They Crave Soccer, Nix Pigskin Kids Report on Sports

Selling to Kids, August 18, 1999

When you combine America's obsession with sports and marketers' fascination with Gen Y, you get a whole new way of playing the game, according to Saatchi & Saatchi Kid Connection's recent survey of its Roving Reporters, 300 kids ages 8-15.

The survey showed that Gen Y's defining characteristics - optimism, confidence, techno-knowldege, and marketing and media savvy - have strongly influenced kids' attitudes toward sports. That includes their expectations of athletes, opinions on competition and winning, and ways of getting information on their favorite players and teams.

Roving Reporters have brought their optimism and confidence to the playing field. To them, playing sports is not about competition or winning; they're about being part of a team, practicing good sportsmanship and learning about commitment and hard work.

Shayna, 10, explains sports "teach you how to work with other people." And Jamie, 14, likes that sports let him "make good friends and be a team player." Robin, 8, agrees: "(Sports) can help you learn to be nice to others."

Fifteen-year-old Laura thinks "learning how to lose gracefully" is key to sports, or as Brent, 8, puts it: "You get to learn how to be a good sport." Raphael, 14, believes playing sports is about "dedication and working hard," while Molly, 12, likes that they teach you how to "be persistent and never give up." And Lilliana, 9, believes playing sports is about "having lots of fun!"

Soccer's Best, Football's Trashed

When asked to name their favorite sports, about three-quarters of the Roving Reporters pick soccer, with baseball or softball and basketball not far behind (about 60% each). Most favor these because they play them thmselves or find them easy to understand and play.

Campbell, 9, is a soccer fan "because I know all the different moves." Cathy, 12, likes basketball and softball "because they are fun to watch and I'm good at them." Sabrina, 8, likes baseball for an entirely different reason - "you don't have to do too much running." And Gabe, 14, likes basketball because "you don't have to wear heavy protection."

Their optimism and confidence may have influenced their perceptions of football, which the majority of respondents (about 70%) name as their least favorite sport because they think it's dangerous and unchallenging.

Says Nick, 14, "football is just a bunch of animals fighting over a small piece of pigskin to see who can kill the other person first." Or, as Tali, 11, puts it, "it's some fat guys belly-flopping on each other." Lucy, 13, believes football "doesn't take much skill," and Alan, 11, says "there's too much contact." And Dante, 13, says that in football, "you can barely see out of the helmet and you sweat too much."

But none of that matters to some kids. For example, Gar, 8, has a special system for deciding which sports he plays. "If I'm good at it, I do it and if I'm not, I don't."

Building the Perfect Athlete

The values that influence Gen Y's attitudes toward sports extend to their expectations of athletes. Most Roving Reporters think it's just as important for athletes to have good personalities and attitudes as it is for them to be skilled and physically fit.

For example, Jeremy, 10, thinks athletes should be "fast and strong," but also "smart." Bianca, 15, says they should demonstrate "kindness and confidence" in addition to "ability." Athletes must "have fun doing what they do" and "must show good sportsmanship," says Jared, 9. And Gillian, 8, also says "they should play well and be smart," and that they "can't be snobbish."

Numb to Spokesjocks

Given their marketing and media savviness, it's little surprise that Roving Reporters barely think twice about seeing their favorite athletes doing product endorsements. However, marketers should question how the desensitization to "spokesathletes" is influencing the effectiveness of their communication. Dean, 15, knows that "Michael Jordan and Mia Hamm are not (good athletes) because they drink Gatorade."

But Roving Reporters do expect athletes to help kids and support causes. Chandler, 8, says, they can "tell kids that drugs and violence are bad." Annie, 13, thinks they should "run sports camps and give stadium seats to kids who can't afford them." Eleven-year-old Megan says athletes and teams can "travel around to do talks and donate to charities."

Other kids think athletes should simply preach what they practice. For example, Andrew, 14, thinks, "they can tell kids that they too had trouble starting out but kept practicing to get better." And Carla, 8, suggests that they "tell kids that you need to play if you're part of team."

Not Numb to Stats

Another sign of the times: Roving Reporters love to go online in search of their favorite athlete's professional and personal vital statistics. Nick, 14, likes to know "how well they are doing and how much they get paid."

And Candace, 9, is interested in "when they started playing and things like their favorite colors and favorite athletes." And Jack, 12, logs on for "scores and stats" and likes to "listen in on fan club chat rooms."