Our Gaming Community Can’t Wait for MLB The Show 2023
Sign up below to stay up to date on the sports stories changing our industry:
Innovation in Action
The Gaming Community is the Newest Sports Fan
Next week, MLB The Show 23 is being released on multiple consoles, including those made by PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo. While we know holiday shopping is a big driver for video game sales, leagues often launch their official video game releases with the beginning of their respective seasons. The strategy makes sense to launch the games when the hype around the sport is potentially at its peak. But does that work with crossing over sports fans' and gamers’ spending habits towards both the leagues directly AND gaming companies?
Our data suggests about 77% of the people in our gaming community are also sports fans. Knowing this, we dove deeper to see how intertwined gaming and sports are becoming.
So, does the gaming community spend on sports while they're in-season?
The graph below compares when sports fans are actively spending on sports AND gaming companies during the same month. What we’re seeing is more of a crossover among the gaming community and sports fans.
*Our data comes from a random panel of 20 million credit & debit card holders in the United States from January 1, 2016 - February 23, 2023.
Major League Baseball is highlighted in this chart, and we notice two consistent annual peaks, during December and April. These peaks match up with the holidays and the start of baseball season/The Show’s release date.
Different sports have different peaks based on their season and potentially when their games are released. For example, the crossover of gaming & baseball spend as well as gaming & soccer spend peaks in April, the start of both seasons. The same crossover with basketball has peaks around the holidays (prime basketball season and holiday shopping) and a smaller peak in September, when 2k comes out. The fact that each of these leagues are increasing with the blend of fandom and gaming at the same pace tells us the age of the Fluid Fan is strong and growing.
Celebrate Women’s History Month With Us
We would like to highlight the month of March for being Women’s History Month. This month calls for a celebration of women across various fields who have contributed to notable events throughout history and society as a whole.
As highlighted on the Women’s History Month website, a new exhibition opened at the National Archives Museum called “All American: The Power of Sports.” This will draw light on stories and artifacts related to powerful women in the world of sports such as Billie Jean King, Wilma Rudolph, and Althea Gibson. This exhibit honoring women in sports will be free to the public until January 7, 2024.
Be sure to celebrate all of the women in your life this month, and every day after that. #WomensHistoryMonth
If you're ready to create breakthrough fan experiences and connect with the Fluid Fan through technology, visit our website sportsilab.com or email info@sportsilab.com! Sign up for our Most Innovative Membership by emailing membersonly@sportsilab.com or visiting mostinnovative.com!