• by Erik Sass , November 6, 2006

Daily newspapers rank second only to ESPN as sports fans' favorite source of sports news, according to the results of a study by the Newspaper National Network released today. What's more, this preference cuts across generational lines, with men 18-34 showing just as much affinity for newspapers' sports reporting as older men. Following another round of bad news in recent circulation reports, the findings suggest that newspapers have long-term staying power--at least as purveyors of certain kinds of content.

NNN President and CEO Jason Klein didn't try to diminish the importance of ESPN as a news source: "ESPN came out as the most valued overall sports information source, which I give them great credit for." But print and TV news serve different functions, Klein pointed out--adding that in the print universe, newspapers are the clear winner. Thirty-six percent of male sports enthusiasts ages 18-34 said they visited newspapers more than any other print news source, versus 26% for second-place Sports Illustrated. Meanwhile, 56% said they find sports news in newspapers that they "can't find anywhere else."

"Clearly, the newspapers' big advantage is their local reporters, who cover the hometown teams day-to-day and have relationships [with them] that other journalists just can't match," Klein said. "In a lot of these cities you'll have one big daily paper covering the teams, and they have a lock on the in-depth stories that appeal to sports fanatics."

Men 18-34 also show a higher level of engagement with newspapers than with other media, according to the NNN study, with engagement measured by the degree of multi-tasking. Sixty-two percent of respondents said they don't do anything else while reading the sports pages, versus 59% of Internet users, 55% of television watchers, and 52% of radio listeners. Newspapers led other media in terms of ad clutter, presenting a relatively clean experience free of distractions and message interference: 37% of respondents said newspapers were the least cluttered medium, versus 25% for the Web, 16% for TV, and 8% for magazines.

The study consisted of 20-minute interviews with 700 men ages 18-54 who said they go to a variety of sources for sports information. Data from the study, conducted August 7th-15th, was weighted to reflect a national average.

Klein said he hopes these findings will pique interest in the NNN's new cross-market ad packages targeting sports enthusiasts 18-34: "We're working closely with papers to deliver a flexible network to advertisers, with specific buys that allow them to reach desirable demos." Klein touted the flexibility and precision of newspaper ad placement, noting that newspaper ads can reinforce messages delivered via other media--for example, televised Sunday night football: "We can effectively deliver a Monday sports adjacency." Likewise, "if you're targeting tennis fans, we can deliver ads around key games in the U.S. Open."

Stepping back, Klein also said the study is evidence of newspapers' long-term viability: "The big surprise of the story is the clear preference among younger men" in light of conventional wisdom about a generational shift to the Internet. "It's not surprising that men 35 and up are going to newspapers for sports info, but the fact that a younger generation is doing it--that's a little counter-intuitive for some people."