Fans are the heart of any sports club or brand, and you must ensure fan engagement is done right. Discover how to increase fan engagement in sports with these best practices and fan engagement strategies.

Fan engagement should be a top priority for sports clubs and brands, given that it can improve ticket sales and brand reputation. Learn what fan engagement in sports is, why it’s beneficial, and eight fan engagement strategies you can use.

From Fans to Family: How to Increase Fan Engagement in Sports

We've explored the main recent reports dedicated to the sports industry and found the most relevant insights, figures, and trends on viewership, communication, and fandom formation.

Discover the main digital trends in sports viewership, coverage and fandom engagement 2025 based on the most significant industrial reports. 

Main Trends in Sports Coverage, Viewership, and Fandoms 2025

<div style="font-size:14px;line-height:1;" id="toc">On this page&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="#rise-of-digital-sports">Rise of digital sports streaming and personalised fan engagement</a>&nbsp;<a href="#new-economics">New economics of streaming services</a>&nbsp;<a href="#fandom-evolution">Fandom evolution: athlete-driven engagement</a>&nbsp;<a href="#fan-ownership-models">Fan Ownership Models and Blockchain in Sports</a>&nbsp;<a href="#role-of-ai-in-sports-coverage">The role of AI and data analytics in sports coverage</a>&nbsp;<a href="#get-in-touch">Get in touch</a>&nbsp;<hr style="margin-bottom:0.8vw;">If we avoid naming trends like “using AI, datafication, women sports growth” but find the particular changes and numbers, what we see:<h2 id="rise-of-digital-sports">Rise of digital sports streaming and personalised fan engagement</h2><ol><li data-list="bullet">27% of sports fans watch TV sports channels weekly, while 23% stream online</li><li data-list="bullet">Millennials (57%) are the most likely to pay for a sports subscription service, followed by Gen Zers (53%) and Xers (40%).</li><li data-list="bullet">Sports streaming on Amazon Prime has increased by 59% since 2021, signalling the growing importance of digital-first sports experiences.</li></ol><h2 id="new-economics">New economics of streaming services</h2>While the shift to sports streaming services opens new revenue streams, sports media faces challenges, including subscription fatigue and a fragmented landscape. Churn rates among sports subscribers are high, prompting companies to explore bundling streaming services (e.g., Disney+ and Hulu Sports). Moreover, younger fans increasingly rely on algorithm-driven sports content for their sports news updates, raising questions about whether they will commit to paid sports streaming subscriptions.To counteract these challenges, sports leagues and sports teams are prioritising data-driven fan engagement and personalised marketing to drive loyalty:<ol><li data-list="bullet">The NFL fan database has centralised over 20 million sports fans to streamline outreach.</li><li data-list="bullet">Major League Baseball (MLB fan engagement) uses fan data to enhance the stadium experience, offering personalised promotions and real-time notifications.</li><li data-list="bullet">68% of consumers say sports personalisation significantly increases their brand satisfaction.</li></ol><figure class="image" style="margin-bottom:1vw;"><img style="aspect-ratio:1098/744;" src="https://cdn.eu.watchers.io/89c7480c-144e-4769-ae05-14a7a6d165e2.png" width="1098" height="744"></figure><a style="background-color:transparent;color:rgb(17, 85, 204);" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.pwc.co.uk/hospitality-leisure/documents/global-sports-survey-2024.pdf">PWC</a> formed the key insights from Women Super League fans and England women’s football fans:&nbsp;<ol><li data-list="bullet">The most popular sports are football, boxing and cricket.</li><li data-list="bullet">14% of the audience are gamers.</li><li data-list="bullet">Greater affinity for premium brands such as John Lewis.</li><li data-list="bullet">Betting and gambling are of high interest to both audiences.</li><li data-list="bullet">Sizeable opportunity for rights holders, fans and brands.</li><li data-list="bullet">65% of WSL club fans are male.</li><li data-list="bullet">10% of the audience is interested in sustainability, human rights and climate.</li></ol><h2 id="fandom-evolution">Fandom evolution: athlete-driven engagement</h2>Sports fandom is evolving beyond team loyalty, with younger audiences increasingly drawn to individual athletes and their personal brands. This is particularly pronounced in women’s sports, which continues to gain momentum:<ol><li data-list="bullet">The 2025 Women’s Euros and the Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025 are expected to drive record-breaking engagement.</li><li data-list="bullet">Rising stars like Caitlin Clark and Leah Williamson are spearheading a surge in women’s sports viewership, attracting new fans.</li><li data-list="bullet">Industry leaders identify women’s sports growth as the top sports investment opportunity.