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Marketing - Who's playing what?
The sports shop has always played a vital role in providing the equipment and apparel needed for local amateurs to play sport. But anyone who has worked in the sports trade for a length of time knows that the market never stands still and that there have been some profound changes in the trade over the long term.
One of the biggest changes has been among the most popular sports and other activities that consumers take part in to keep themselves fit and healthy, or simply to enjoy life more by socialising. This article takes a look at the popular sports (especially the "equipped" sports, supplied by the sports retailer) as well as some of the many minority sports that make up this complex market.
Some Historical Perspective
As a market researcher, I first got stuck into the sports statistics back in the late 1970s. By then, a major change in participation was already under way, thanks to the investment by local councils in sparkling new sports centres and swimming pools. The great new idea was that sport was not just something for youngsters, mainly boys and young men, but a good thing for everyone to take part in, young or old, male or female. (Today, we would call it an "inclusive" idea.) Long-running surveys like the government's General Household Survey and the private Target Group Index proved that participation was broadening out to include more people, producing a general rise in the numbers taking part in sport.
Sport's base broadened out in the 1970s and 1980s but the social and health benefits did not immediately set the tills ringing in the sport shop. By the 1990s, fitness enthusiasts wanted to keep fit without the lifestyle complications of learning a sport, joining a team or subscribing to a club. It was enough to take the kids swimming at the "fun pool", or go jogging around the block, or sign up for aerobics classes, all to the detriment of the equipped sports that sustain the typical sports shop. Squash, one of the big sports of the 1970s, suffered badly as former players contented themselves with keeping fit by using a gym or going jogging.
By the early 2000s, the health club was the fashionable place to keep fit. The time and money spent on joining a club meant that only the most active and affluent of sports enthusiasts could also fit in playing a competitive sport requiring a visit to the local sports shop to buy a piece of equipment or some technical apparel. But the statistical surveys kept on coming, showing that while many participation sports were declining gradually - squash was one of the more dramatic exceptions - the new activities were generally taking their place alongside the traditional.
Measuring the Participation Market Today
For measuring sports participation, the General Household Survey has been replaced, for sports and fitness, by a Taking Part Survey (Department for Culture, Media and Sport) and there are more specific sports surveys from the national sports councils (e.g. Sport England's Active People Survey, similar surveys available for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland). The private sector provides tools such as Target Group Index's Sport+ and Participant 360°, giving in-depth detail for individual sports (both produced by BMRB, a research agency).
These surveys usually take a broad view of physical activity, so that Active People covers "sport or active recreation", which involves 21% of adults in England on a "regular" basis: three times a week or more, for at least 30 minutes, at "moderate intensity". Getting down to specific activities, the general fitness group is led - in order of popularity - by walking or rambling, swimming, keep fit or aerobics classes, cycling, jogging or working out in a gym. On a regular basis, each of these involves between 10% and 15% of adults. (The surveys usually only involve adults - children have to be interviewed separately - and swimming or cycling would rank higher for the whole population.)
Turning to the equipped and competitive sports, the striking feature of the participation "league table" is that it has changed very little over the last 30 years, the period that has seen the rise of the health club, of jogging and aerobics classes (i.e. modern fitness activities).
- Football, the national sport, remains unchallenged as the leading competitive game, played (in England) by 19% of men (3% of women) at least once a year. Indoor play has stimulated the game in this decade (e.g. Powerleague now has 43 5-a-side centres and 125,000 playing members).
- Golf ranks second for participants (9% of adults at least occasionally) but tops the money league for amounts spent by players. Golf's lucrative nature means there is a highly competitive specialist distribution structure (i.e. pro shops in the clubs, chains like American Golf, online golf stores)
- The three racket sports overlap in various ways with badminton having the most players (just ahead of tennis, well ahead of squash) but even adding all the rackets players together would come to less than football or golf (under 5% of adults play a racket sport regularly)
The full list of participation sports takes in a bewildering array of activities, each requiring its own specialised sports goods, but taken part in by less than 0.5% of adults (i.e. under 250,000 nationwide) and therefore mainly the province of the specialised trader. Five of the important groups are fishing, shooting, water sports, snow sports and mountaineering (overlapping with general outdoor pursuits).
What drives participation in a sport?
Measuring any changes in demand for a sport is difficult because even the most popular - football, golf etc - only involve a minority so the statistical changes can be infinitesimal. For example, there is a feeling that road running for fitness has become much more popular again in the early 2000s - perhaps in preference to the gym, for a more outdoor activity? - but this is not easy to quantify using national surveys.
The apparent success of running in this decade can be put down to the several inter-related factors that affect all sports:
- A combination of fashion and favourable media image (e.g. celebrity joggers)
- Improved ranges of equipment on the market
- Attractive displays in sports shops, or the opening of specialist outlets
- Official encouragement by sports organisations, local councils, schools, even national government
- Encouragement from the big sports brands (e.g. Nike's move into golf)
There are some Golden Rules to bear in mind when looking at modern consumer behaviour, some related to sport and others more general:
- Consumers want a bit of everything: they spread their time over many activities: the quick 9 holes of golf, the quick drink in the club, the "grab and go" snack
- People are polarising. In fitness, for every obese couch potato, there is an obsessive fitness freak
- We are looking for a challenge. Modern life is easy and sedentary, hence the popularity of extreme sports and the Great Outdoors generally, a demand which is clearly not satisfied by the health club
- Lifestage shapes our demand. Some sports might look "old-fashioned" but consumers gravitate towards them as they reach the appropriate lifestage. Think you'll never be interested in golf? or rambling? or bowls? Just wait a few years!
The silver lining comes from the fact that those who do play a sport in the 2000s are keener than ever on their chosen sport. It is the casual players who have disappeared from the market. The enthusiasts are as passionate as ever and, crucially for the sports trade, they are prepared to spend more on the necessary equipment or apparel for performing at a high level in order to maximise their enjoyment.
David Tucker is an experienced freelance researcher and writer for the sports and leisure industries.
Email dherbtucker@tiscali.co.uk
