Sports Fans in the Philadelphia Metropolitan Area
Within the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD (Philadelphia) metro area, 64.7% of respondents noted that they are sports fans. Sports fans are individuals who watch professional and/or college sports at least several times a month and/or follow athletes or coaches on social media. Within the Philadelphia metro area, 12.6% of respondents connect with and/or follow athletes or coaches on social media.
The top five athletes or coaches’ respondents living in the Philadelphia metro area follow on social media include:
- LeBron James
- Jalen Hurts
- Nick Sirianni
- Joel Embiid
- Bryce Harper
College Sports
With regard to college sports, 61.6% of respondents in the Philadelphia metro area watched college sports on television or attended a college sports event in the last year. While more than half (56.6%) of women watched or attended a college sports event in the last year, this percentage is significantly higher among men (71.0%). The most frequently watched college team is Penn State University (23.8%).
Professional Sports
Similar to other metro areas, there are higher shares of respondents in the Philadelphia metro area who watch professional sports (81.5%) compared to college sports. Women had higher shares of watching the Philadelphia Eagles (30.2% vs. 26.5%) and Philadelphia Phillies (23.9% vs. 13.8%) compared to men. On the other hand, men were more likely to watch the Philadelphia 76ers compared to women (13.8% vs. 12.5%).
When examining sports viewership and race, respondents who identify as white were twice as likely to watch the Philadelphia Phillies and 1.5 times more likely to watch the Philadelphia Flyers compared to all other respondents. Respondents who identify as Black had higher shares of watching the Philadelphia 76ers and more than one-third (37.7%) of respondents who are Asian watch the Philadelphia Eagles - the highest percentage among all respondents. Additionally, respondents who identify as another race were more likely to watch the Philadelphia Union.
Lastly, as a proportion of their age group, respondents between the ages of 18 and 34 years old were more likely to watch the Philadelphia 76ers compared to all other respondents. For example, among 18 to 34-year-old respondents, 15.4% watched the Philadelphia 76ers this percentage is only 13.7% for 35 to 54-year-old respondents and 11.5% for respondents 55+ years old. More than one-quarter (30.4%) of respondents between the ages of 35 to 54 years and 55+ years old watched the Philadelphia Eagles. This is significantly higher compared to 18 to 34 years old respondents (25.0%). Additionally, respondents between the ages of 35 to 54 years old were more likely to watch the Philadelphia Union and watch Minor League Baseball teams such as the Wilmington Blue Rocks. Finally, respondents who were 55+ years old not only watched the Philadelphia Phillies (25.4%) at significantly higher rates compared to 18 to 34-year-old respondents (12.6%) and 35 to 54-year-old respondents (17.7%) but were also more likely to watch the Philadelphia Flyers.
Click here to read the results!