while sports fans ages 55 and up get only 10% from social media.

Multitasking is also a major reason for the increase in viewing all sports content. Sixty-two percent of fans ages 13-34 use social media via their mobile devices during a live game, compared tod33% for those ages 55-74.

Giegengack says sports will need to adjust and expand overall related content to other platforms to keep those young sports fans. “The industry is built to reach the fan who plans[for example] their Sunday around kickoff. Now they need to adapt to fans that watch the game on TV and spend the rest of the week following it everywhere else.”

Hub’s research is based on a survey of 3,814 U.S. sports fans ages 13-74, conducted in July 2026.