At a time when media is spread across different platforms and services, sports remains one of the things that continues to pull people into traditional linear television — and increased viewership is largely thanks to younger fans who commit themselves to tuning in, according to a new report released this week.
The data is outlined in the latest installment of Hub Entertainment Research’s “Evolution of Sports — What’s the Score?” report, which found that fans under age 18 are about seven times more likely to say they are watching more sports on television than they were a year ago rather than less. That ratio is more than twice as high as among sports fans overall.
The increase appears to be driven more by interest than available time.
Among teens who said they are watching more sports, more than 2 in 5 attributed the change to stronger interest in sports generally or in a specific team or athlete. Fans ages 55 to 74 were more likely to say they were watching more because they had additional free time.
Younger fans are also consuming sports differently.
Hub found that 45 percent of sports 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.
Social platforms are also becoming part of live viewing. Among fans ages 13 to 34 who use social media during a live game, 62 percent said their second-screen activity is related to the game itself, compared with 33 percent of fans ages 55 to 74.
The difference is even larger among fans who post to social media during games. Sixty-five percent of younger fans said those posts concern the game they are watching, compared with 29 percent of older fans.
“One factor driving the success of sports today: younger fans are just more interested than the generation before them,” Hub Principal Jon Giegengack said in a statement. “But as with scripted content, their fandom is diffused across multiple kinds of media and content.”
Giegengack said sports companies need to account for viewers who may watch a game on TV, then continue following teams and athletes through YouTube, social media, group chats and live statistics throughout the week.
The findings are based on a July 2026 survey of 3,814 U.S. sports fans ages 13 to 74.
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