More than a third of world football fans find attractive brand sponsorships and 41% of all sporting sponsorships are in this sport.
The FIFA World Cup 2026TM will open opportunities to unravel with fans, in particular the American fans base, where 62% expect the interest to increase.
Female sports increases quickly and the WNBA fans’ base increased by more than 31% in just two years.
New York – June 12, 2025 – Nielsen, a world leader in measurement, data and analyzes of the audience, has published its 2025 Global Sports Report. The report examines the evolution of the sports landscape, helping brands and rights holders to better understand fans of today while the world of sport explodes.
Some of the key protruding points revealed in the report include:
- The football fans base (football) is very receptive to sponsorship – more than one third (67%) of world football fans find sponsorship more attractive brands compared to just over half of the general population (54%).
- This is seen most prevailing in the United States, where football fans are much more receptive to the brand’s sponsorship than the country’s general sports fans, just behind Brazil, one of the most dominant markets in sport in the world.
- With major tournaments planned for 2025, 2026 and 2027, including the FIFA World Cup 2026 ™ organized across North America, the American market is ready for significant growth, driven by a basis of young, various and wealthy fans (76% of millennia or a Z generation, 22% of Hispanic sponsors.
- Interest in female sports increases – reaching 50% of the general population worldwide in 2024, against 45% in 2022
Today’s sports fans are more connected and passionate than ever. Globalization, various fandoms and the evolution of media consumption reshape sporting commitment. The report identifies three growth factors, allowing marketing specialists to optimize sponsorship strategies and unlock the global sports potential.
Jon Stainer, World CEO, Nielsen Sports, said: “The world sports industry is experiencing an exhilarating development, while live sports continue to develop and develop in all parts of the media. At Nielsen, we are particularly positioned to connect information on the difficulties, global edicts, brands and organizations that exist opportunities that exist from the world in terms of sports report. Live sport, in particular with major and global sporting events on the horizon, earns even more momentum. »»
First, the report identifies that football, as the most popular sport in the world, presents a convincing opportunity to deepen the commitment and lead a return on investment. With 51% of the world Fandom, football considerably exceeds all other sports with notable regional variations – including Mexico at 64% of Fandom and 62 million fans in the United States only, making it the fourth world market. But obtaining the right sponsorship of the brand depends on the understanding of fans’ nuances on the target markets in order to capitalize on this basis of passionate and committed fans.
Second, the sharp increase in interest in women’s sports has unrivaled investment and commitment of the brand’s opportunities, with particularly strong growth in the main markets such as India, China, the United Kingdom and Germany. This growth is reflected by specific sporting extensions, including women’s football and WNBA, which has seen its American fans increase by more than 31% in two years to 46.9 million, in parallel with a remarkable increase of 201% in 2024 audience of the regular season.
Above all, women now constitute a larger share of fans for female (47%) and male (42%) sports (compared to 45% and 40% in 2022). This creates a new, diversified and very committed audience requiring tailor -made approaches and brand opportunities. This expansion and receptive female fans base stresses that the support of female sports is not only a social gesture but a convincing commercial imperative, offering brands access to new consumer segments – as evidenced by luxury brands as coach entering the WNBA sponsorship space, taking advantage of the high purchase of female sports fans.
Third, the landscape of rapidly evolving sports media offers significant opportunities to brands, advertisers, rights holders and marketing specialists to engage various audiences on traditional and digital platforms. Live sports continue to be a powerful engine of fans’ engagement, streaming attracting an increasing segment of older fans (21% increase in 50+ viewers between 2022-2024), while innovative formats like the TGL Golf League successfully bring younger and non-traditional viewers (32% of 18-34 TGL. PGA normal viewers) to linear channels.
At the same time, social media is decisive in the globalization of sports and the culture of new bases of fans. This is illustrated by the rapid rise of the rugby fandom on new markets, driven by influential athletes like Ilona Maher – which increased its Instagram after 141% at last year’s Olympic Games – and the accelerated growth of women after global rugby. This dynamic environment, coupled with the emergence of new sports such as pickleball and successful social brand activations (for example, the #Propickle campaign by nature Made®), underlines the critical need for brands to take advantage of the diversified media and an authentic social commitment to achieve the expansion of fans’ demographics.
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