Michael Lewis is a Professor of Marketing at Emory University’s Goizueta Business School, faculty director of the Emory Marketing Analytics Center, and host of the popular podcast Fanalytics. He joined The Goizueta Effect Podcastto talk about the future of fandom, what defines a fan, and why fandom is an important measure of modern culture. He discusses what sharp declines in fandom for Generation Z mean for sports leagues, teams, networks, and studios. Finally, he unpacks how young women may represent an unanticipated and untapped opportunity for the industry. 

Lewis’s work centers on the intersection of sports analytics and marketing, with research ranging from player performance to brand equity. His thought leadership has been featured in The New York Times, Yahoo Sports, USA Today, Bleacher Report, and NPR. To access his research and find out more, visit Lewis’s website at fandomanalytics.com. 

What Is Fandom and Why Is It an Important Reflection of Culture? 

When people hear the word fan, they often conjure trivial examples, like a jersey-wearing individual sitting in the rafters, or a kid excited for the latest big rock concert. But if you take a step back, at its core, fandom is intense passion for elements of culture. Understanding what people care about, and what they are passionate about, is an important pursuit.  

Declines in Fandom in Gen Z Males 

Typically, in his academic studies, Lewis conducts quantitative research measuring fandom across teams.  

Last summer, however, he commissioned original survey research - The Next Generation Fandom Survey- to take a deeper look into what's happening across generations. America is continually going through a shift in generations. Lewis expected Gen Z to behave similarly to millennials because both are digital natives, albeit with greater intensity for Gen Z. The results surprised him.  

Research shows a tremendous drop-off in sports fandom for Gen Z. Millennials turned out to be the most avid fans, with Gen X and the baby boomers slightly less interested than the millennials. In particular, Gen Z males demonstrate a sharp decline in fandom.  

To dig deeper, sports fandom is driven by two psychological constructs: self-identity and the need to belong to communities. Gen Z males’ scores on those traits were much lower than Gen Z females, as well as other groups. Gen Z males seem to be alienated from sports with an apathy to commit or connect. Sports fandom is public and lifelong, which sets it apart from other kinds of fandoms, and Gen Z males seem particularly uninterested. 

This apathy is mostly reported in the sports realm, not within all fandoms. Gen Z males are lagging, in terms of their peers and other older generations, across all sports except esports. However, in terms of entertainment categories, like music, movies, television, comedy, they score relatively closely to their female peers.  

Sports, Gen Z Females, and Female Leadership 

Research shows the idea of belonging to something bigger, to proclaim that you are a fan, is more consistent with Gen Z female psychology. This suggests Gen Z females feel less alienated and represent an opportunity for leagues to grow their female fandom.  

When it comes to sports and female leadership, positive trends have emerged such as the San Antonio Spurs' hiring of Becky Hammon as assistant coach, to last year's hiring of Kim Ng by the Marlins as the first GM in Major League Baseball. This shift may have to do with women starting to take on more important roles in male-dominated sports. A larger cultural force may be driving both sides, leading to more female representation in sports management and, simultaneously, more fandom on the side of young women.  

Until now, the marketing of sports has been segmented to males. However, now we're seeing this shift where different leagues and teams are seeing growth opportunities with women. Businesses want to grow their fan bases, and the female fan has always been a little bit elusive. The classical marketing issue is that businesses want more customers, but new fans and consumers affect the image of the product. 

Lewis raises the question: as sports become more inclusive, do they become less appealing to different segments? As a pure theoretical marketing idea, most marketing remains segment-based rather than to the masses.  So as a sports league markets to different groups, does it become less interesting to other groups? Does sports shift away from the domain of boys? While this may be positive change, does this shift make sports less appealing to males? While Lewis doesn’t know the answer to that question, he thinks it is interesting to consider. 

Measuring Fandom 

In The Next Generation Fandom Survey, Lewis and his colleagues studied attitudes, preferences, and behaviors to capture the elusive concept of fandom. They polled participants about the types of sports they engaged with, whether they wore team clothing and collected memorabilia, as well as social media engagement and spending habits. They drilled down further into fundamental psychological concepts like the need for belonging and the importance of self-identity. Fandom is an elusive concept that can be measured in different ways, but fandom also includes an element of magic. Data can’t explain everything. That extra human element is where the magic happens. 

Millennials as the Biggest Sports Fans 

According to the study, by far, millennials are the most willing to connect with organizations and display their fandom. These fans show loyalty through social media, attendance, and active display of sports shirts and jerseys. Millennials had the highest scores for almost every sport. This generation received a lot of criticism when they were growing up; for example, kids were regularly given participation trophies. But they were also more connected with the internet, had smartphones at a relatively younger age, and received higher levels of encouragement and positive reinforcement. In terms of being connected to society, it could be theorized that the environment millennials grew up in helped them become the most committed fans of any generation. This is an advantage for sports organizations right now because millennials are the core audience. Gen X may pay for pricier tickets, but the millennials are, across the board, the most connected generation. This is why the falloff to Gen Z was so surprising. 

The Future of Fandom: Sport by Sport  

At the moment, every sport is operating in a slightly different context.  

Football 

Football, both college and pro football, seems to be the most protected from decline. Whether it's SEC or NFL football, the experience is a true spectacle. Man...