December report examines effects of pandemic on fan behavior and the 2021 college football season
Plano, Texas – Today, LEARFIELD, a media and technology leader in collegiate athletics, announces the first Intercollegiate Fan Pulse Report™, Pandemic Trends and the Evolution of Fan Behavior™, that follows the company’s inaugural Intercollegiate Fan Report™ released in August 2021. This new update addresses ways the pandemic has changed how fans engage with their favorite teams, heightening adaption and escalation of social media, mobile apps and mobile ticketing. This current edition examines the influence and effects of COVID-19 on fan behavior, looking specifically at the 2021 college football season. Updated fan demographics demonstrate the long-term strength and resiliency of the entire college athletics ecosystem and presents opportunities for both national and targeted local marketing.
“While there’s no question COVID-19 has impacted numerous industries across the world, the passion college sports fans have for their teams is as strong as ever,” said Matt Deimund, LEARFIELD SVP and managing director of the data and analytics platform, Fanbase™. “The data featured in this report shows that we are making progress in a multi-year industry recovery with promising growth in digital fan engagement.”
The Intercollegiate Athletics Fan Report™ provided compelling insights representative of an estimated 180 million college sports fans, as well as specific demographic and sociographic data of more than 20 million Known Fans™. Building off this annual publication, LEARFIELD will continue to publish periodic reports to address more specific topics within the college athletics ecosystem.
LEARFIELD’s leading data and analytics platform Fanbase™ now features over 30 million unique customer records from over 120 partner universities.
To download the December edition or to subscribe to future annual or Pulse reports, visit www.LEARFIELD.com/pulse-report.
LEARFIELD is a media and technology services leader in intercollegiate athletics. The company unlocks the value of college sports for brands and fans through an omnichannel platform with innovative content and commerce solutions for fan engagement. LEARFIELD services includes licensing and multimedia sponsorship management; publishing, audio, digital and social media; data analytics; ticketing, ticket sales and professional concessions expertise; branding; campus-wide business and sponsorship development; and venue technology systems. Since 2008, it has served as title sponsor for the acclaimed LEARFIELD Directors’ Cup, supporting athletic departments across all divisions.