</li></ol><figure class="image" style="margin-bottom:1vw;"><img style="aspect-ratio:1870/1290;" src="https://cdn.eu.watchers.io/39f3153b-9c73-4028-90fa-3dafb649891f.png" width="1870" height="1290"></figure><a style="background-color:transparent;color:rgb(17, 85, 204);" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://sporsora.com/etudes/1451-2024-global-sports-survey/file">In Europe, only around two-thirds of followers</a> of top football leagues regularly watch live games, which presents both a threat and an opportunity to grow viewership and provides other ways to interact with favourite sports and teams.A fifth of fans,&nbsp;studied by Media Culture, are fans because of the communities they want to be part of, but just because they support the team. The social aspect and necessary feeling of belonging is bonding fans and their passion, giving them more joy. That’s why when fans are gathering from different countries to support the same team, they crucially need to have a way to communicate with each other and perform their communicativeness. One of the best examples of this is La Liga, which gathers fans worldwide through its League community-building app.<h2 id="fan-ownership-models">Fan Ownership Models and Blockchain in Sports</h2>Another emerging trend is the rise of fan-owned sports clubs, which give supporters a stake in their favourite teams. Actually, this highlights the importance of fan communities because nowadays they literally rule sports.This movement is part of a more significant sports decentralisation trend:<ol><li data-list="bullet">The German Bundesliga’s 50+1 rule ensures fan-majority ownership, fostering strong community-driven sports organisations.</li><li data-list="bullet">Clubs like AFC Wimbledon and Real Oviedo allow fans to influence sports team decisions, from jersey designs to charity partnerships.</li><li data-list="bullet">Blockchain-based fan tokens (e.g., Socios.com fan tokens) enable interactive fan engagement, provide financial support for clubs, and increase fan loyalty.</li></ol><h2 id="role-of-ai-in-sports-coverage">The role of AI and data analytics in sports coverage</h2>Generative AI in sports and sports analytics are set to revolutionise sports media, impacting everything from sports content creation to fan engagement:<ol><li data-list="bullet">AI-driven sports personalisation is helping sports leagues tailor sports recommendations, making sports coverage more immersive.</li><li data-list="bullet">Predictive sports analytics enhance sports betting, player performance analysis, and fan behaviour insights.</li><li data-list="bullet">AI-generated sports commentary and automated sports highlights make real-time sports coverage more dynamic and cost-effective.</li></ol>Looking ahead, the sports industry trends in 2025 will need to balance innovation with accessibility. As sports streaming services and digital-first sports content dominate, sports leagues must ensure that sports fans across generations can affordably engage with sports media. Meanwhile, emerging sports technologies and fan-driven sports innovations will continue to shape the future of sports consumption, making 2025 a defining year for watching sports online, interacting with, and supporting people's favourite teams and athletes.<hr><h2 id="get-in-touch">Get in Touch</h2>If you want to grow engagement, build strong fan communities, or provide live streaming in your sports app with influencers and athletes as hosts, please&nbsp;<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://calendly.com/watchers-platform/social-tools-for-your">book a call</a> with Watchers team. We will help you find the best strategy to grow fan engagement.&nbsp;Sources:<ol><li data-list="bullet"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://sporsora.com/etudes/1451-2024-global-sports-survey/file">sporsora.com</a></li><li data-list="bullet"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/insights/industry/technology/technology-media-telecom-outlooks.html">deloitte.com</a></li><li data-list="bullet"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.gwi.com/blog/sports-viewership-trends">gwi.com</a></li><li data-list="bullet"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/retail/our-insights/sporting-goods-industry-trends">mckinsey.com</a></li><li data-list="bullet"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.mediaculture.com/insights/the-psychology-of-fandom-what-drives-sports-fans">mediaculture.com</a></li><li data-list="bullet"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.pwc.co.uk/hospitality-leisure/documents/global-sports-survey-2024.pdf">pwc.co.uk</a></li><li data-list="bullet"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.broadcastnow.co.uk/tech-innovation/comment-five-trends-that-will-drive-sport-content-in-2025/5200232.article">broadcastnow.co.uk</a></li></ol></div>

Discover how building in-app fitness communities boosts retention and user engagement for workout apps. Learn from top industry examples.

