The growth of sport and esport in Thailand

Bangkok, Thailand, 24 June 2021 – As consumers get used to the new normal after living with COVID-19 for more than a year, sports viewers are becoming a scoring opportunity for brands and media owners. Since the comeback of live sport, fans are hungrier than ever for content. Today Nielsen revealed that in Thailand 84% of people have tuned into sport this year and over 20 million have headed out to a sporting match.

As audiences continue to grow, so does their appeal towards sponsoring brands. More than 60% of sport audiences not only recognise sponsor brands, but have positive perspectives towards the brand sponsors. What’s more impressive is, 65% of the audience agrees that brands that sponsor sport gain appeal with them. Meaning that the rapid recovery of sports presents a lucrative opportunity for those seeking both reach and brand engagement.

With the interest in sports remaining high it gives brands the opportunity to win hearts but they must speak to the right audience to do so. So who’s watching? The majority of Thai sports fans are upper-income males who reside in the Greater Bangkok area and generally prefer football, volleyball and badminton. Boxing captures more of lower income and rural living audiences, whereas women are more interested in volleyball. Interestingly, the main platform for watching sport is Television (74%), followed closely by Social Media (69%), where a cacophony of social platforms are used to obtain sport related information.

The average Thai ESports fan watches ESports  across multiple platforms, including  YouTube (77%), Twitch (48%), Facebook (16%), mixer (12%) and Garena (11%). Mobile is the device of choice with 88% of ESports Fans choosing to play and watch their favourite games. One-in-two ESports fans play games on their PC, while console gaming is least common (45%). Notably, gaming is important to ESports fans, where the average fan is spending eight hours each week. They also spend five hours a week watching ESports content.

As the number of entertainment options and media platforms increases, consistently attracting and engaging fans is becoming more and more challenging. The sports ecosystem often relies on subjective perceptions about fans, rights holders and brands instead of hard data to effectively analyse the relationship between fans and sponsorship. Runchita Srivoravilai, Director, Nielsen Thailand says, “Sport in Thailand is continuing to expand. That’s why it’s crucial that brands and sellers of media know where, how and what these consumers are viewing as a way to reach and maintain relationships with them.” This is where holistic consumer data tools become indispensable. 

Nielsen has changed the game by delivering integrated fan, brand and consumer behaviour data to provide the complete market view. Nielsen Fan Insights brings together a unique combination of data sources into a single, connected platform, delivering a comprehensive view into sports fans’ interests, media behaviour, brand attitudes and purchasing habits. This powerful platform provides rights holders, sponsors and event organisers insight into the true impact and effectiveness of their fan engagement activities.