With the rise in influence of the Hispanic consumer, the Hispanic sports fan in the U.S. is quickly becoming a driving force in terms of viewership. Consequently, it’s also become a coveted demo for advertisers to reach.
“With growing consumer clout, Hispanic audiences represent a huge opportunity for the sports industry in the U.S.,” said Stephen Master, SVP of Sports at Nielsen. “Considering that 94 percent of Hispanics males say they’re sports fans, and 56 percent of Hispanic males consider themselves avid fans, we felt the need to look more closely at Hispanic audiences.”
A recent Nielsen study dove deeper into the Hispanic sports fan and found that they’re highly engaged, perpetually connected and like buying sports-related merchandise.
Key highlights include:
- Hispanic consumers take a more favorable eye toward sponsorships. Forty-three percent of Hispanics feel loyalty toward sports sponsorships and, what’s more, 41 percent of that demo is inclined to buy products offered by sponsors.
- Seventy-five percent of Hispanics have purchased sports-related merchandise within the last 12 months, compared with 62 percent of non-Hispanics.
- Sports scandals aside, Hispanic fans still believe in role models. In fact, in every major professional league, Hispanics said they still placed value in athletes as role models more so than non-Hispanics. Hispanics hold NBA athletes to the highest standards—49 percent of them saw NBA players as role models, compared with 38 percent of non-Hispanics.
- Hispanics are more likely than non-Hispanics to use a mobile device to watch sports-related content. In fact, 24 percent of Hispanics say they use a tablet to watch sports content while 27 view content on a smart phone, compared with 12 and 15 percent among non-Hispanics, respectively.
- Hispanic fans are twice as likely to attend sporting events at least once per week. And when they’re not at the games, watching sporting events is an opportunity occasion to socialize. Hispanic sports fans watch sports programming with others. Fifty-five percent of Hispanics say they’re more likely to take in a televised game or other sports programs at someone else’s home, while 45 percent of non-Hispanics noted that they do so.
Connecting With the Hispanic Sports Fan – Agree/Strongly Agree
| Hispanic | Non-Hispanic | |
|---|---|---|
| Feel loyalty toward sports sponsors |
43% | 28% |
| Inclined to buy sport sponsors’ products | 41% | 27% |
| Athletes of these sports are role models | ||
| NBA | 49% | 38% |
| MLB | 48% | 40% |
| NFL | 47% | 40% |
| NHL | 43% | 35% |
| NASCAR | 47% | 41% |
| Source: Nielsen |
Methodology
Nielsen’s Fan Trender is an ongoing online survey (monthly) of 1,000 Americans aged 12+ that asks questions such as sports avidity, media consumption habits, and brand favorability.
