Participation is the growth engine — Sport Industry Report 2025

The Sport Industry Report 2025 is produced by Sport Industry Group with Nielsen Sports. It blends expert essays with a dual survey of the UK sports public (n=1,006) and industry professionals (n=223) to track how the sector is evolving. Core themes include women’s sport, fan experience, technology, sustainability and the shifting investment landscape.

Why participation matters now: The report’s through-line is clear: growth will come from getting more people to do sport, not just watch it. Participation sits inside a wider funnel that stretches from everyday movement and wellness to digitally enabled entry points, with inclusive venues and smarter content tying it all together. Audiences are open to change—and policy and capital are converging where mass participation meets infrastructure and major events.

Ten participation takeaways from the Sport Industry Report

1. Participation is the primary growth lever. Consistent grassroots routes and clear pathways from first touch to elite are fundamental to durable engagement.

2. Alternative on-ramps work. Immersive experiences and simulations lower barriers where traditional participation is hard.

3. Broaden the definition. Wellness and everyday movement (e.g., aggregated activities like pilates/yoga/tai chi), plus dance and hiking, belong inside the participation funnel.

4. Gen Z is rewiring followership. Creator-led, interactive, participation-adjacent formats are potent acquisition channels.

5. Digital habits are gateways to action. Short-form consumption, second-screening and active use of fast platforms are now mainstream behaviours to convert into participation.

6. Design drives inclusion. “Equitable design” in venues increases who can safely and comfortably attend—and take part—by rethinking flows, access and basic provisions.

7. Blend physical and digital. New-builds and upgrades that connect on-site experiences with digital layers widen participation beyond seat count.

8. Content needs strategy—or it backfires. Engagement is valuable (engaged fans spend ~6× more), but without coherent content operations, output fragments instead of activating people.

9. Policy and capital favour mass participation. The biggest opportunities sit where participation, major events and infrastructure investment intersect.

10. Fans and insiders don’t always align. Preferences diverge between professionals and fans—programming must meet the public where it is, not where the industry assumes it is.