Perhaps the most over-used phrase in my dissertation was "tech-savvy affluent males." This is the specific audience that Vox Media -- the company I studied -- is most interested in attracting to its network of 300+ sports blogs (
SB Nation), its consumer technology news site (
The Verge), and its video games news site (
Polygon).
As Vox Media CEO Jim Bankoff explained of the company's expansion from sports to technology:
Nearly all of our advertisers are looking for young, tech savvy affluent males so there is great overlap and expansion opportunity there.
Indeed,
Nielsen research published this week suggests that avid sports fans are a particularly tech-savvy demographic. Some highlights:
- "Avid sports fans are 52 percent more likely to own a tablet"
- 42% more likely to own a DVR
- 33% more likely to own a gaming console
- 21% more likely to own a smartphone
- 20% more likely to own a HDTV
- "Nearly 60% of tablet and smartphone owners who access sports on their device check this content at least once a day"
- "41% of all TV-related Tweets are about sports programming, although sports accounts for only 1.3% of all TV programming."
- Users of the top six sports apps spend more than 1 hour, on average, using that app each month. ESPN Streak for the Cash users spend an average of 2 hours each month using the app.
As Stephen Master, senior VP of sports for Nielsen,
told Mashable:
"Live sports are all about real-time action, and mobile devices allow sports fans to keep up and discuss that action, while also providing instant access to the sports content they want — whether that's score updates, fantasy stats or tweets to their favorite athlete ... Smartphones and tablets haven't quite changed the live sports viewing experience yet — TV is still the top platform — but our research shows that more and more people are frequently using these devices while watching TV, indicating that these devices are enhancing that viewing experience."
