Social media plays a larger role than ever in the lives of sports fans around the world. YouTube is an endless source of video highlights and bloopers. Twitter is a gigantic news wire. And Facebook is a place for trash talk with friends.
But, beyond anecdotal evidence, it can be hard to parse just how many fans use which networks and where the greatest opportunities for marketers are. Catalyst PR, recently acquired by sports marketing titan IMG, is the latest to take a stab at quantifying where sports fans hangout online and how they can be reached.
The results of Catalyst's survey provide some interesting food for thought.
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Released this week, Catalyst's fourth annual fan engagement study surveyed 2,100 sports fans between the ages of 16 and 64. That group encompasses fans of the NFL, MLB, NBA, college football, college basketball and soccer.
A couple of thousand fans don't speak for everyone who follows sports, of course. But it's an interesting starting point for considering trends in the industry. Here are a few of Catalyst's most interesting findings:
Nearly twice as many respondents use Facebook compared to Twitter, at 73% to 37%. But on game day, they check Twitter about 1.5 times as often as they do Facebook.
Google+ and YouTube are on the rise among fans. When fans responded to a question about which platforms they use to "disseminate and acquire sports information," those two platforms showed the most year-over-year growth, at 94% and 35%, respectively.
Seven out of 10 sports fans who Like or follow a brand online say they're open to sharing brand content, buying goods or engaging with social posts.
For more findings, check out the infographic below. Then let us know what you think in the comments.
Image: Nicolas Asfouri/AFP/Getty Images