Gen Z’s appetite for sports is colored by the impact of digital media, which is humanizing athletes, amplifying moments, and fracturing conventions. It’s made Gen Z sports fans knowledgeable and responsive to a world beyond sports, even if their attention is often split between screens as the games go on.

That was one message from Ad Age’s Gen Z Roundtable discussion of sports, held on July 31 and featuing three young sports marketing professionals—Amanda Hajjar, senior director of social strategy for Just Women’s Sports; Lucy Murrey, content and communications strategist for the National Research Group; and Sheridan Wilbur, digital editor-Olympics for Warner Bros. Discovery. They discussed how their generation consumes sports and what brands and marketers can learn from the group, which ranges in age from 12 to 27.

Following are six takeaways from the recent roundtable.

Olympic moments that hit

When asked to share their favorite moments (thus far) of the 2024 Games from Paris, panel participants cited a mix of inspiring performances and social media buzz. Egyptian fencer Nada Hafez revealed in an Instagram post that she had competed while seven months pregnant. “I think that was the most bad-ass thing of all time,” remarked Wilbur.

Hajjar said she was inspired by the U.S. rugby sevens’ bronze medal performance, punctuated by star Ilona Maher’s insider TikToks. “It was a great story that was huge for the sport … but what made it so monumental was off the field, with the athletes creating their own stories on TikTok and Instagram, taking us through the day-to-day life at the Olympic Village and showing how they interact with other Olympians,” Hajjar said.

Shaking up convention during the opening ceremony—particularly the controversial nod to Leonardo DaVinci’s “Last Supper”—also captured Gen Z’s attention. “The opening ceremony was a huge story across my social circles,” Murrey said. “Despite all the controversy, it was ripe for social conversation and got a lot of my friends excited to continue watching. It definitely brought a new lens and a new flavor to a very traditional show.”

Some ads also cut through the clutter, such as Nike’s expectation-defying  “Winning Isn’t for Everyone.”

“It definitely makes you look twice,” said Wilbur. “It appeals to the most intense sports fan and was a little refreshing in a media landscape where we’re really sensitive about everything we say. It was a little extreme, but it definitely makes a point.”

Shifting loyalties

Athletes’ roles in delivering personal content via their own social media channels is disrupting convention when it comes to fan loyalties, the panelists said.

“Rooting for a team is more traditional behavior; rooting for athletes is Gen Z—it reflects the fractured media environment we’re in,” said Murrey.

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“Just because they play for the Celtics doesn’t mean they’re from Boston, meaning we can root for them whether they play for the Celtics or in San Francisco,” added Wilbur. “Athletes or teams are almost two different ways of looking at a sport.”

Fans following athlete channels on social may get a different perspective once that player leaves their favorite team, causing loyalties to “branch off,” Hajjar said. “The voices that athletes have through social media has given a whole other level of consideration for the fan.”

Rooting on multiple screens

Around 77% of Gen Z sports fans multitask on their phones while watching a sporting event, said Hajjar, citing Just Women’s Sports. These fans are absorbing stories around the game such as statistics, how the communities on X or Reddit are reacting, how brands are participating and how the teams involved are playing it on social. “It’s a very multi-layered approach,” Hajjar said. “There’s always a social story happening behind the game and behind the stats that I think fans are really interested in.”

Murrey dismissed some streaming viewership metrics that have suggested Gen Z doesn’t engage with sports. “That’s a single metric that does nothing to encompass the wide range of ways that Gen Z engages with sports … it’s definitely social-first, phone-first and always ‘plus’—phone plus TV, phone plus tablet. It’s a multitude.”

Value in live events

Do Gen Z’s sports viewing habits have implications for live events? Maybe not directly, the panelists said. Gen Z fans want to go to live sports events but they expect to be entertained, and get value for their dollars.

The rising price of sports tickets could keep Gen Z away from the arena, with potential effects on crowds and ultimately performances, Wilbur said.

“I’ve seen how expensive the Olympics tickets are, and especially with athletics [track and field], people are worried that the stadium is going to be relatively empty because people don’t want to spend 400 euros on a ticket, which is a shame because the audience impacts the athletes … they rely on the spectators to come and bring the energy,” Wilbur said.

“I would say there’s an appetite there for live sports but it’s becoming less accessible,” agreed Murrey. “The amount of money it costs to get a ticket, the transportation costs, all of the tack-ons that go into attending something live, as opposed to just watching something on your screen.”

Delivering on the value that Gen Z sports fans expect is more than affordable tickets but also an “experience” Murrey said.

“There has to be that cultural component—a lot of entertainment, a larger package around it—to  make it seem really worth the value. I think a lot of fans crave [live sports] more than they know, but it’s making sure the value is there.”

Sports and entertainment are converging

For many Gen Z sports fans, properties like music and fashion are an entry point to sports, panelists said, noting how Celine Dion’s appearance at the Olympic opening ceremony, Travis Scott showing up at an Iowa basketball game or the Kelce brothers’ podcast (with an assist from Taylor Swift) are all delivering new fans to sports.

“Celine Dion at the Olympic opening ceremony was very compelling,” Murrey said. “That type of audio engagement, or the nexus point between streaming and other forms of entertainment, can pull on those emotional heartstrings that invite other types of fans to engage.”

Entertainment about sports is also part of the world of the Gen Z fan. These include documentaries such as Netflix’s “Formula 1: Drive to Survive” or “Tour de France: Unchained” that give fans the behind-the-scenes content they crave while building emotional connections to the athletes, coaches and executives featured.

“It can build hype and have spectators invest in a sport that otherwise is for a niche audience,” Wilbur said. “The ‘Unchained’ Tour de France documentary created a lot of new cycling fans, and when you’re following these athlete storylines you want to see them do well because you have this emotional connection to them.”

Appetite for women’s sports

A noted area where Gen Z is leading the evolution of sports is in its support of women’s competition. Panelists ascribed the growth in women’s sports to more media coverage, more investment and greater accessibility; for example, developing women’s sporting equipment.

“Many of us have memories of going to the boys’ section and getting basketball sneakers, and not having our own sizing and section that the boys did,” Hajjar said. “To me, coverage and accessibility have been putting [women’s sports] in faces earlier on in girls’ lives, and that’s allowed for this uptick.”

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Women’s sports growth is a factor of supply meeting demand, said Murrey. A recent study by National Research Group showed that one-third of all sports fans have started following a completely new sport in recent years. “Obviously this increased investment and increased content and diversification of channels has allowed for a lot of new types of sports fans, who resonate with new types of sports,” Murrey said.

For more on Gen Z and sports, watch the full conversation below.