- British Eventing reveals results of the largest audience insight ever undertaken in UK equestrian sport
- Eventing in the UK boasts a Net Promoter Score* higher than Netflix and the average for other sports in the UK
- Results highlight untapped commercial opportunities in eventing’s affluent and upmarket following.
Research conducted by data-driven sports marketing agency Two Circles around the eventing audience in Britain has unveiled huge opportunities for brands as British Eventing enters into “a new commercial era”, according to chief executive David Holmes.
The research – which saw Two Circles analyse over 850,000 pieces of audience data, including ticket purchasers and digital users – has created the most comprehensive market study ever of the eventing audience.
British Eventing is the national governing body for the sport of eventing in Great Britain; a sport described as ‘the ultimate equestrian challenge’ due to its unique combination of dressage, show jumping and cross country in one thrilling competition, appealing highly to the significant audience of 5.8m people in the UK who have an affinity to horses.
The research highlights a unique over-indexing in affluent demographics and further confirmed British Eventing’s predominately female market, making up 75% of their audience; furthermore 54% are from the most upmarket household classifications where trends include more rural living, higher rate of travel, owning more cars per household and spending more on high-quality electronics than the UK average.
Eventing also has one of the most loyal and passionate fanbases, who score their love for their sport as 8.7 out of 10, higher than the UK sport average, and have an average Net Promoter Score* of +62, which is above the NPS of Netflix. The full findings of the research – made public today in a report entitled A Commercial Content Guide to Eventing in the UK – can be downloaded here.
Now, as part of its new five-year commercial strategy, British Eventing is using this deep understanding of its audience to showcase the unique value its events, which include hosting two of the world’s three Grand Slam events, and media platforms can offer brands looking to target both international and domestic markets.
“Brands are increasingly demanding an in-depth understanding of their target audience when making sponsorship decisions,” said British Eventing chief executive David Holmes. “We are entering a new commercial era where we are looking to demonstrate greater value to our current partners and open up the sport to new brands; brands that are seeking new and unique content options targeted to a relevant audience, which makes this research – and its findings – critical.”
Jake Jones, lead consultant at Two Circles, added: “Eventing is a classic example of a sport that has a huge amount of hidden assets waiting to be uncovered. Now, armed with this new data-driven understanding of its audience, we are confident British Eventing is in a position to develop genuinely outstanding and measurable commercial opportunities for major brands.”
*Net Promoter Score measures the willingness of customers or fans to recommend an organisation’s products, services or events to others
–ENDS–
Download the infographic here.
For further information, contact:
Olivia Szajna
Marketing Manager, British Eventing
olivia.szajna@britisheventing.com
+44 2476 698862
Matt Cutler
Head of Communications, Two Circles
matt.cutler@insidetwocircles.com
+44 7957 184415
About British Eventing
British Eventing is the national governing body for the sport of eventing in Great Britain. Eventing is unique in equestrian sport by combining dressage, cross country jumping over fixed fences and show jumping in one exciting activity. It’s a sport that also engages all ages and has equal opportunities to compete. British Eventing regulates – as well as schedules – more than 180 events throughout Britain that cater for nearly 94,000 entries per season, and has more than 15,000 members from grassroots to highest international level.
About Two Circles
Two Circles is a WPP-owned, data-driven sports marketing agency that helps sports organisations grow relationships with their audiences and partners to drive commercial growth. Working with some of the biggest rights-holders in sport across the UK, North America and mainland Europe, the business helps its clients improve customer experience, increase revenue and enhance their partner proposition. In April 2017, for the second time in its six-year history, Two Circles was named Agency of the Year at the BT Sport Industry Awards.