Nothing shapes culture
more than sports, now it’s...
Game On
Game On is an original sports fandom & culture research project designed to help brands understand how people engage with sport today, and how that understanding can inform more meaningful strategy.
This cultural and human insight-led work explodes how sports is just part of people's cultural identity and how brands that take the time to understand people in this way will connect more meaningfully, genuinely and relevantly, gaining greater return on their spend.
WHAT IS GAME ON?
Game On is a deep dive into modern sports fandom and sports culture, grounded in original qualitative, quantitative and cultural intelligence research across the US and UK.
It looks at how sport shows up in people’s everyday lives, how they watch, participate, follow, create, connect, and what those behaviours mean for brands operating in and around sport.
This is not a trend report or a surface-level overview.
It is sports culture research built from real people’s lives, designed to support strategic decision-making for brand, marketing and insight teams.
Our approach to sports culture research combines scale with depth to capture a realistic picture of sports engagement today.
Quantitative research
n=500 across the US and UK
A mix of sporting interest and engagement, from highly invested fans to more casual participants
Qualitative & cultural intelligence research
Ethnographic work with people from a wide range of backgrounds
A mix of ages, genders, ethnicities, and sporting interests
Focused on lived experience rather than declared attitudes
Social analysis work centered in on dominant & emergent signals
All imagery and examples used in the session come directly from our respondents. We avoid stock photography because it reinforces assumptions and distances brands from reality. Understanding sports culture properly means seeing people as they are.
WHAT THE RESEARCH REVEALS ABOUT MODERN SPORTS FANDOM
The research shows that sport remains one of the most emotionally powerful cultural forces in people’s lives.
People use sport to:
- Build identity and self-expression
- Create and maintain friendships
- Feel part of a community
- Connect through shared moments and stories
Engagement increasingly happens across a wide range of touchpoints, from following players and creators to grassroots participation, to behind-the-scenes content and community-led spaces.
These layers of engagement add richness and emotional closeness. Sport feels human, present, and deeply personal.
WHAT WILL I LEARN FROM A GAME ON BRIEFING?
This session will show you how to connect with sports culture in a way that feels genuine, impactful, and well aligned with your brand values.
A Game On sports culture research briefing gives teams:
- A people-led understanding of modern sports fandom
- Clear insight into sports consumer behaviour
- A stronger strategic foundation for brand decisions
- Inspiration, grounded in cultural reality, not spectacle
It’s designed to help teams think more clearly about sport and more confidently about how their brand fits within it.
The next 4 years are going to be particularly pivotal in the US, but rippling across the globe. In 2026 the US will host the FIFA Soccer World Cup followed 2 years later by the LA Olympics in 2028 - 2 of the biggest sporting events in the world.
As billions of viewers tune in and immerse themselves in these international spectacles, brands are presented with unique opportunities to engage consumers in a meaningful, authentic way.
Make no mistake, there will already be a competition for pole position going on, but the question is how, as a marketer of any brand, you engage for maximum impact.
Curious about modern sports fandom?
Download the Game On teaser to get a first look at the research.
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