State of Play: Live Sport and the New Global Fandom

Digital access and streaming may have helped globalise sport, but fandom is no longer playing out solely on screens. Increasingly, fans are taking that passion into the real world – travelling further, following more international events and seeking out bigger, more immersive live experiences.

This shift is reshaping what live sport looks like, and raising important questions for clubs, venues and organisers: what does the modern fan expect now, and how should the live experience evolve to meet them?

To explore that, we spoke to 2,000 UK sports fans about what drives their passion for live events, how their habits are changing, and what the future of live fandom could look like.

As the world’s leading ticketing company, Ticketmaster is seeing this shift first-hand – with growing demand for live sport across borders, formats and experiences. Fans are willing to travel further and invest more in live sport than ever before. But as their commitment grows, so do their expectations.