Sports Viewership in the Boston Metropolitan Area
Within the Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH (Boston) metro area, 64.1% 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 Boston metro area, 15.9% of respondents connect with and/or follow athletes or coaches on social media.
The top five athletes or coaches’ respondents living in the Boston metro area follow on social media include:
- Tom Brady
- LeBron James
- Cristiano Ronaldo
- Bill Belichick
- Jayson Tatum
College Sports
With regard to college sports, more than half (56.6%) of respondents in the Boston metro area watched college sports on television or attended a college sports event in the last year. While half of women watched or attended a college sports event in the last year, this percentage is significantly higher among men (67.4%). The most frequently watched college team is Boston College (24.2%).
Professional Sports
Similar to other metro areas, there are higher shares of respondents in the Boston metro area who watch professional sports (82.6%) compared to college sports. Additionally, among all seven metro areas, Boston has the largest shares of respondents who watched or attended a professional sports event in the last year. Overall, and among men, the top two professional teams watched are the Boston Red Sox and New England Patriots. For women, the Boston Red Sox and Boston Celtics ranked first and second in terms of viewership. Compared to men, women were more likely to watch the New England Patriots (26.3% vs. 24.8%). Conversely, men watched the Boston Red Sox and the Boston Celtics at higher rates. For example, among men, 24.3% watched the Boston Red Sox compared to 19.3% of women.
When examining sports viewership and race, respondents who identify as white were more likely to watch the Boston Red Sox, Boston Bruins, and New England Patriots compared to all other respondents. However, respondents who identify as Black had higher shares of watching the Boston Celtics. International soccer was more likely to be watched by respondents who identified as another race.
Lastly, as a proportion of their age group, respondents between the ages of 18 and 34 years old were more likely to watch the Boston Celtics compared to all other respondents. For example, among 18 to 34-year-old respondents, 26.1% watched the Boston Celtics; this percentage is only 18.7% for 35 to 54-year-old respondents and 16.3% for respondents 55+ years old. Additionally, 18 to 34-year-old respondents were four times more likely to watch international soccer compared to all other age groups, even though international soccer is the fifth most watched sport across all age groups. Respondents between the ages of 35 to 54 years old were more likely to watch the New England Patriots (30.5%) compared respondents who are between the ages 18 to 34 years old (11.9%) and respondents over the age of 55 (28.9%). Lastly, respondents who were 55+ years old watched the Boston Red Sox and Boston Bruins at slightly higher rates compared to all other age groups.
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