PORTSMOUTH, N.H.—Even though younger audiences are more likely to be active on multiple platforms, a new study suggests that their tendency to spread their disposable time across more platforms and types of content than any other generation has not reduced their interest in viewing sports.
Hub Entertainment Research's latest wave of “Evolution of Sports – What’s the Score?” finds that sports viewership is up, and it's rising fastest among younger fans.
Fans under age 18 are about seven times more likely to say they're watching more sports on TV than they were a year ago, rather than less, which is more than double the ratio seen among fans overall.
Among teens who say they're watching more, more than 2 in 5 credit a genuine, growing interest in sports overall or in a specific team or athlete.
In contrast, older fans (ages 55-74) are more likely to point to simply having more free time — not rising interest — as the reason for increased viewing.
“One factor driving the success of sports today: younger fans are just more interested than the generation before them,” said Jon Giegengack, principal at Hub and one of the study authors. “But as with scripted content, their fandom is diffused across multiple kinds of media and content. It shows up as a YouTube stream, a group chat during the game, watching live stats on social while the game is on. The industry is built to reach the fan who plans their Sunday around kickoff. Now they need to adapt to fans that watch the game on TV and spend the rest of the week following it everywhere else.”
The research also suggests that they're finding sports through creators and social, not appointment TV and that for younger fans, social platforms aren't a supplement to sports coverage, they're becoming the main event.
The survey found that 45% of fans under 35 get “most” or “all” of their non-live sports content from social media, more than four times the rate among fans 55 and older.
In addition, creators are increasingly carrying the games themselves, not just the highlights: during the FIFA World Cup, a single YouTube channel in Brazil streamed 104 matches — more than twice as many as the country's national broadcaster.
For younger fans, the second screen is part of the game, not a distraction from it, the study found.
With scripted TV, a phone in hand usually means divided attention. Sports works the other way: the second screen is mostly pointed back at the game. And that is far truer of young fans than older ones.
Among fans 13-34 who use social media during a live game, 62% say what they are doing on that second screen is about the game itself. Among fans 55-74, only 33% say the same.
The gap is widest on the most social behaviors: 65% of younger fans posting to social during a game are posting about that game, versus 29% of older fans. Purpose-built tools are game-related for nearly everyone, with 89% of 13-34 and 85% of 55-74 following live stats saying it is about the sport they are watching.
These findings are from Hub's “Evolution of Sports: What’s the Score?” Wave 6 report, based on a survey of 3,814 U.S. sports fans ages 13-74, conducted in July 2026.
