Why sports brands can’t sit and wait for the ‘Luke Littler effect’

For a number of years, we have seen fans from younger demographics shift their loyalty from clubs to superstars. As this shift has occurred, clubs and sports have adapted their marketing strategies, creating more behind-the-scenes content about the club and players to capitalize on the hunger to better understand their heroes.

Although this may have worked for sports with a steady stream of stars - such as football - it has left clubs vulnerable to shifts in loyalty when players are transferred. For sports and clubs that do not, it is easy to get left behind.

But what’s the underlying cause of this change? And what can sports do to tackle it?  

For many young fans, sports brands have become huge, glossy corporate megaliths. Ticket prices are out of reach and clubs feel like giant businesses; increasingly hard to understand or emotionally connect with. Simply put, they had lost their relevancy. The likes of Messi and Ronaldo, no matter how big their brands became, were ultimately still human. With a back story set in absolute normality, still played the same console games and wore some of the same brands. The kids could relate.

So if your sport lacks stars with youth appeal, how do you get to the same place without just sitting and waiting for your own Luke Littler to rock up? As is often the case the answer could well be hiding in plain sight.

We have long known the importance of participation as part of any engagement strategy, but given this need for relevance, we can see how participation can build an immediate connection to a sport; a newfound respect for competitors and a greater sense of ‘that could be me’.

In 2023, a report by Ernst & Young examined engagement levels among different demographics and found that “participation is more of a driver for engagement for this age group” (Gen-Z). They found that Gen-Zs top 20 sports for participation had a much greater correlation with their top 20 engagement sports compared to the population’s average. They also note the inclusion of boxing, badminton and basketball in GenZ's top 10 sports, all sports with greater participation within the demographic.

So clearly increased participation can have an immediate impact on overall engagement, as illustrated by Badminton’s shift to the 14^th sport by overall engagement base. However, when evaluating a new focus on greater participation, you must also consider the long-term impact as well. Essentially by encouraging greater youth participation and re-focussing on the grass roots of sports you can grow the superstars of the future, allowing you to develop your very own “Luke Littlers”.

And whilst participation is never an easy nut to crack, with general interest in health and wellbeing increasing throughout society there’s never been a better time for sports brands to maximise on participation as a key part of their engagement strategy.

If you’d like to speak to us about how we can help focus your engagement and participation strategy get in touch via info@truedigital.co.uk