A survey sample done over the last two weeks, shows that Jamaicans’ favorite female sport is track and field. While that is no surprise, the same sample said they wanted more netball to watch, whether on television or online.
A Neilsen report summarised that women’s sport will grow globally. The report said, “from equal pay agreements to amazing comeback stories, record audiences and new media deals, women’s sports are in the spotlight now more than ever. While they often don’t receive the same level of attention as men’s sports, a new Nielsen Sports research project highlights untapped potential and new commercial opportunities for rights holders, brands and media.
The survey was done across eight key markets around the world (U.S., U.K, France, Italy, Germany, Spain, Australia and New Zealand) and found that 84% of sports fans are interested in women’s sports. Of those, 51% are male, which confirms that women’s sports engage a gender-balanced audience.
In recent times, the Sunshine Girls’ competitions have become more accessible to the national audience, but the respondents still want more. The same audience would still want to see more track and field, with football showing up in the runnings.
The sample of those surveyed were dominated by females and they were noted to be in the 41 years of age category and above.
The survey also highlighted that Jamaican sports fans are consuming sports on multiple platforms to still include newspapers. An overwhelming 61.5 per cent of the sample use traditional and online sources for sport.
Television Jamaica has been identified as the number one source for sport on television by almost half of the sample. Important to note that almost 4 of 10 have other sources.
The average consumption per event is up to three hours.
Jamaica’s women will have, over the next four years, international competitions in football, cricket, track and field, and the netball world championships in 2027. In the next survey update, we will find out who are the favorite female athletes in Jamaica. The group also shared what more should be done to enhance the support for women’s sport in Jamaica.
The survey sample was taken from tertiary level students, marketers, researchers and sport administrators, based in Jamaica.
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