Restating sport’s purpose in an era of new challenges
According to The Sport Industry Report 2025, football was proved to be a dominant force in the life of the UK sports community with 81% of fans and 78% of sports professionals declaring themselves of the beautiful game.
UK sport – an overview
This sentiment was echoed in several survey results: the Premier League and The FA ranked highest in awareness for major events and governing bodies respectively. Fans were also likeliest to believe that the Premier League is the event that ‘showcases the UK in the best light’ – the choice of 38% – while 30% of fans said the same of The FA, which led the way among governing bodies.
This differs to the views of sports professionals, 64% of whom consider Wimbledon the event that presents the UK in the best light, while 51% selected the BOA as the organisation in the same category. Meanwhile, 87% of sports fans view the BOA positively, hinting at a likely halo effect from another successful Olympics at Paris 2024.
Fans and the industry
Though united by their affinity for sport, the fan and professional cohorts in the survey diverged in some notable ways throughout.
57% of sports industry professionals travel internationally for work, with 52% of those making between two and five trips a year. Given their jet setting careers and their propensity to attend live events, that could explain why only 23% of professionals agree with a majority of fans who view the UK as the centre of the sporting world.
“Almost two thirds of sports fans believe the UK is the centre of the sporting world”
77% cited ‘exercise for fitness’ as one of their two preferred modes of participation – compared with 29% of fans – while 27% say the same of golf, which didn’t feature at all in fans’ top five sports.
Sports professionals are more than twice as likely to turn to podcasts (46%) as newspapers (18%) for sports content; for reference, 23% of fans said they were regular sports podcast listeners.
The two groups are likely to be fans of different sports: rugby union (55%) and cricket (43%) both ranked in the top five most popular sports among professionals but neither featured in the fans’ list.
“These results are a useful reminder of the need for the industry to stay in regular, open contact with the fans it serves every day”
All of this translated not just into variations in taste but also conceptions of how sport can and should operate. Unsurprisingly, professionals are consistently likelier to believe in the positive impact of sponsorship, and to think more highly of brands that engage with sport and its priorities.
The risks of sinking into an echo chamber will not be news to many of those working in sport. But these results are a useful reminder – not least in this period of rolling transition – of the need for the industry to stay in regular, open contact with the fans it serves every day.
This is an extract. To read in full, download the Sport Industry Report 2025.