Any app has a big goal: to retain users. If your users try your app and never return, no other big goal will work. Each app has its own mission. For health apps, the mission is to help users stay active and healthy. If users don’t return after trying

Why do fitness and workout apps so crucially need in-app communities?

<div style="font-size:18px;line-height:1;" id="toc">Table of Contents<div style="font-size:14px;line-height:1;" id="toc"><a href="#motivation-gap">The Motivation Gap: What Fitness Apps Lack</a><a href="#Hyper-Socialisation">Hyper-Socialisation: A Natural Fitness Trend</a><a href="#app-features-that-drive-retention">Fitness Communities: App Features that Drive Retention</a><a href="#win-win-of-community">The Win-Win of Community Building in Fitness Apps</a><a href="#get-in-touch">Get in Touch</a><hr>Any app has a big goal: to retain users. If your users try your app and never return, no other major goal will be achieved. Each app has its own mission. For health apps, the mission is to help users stay active and healthy. If users don’t return after trying your app, your mission has failed, as have their goals of becoming healthy with your help.A study by Endeavour Partners reported that more than 70% of health app users stop using the app in two weeks or less. This indicates that only a small percentage of users successfully build a habit with well-being apps, often losing motivation and failing to achieve their goals. This is not the users’ fault—it’s a problem with the app’s development. However, it becomes the users' problem because if an app fails to engage them, they may lose interest in pursuing healthy habits altogether.<figure class="image" style="margin-bottom:1vw;"><img style="aspect-ratio:1982/1310;" src="https://cdn.eu.watchers.io/fcde8167-a15f-48de-83f0-a01cccf7f393.webp" width="1982" height="1310"></figure><h2 id="motivation-gap">The Motivation Gap: What Fitness Apps Lack</h2>Why does this happen? What discourages users, and what are fitness apps missing? The answer often lies in a lack of motivation and a sense of community.People who give up on health and sports apps need more than an internal drive to improve—they need external motivation. This is especially important for digital products that are easy to postpone or ignore.<h2 id="Hyper-Socialisation">Hyper-Socialisation: A Natural Fitness Trend</h2>Experts are now discussing hyper-socialisation, similar to the hyper-personalisation trend we discussed in<a style="background-color:transparent;color:rgb(0, 0, 0);" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://watchers.io/post/main-trends-tech-communication-entertainment-2025"> </a><a style="background-color:transparent;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://watchers.io/post/main-trends-tech-communication-entertainment-2025">our recent article</a>. Hyper-socialisation means that being part of a community is no longer a bonus—it’s a necessity.Users now want to socialise while gaming, cooking, trading, or watching football. Since the beginning, sports and training have been social activities, with gyms serving as places for communication, opinion-sharing, and showing off. You can make friends or rivals, admire local stars, or share tips on staying in shape.During the pandemic, many people switched to home workouts, and although this change offered time and cost savings, it didn’t eliminate the need for socialisation. We still want to share our progress, ask for advice, receive support, and compare results. Hyper-socialisation isn’t just a digital trend—it’s a natural human behaviour.<figure class="image" style="margin-bottom:1vw;"><img style="aspect-ratio:2062/1362;" src="https://cdn.eu.watchers.io/58784efb-9660-43e2-ba1a-1d0a17aa9a84.webp" width="2062" height="1362"></figure><h2 id="app-features-that-drive-retention">Fitness Communities: App Features that Drive Retention</h2>Let’s look at some features that help build in-app fitness communities, along with examples of apps that use them to drive retention and user satisfaction:Fitocracy transforms workouts into a social game, allowing members to track their progress, follow others’ progress, complete challenges, and earn badges. This basic gamification works because it motivates users to stay active, contributing to both personal growth and app engagement.ChallengeRunner leverages people’s competitive spirit by offering competitions and challenges. Users earn badges that increase their motivation and help them stick to their workout routines—and the app itself.Strava is a popular tracking and community platform for sports enthusiasts. It emphasises community as a core feature, enabling users to share activities, comment on others' posts, and join group activities.Myzone awards points based on calorie burn to indicate progress. Users can also share their metrics and photos, creating a social ecosystem that aims to replace Facebook and Instagram fitness communities.<figure class="image" style="margin-bottom:1vw;"><img style="aspect-ratio:872/1262;" src="https://cdn.eu.watchers.io/ffce3b1b-38cb-4d8a-afcf-616718ade5fb.webp" width="872" height="1262"></figure>Zwift showcases user stories about milestone achievements. Users can set goals, and the community can follow their progress. This inspires both achievers and others who haven’t yet set goals to get started.Peloton allows official trainers to host live classes, engage with users, provide feedback, and build influencer-style communities within the app.<h2 id="win-win-of-community">The Win-Win of Community Building in Fitness Apps</h2>Building a community within a fitness app is a win-win solution—the app benefits from improved retention, lifetime value (LTV), and other key metrics. Users gain motivation and encouragement, recognition from their peers, and the chance to become influencers themselves. They also receive the support they need to achieve their goals more easily and enjoyably—without relying solely on self-discipline.<hr style="margin-bottom:1vw;"><h2 id="get-in-touch">Get in Touch</h2>Please <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://calendly.com/watchers-platform/social-tools-for-your?month=2025-08">book a call</a> if you'd like to integrate community-based live chat or other social tools into your website or app. We will help you find the best solution for your engagement strategy.</div></div>

