Survey: Sports fans prefer highlights over live games
24 March 2021
Reproduced from Maru Group for Variety Intelligence Platform; Chart: Axios Visuals
A new era of sports fandom is upon us, one in which fans increasingly come for snacks (highlights) instead of meals (live games).
By the numbers: Among U.S. sports fans ages 18–34, 58% of MLB fans, 54% of NBA fans and 48% of NFL fans say they prefer watching highlights to full games, according to a survey by Variety.
- Of note: The number of NFL fans ages 35–49 who prefer highlights to games drops substantially to 20%, but that isn't the case for the NBA and MLB, with roughly half of fans in that age group saying so.
Why it matters: The sports ecosystem is built on live sports rights. If fans aren't regularly tuning into games, it could threaten the entire model.
- This change in viewership behavior has been well-documented among millennial and Gen Z fans, many of whom have cut the cord and rely largely on social media for their sports coverage.
- But this survey suggests the preference for short-form clips extends beyond that age group, at least among NBA and MLB fans.
- In other words, the "highlight generation" might actually be the "highlight generations."
What they're saying: "This will be a crucial battleground for leagues on two fronts," writes Variety's Gavin Bridge.
- Front 1: "How to entice viewers to come back to full games."
- Front 2: "How to better monetize highlights without making them so cost prohibitive that fans give up on watching them and grow more disconnected."
Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times
Section2Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.
Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.
The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.
- The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.
What the transcripts say:
- Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
- The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
- Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."
Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.