FIFA Pro and Matrix Threat provided the last report on how they protected female athletes from online abuse during the Women’s World Cup. This report showed many significant conclusions and one big gap.

AI moderation tools work differently for integrated chat solutions and traditional social media. Which experience is more successful? 

The ways AI tools protect social media users and sports fans… If they really do that

Sports organisations' approaches to protecting athletes with or without participation of social media platformsTwo years ago, FIFA and FIFA Pro presented the AI tool to protect players on social media after the European final between the UK and Italian national teams, which was full of&nbsp;abuse issues. This&nbsp;tool works as an integrated solution that athletes or clubs can turn on and link to&nbsp;their accounts on the leading social media platforms. All comments and posts with tags to this account that can be perceived as abusive or hateful will be hidden and reported, and the information on&nbsp;the author’s account will be gathered to de-anonymise them.FIFA uses this tool during significant international events. After two years, it’s possible to compare results and the level of&nbsp;discrimination during male and female football tournaments and make common conclusions on what is happening in sports communities on social media and how the social media platforms react to the reported issues.<figure class="image"><img style="aspect-ratio:2416/1606;" src="https://cdn.eu.watchers.io/cfeef98d-a832-44af-917e-4fac77aa665a.png" width="2416" height="1606"></figure>©FIFAAccording to the last reports after the Women’s World Cup 2023 and its compartments with&nbsp;World Cup 2022, the level of&nbsp;discrimination, abuse and hate speech is higher for female tournaments than male ones.<blockquote>“0.14% of posts and comments captured for analysis during the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 by the monitoring system were confirmed to be abusive (7k out of&nbsp;5.1m). 0.10% of&nbsp;captured posts and comments during FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 were confirmed to&nbsp;be abusive (19k out of&nbsp;20m).“</blockquote>Also, the types of hate speech have changed. If during the World Cup Qatar, the most popular hateful comments were linked to racism, the most popular types of abusive comments during the Women's tournament are sexism and homophobia. The report even shows separate graphs for different countries, so we can see that haters worldwide find their own reasons to hate. All of&nbsp;this information is useful and significant, and this system can help athletes and other sports representatives avoid direct hate speech. However, we should remember that there is much more hate on social media outside&nbsp;official accounts, and authors of such comments do not so often tag the persons they address. So, while protecting just athletes’ and teams’ accounts, we don’t protect users, fans, families and friends of these athletes, as well as the unofficial accounts of these people.This latest report highlights a crucial point: X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram could ignore half of the reports until moderators intervened directly.&nbsp;<blockquote>“X has by far the highest volume of dentified, targeted discriminatory, abusive or threatening content, with initial takedown rates of&nbsp;39%. Where there was additional escalation to X after failure to act on immediate automated reporting, a takedown rate of over 95% was recorded—highlighting the value of&nbsp;direct platform engagement. The ability to escalate was not made available by all platforms.”</blockquote>Abusive comments on social media are a pervasive issue for various sports organisations. To tackle this problem, the French Tennis Federation (FFT) offered free access to the Bodyguard AI social media monitoring software during the Roland Garros tennis Grand Slam tournament. Similar to the FIFA tool, participants in the tournament could use this tool to moderate comments in real time. It also analysed responses in less than 200 milliseconds.<h2>What can you do to protect your audience?</h2>While AI-powered moderation tools are impressive, we must acknowledge that they only treat the symptoms of online harassment, not the underlying problem. Organisations have taken steps towards a solution by launching investigations and penalising those responsible for cyberbullying. Still, this approach is impractical for regular users who simply want to follow sports media accounts or engage with other fans.So, problems that are not solved:<ol><li data-list="bullet">If it is not a team's or player's official account, protection doesn’t work.</li><li data-list="bullet">Regular users are not protected.</li><li data-list="bullet">Social media platforms themselves do not participate in the process of protection.</li></ol>Because we provide public community chats, we see the importance of fast and furious moderation tools for all participants. We are developing tools that can detect all abusive and hateful comments and messages, regardless of who or for whom they were intended. We have three ML models, each more suitable for different cases. These tools can recognise various languages and check every message based on the particular language dictionary.Also, Watchers AI tools can be set to a specific topic of messages, because chats about horror movies and sports betting should be moderated differently. Our models aim to determine the optimal approach for each type of chat. Partners can also set the model's strictness level, depending on the particular platform’s policy or the average age of the users.So, abuse issues can be addressed in separate social media spaces, but what about the gigantic social media platforms? Will the number of such cases be increasing from tournament to tournament, from day to day? Will see.***<a style="background-color:transparent;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://watchers.io/form">Connect with</a> us to discuss real-time AI-powered moderation that protects your users and viewers, and builds a trusted and healthy space for them in live public and private chats.

Let's look at female sports coverage, and what records and problems are observed in the industry.

What is going on with the coverage of female sports, what new platforms appeared in 2023 for women's sports broadcasting, and what problems in the industry are still waiting to be solved

Anatomy of a rise: What’s going on with female sports broadcasting

<div style="font-size:14px;line-height:1;" id="toc">On this page&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="#look-at-numbers">Let’s look at numbers</a>&nbsp;<a href="#problems-to-solve">Problems to solve</a>&nbsp;<a href="#new-possibilities">New possibilities</a>&nbsp;<a href="#get-in-touch">Get in touch</a>&nbsp;<hr style="margin-bottom:1vw;">In 2022, we published <a style="background-color:transparent;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://watchers.io/post/how-do-women-watch-sports">an article about women's sports and how difficult it was to find where to watch them</a>. Two years have passed, and now we can say that female sports broadcasting has broken records.What particular tournaments are the most popular? What platforms cover these games? Is it really so easy now to watch female sports, or are many problems still waiting for a solution?<h2 id="look-at-numbers">Let’s look at numbers</h2>Wasserman’s report shared that traditionally, before 2019, women’s sports coverage contained not more than 3-5%. In 2019, it increased by 5%. However, the full analysis of 2022 showed a threefold increase, so coverage of female sports through media (including linear TV, video streaming, and social media) was 15% and continued to grow. But we should remember that there were no significant changes in linear TV coverage, and this common growth was provided by streaming platforms and social media that are more flexible to trends than solid and clumsy traditional television.In the USA, women’s basketball is the best-covered female sport, followed by football, tennis, and softball.<figure class="image"><img style="aspect-ratio:1354/1420;" src="https://cdn.eu.watchers.io/1df1d30f-b0c2-4b53-b4c2-c9fdc1e0af27.png" width="1354" height="1420"><figcaption>Nike continues to celebrate both female and male sports and athletes equally. &nbsp;</figcaption></figure>Women’s college volleyball also received huge numbers. The match was streamed on Fox and attracted 1.66 million viewers.The Women's European Football Championship final gathered more than 450 million interactions on social media worldwide and the highest viewing figures on television In Germany in 2022.In 2023, the NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship, broadcast by ESPN, attracted nearly 10 million viewers per game.In 2023, Women's esports tournaments received 28 million hours of viewing, 15% more than a year earlier. Online viewing peaks showed wild growth, increasing from 392.4K to 1.37M viewers. These numbers were set at the final of the 32nd SEA Games Women's Tournament for Mobile Legends, where Bang Bang, Indonesian, and Philippine teams competed.The National Research Group and Ampere Analysis report said that 39% of Gen Zers watch more female sports than they used to.We provided just examples. You can check reports for the last two years and find booms in the popularity of female sports. Interest in them is growing, which influences offers, and the whole industry is starting to bloom. However…<h2 id="problems-to-solve">Problems to solve</h2>However, coverage and an enormous amount of hours don’t mean equality because when male tournaments get prime time slots, female games often go to daytime or nighttime, if we talk about linear TV. Sometimes, it turns up with wins, as in the situation with the NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship, broadcast by ESPN, the results of which we shared above. ESPN refused to give primetime for this tournament, and the daytime slot on Sundays became extremely watchable with enormous numbers of viewers. However, such a programming approach can create a boundary between games and viewers.Female sports receive more coverage, but not less objectification and sexism directed at women athletes. How does it come out? Through commenting about dresses, spouses, appearances, and chosen camera angles. This attitude was evident in comparison to the Football awards: commentators talked a lot about dresses and looks while female athletes were being awarded, and about sports and competitions while men were on the scene.Also, female athletes are not so visible in sports media despite their huge success. Of course, significant brands partner with athletes, and you can find some of them in ads. They develop their personal brands on social media, but on the one hand, their presence on visible media is much less than that of male athletes. On the other hand, even those athletes who are presented mostly belong to what are called classic feminine athletes, while women who look and behave less traditionally are almost invisible in the wider media.<figure class="image" style="margin-bottom:1vw;"><img style="aspect-ratio:1196/1510;" src="https://cdn.eu.watchers.io/f956cdb8-c806-475b-bec1-dbb901e79dcf.png" width="1196" height="1510"><figcaption>©Just Women's Sports Instagram account</figcaption></figure>National Research Group and Ampere Analysis found that broadcast networks in the USA spent 0.2% of media-rights budgets on female-only sports events, which returns us to the previous problem. Traditional media, even if they broadcast and cover female tournaments, are still not fully ready to invest in their development and promotion as they do with male sports.<h2 id="new-possibilities">New possibilities</h2>Over the last two years, several promising platforms with female sports content have been launched. Firstly, there is the Women’s Sports Network, the first-ever video platform focusing on female athletes. It offers 24/7 streaming of programming, competitions, documentaries, and other content covering female sports. What’s important is that it is available for free on such services as Freevee by Amazon, Tubi by Fox, FuboTV, and different Smart TVs.The women's European Championship final in Germany was watched by more people than the men's national team matches during the World Cup in Qatar, highlighted Haruka Gruber, Senior Vice President Media DACH at sports streaming channel DAZN, when DAZN launched DAZN Rise, a free platform that broadcasts female sports 24/7.Companies realised that women's sports weren’t as watched as they could be, not because of the lack of interest but because of the absence of opportunities. So, if one of the main problems is going to be solved, maybe others, such as a safe online space, coverage on traditional media, and wide sponsorship, will not stay with us for long.<h2>Get in touch</h2>If you want to enhance broadcasting with real-time communication, using second screens, live chats, polls, and other community-building tools,&nbsp;<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://watchers.io/form">connect with us</a>. We will help you&nbsp;find the most suitable solution.<hr style="margin-bottom:1vw;">Sources:32nd SEA Games - Women's Tournament/ Statistics | <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://escharts.com/tournaments/mobile-legends/32nd-sea-games-womens-tournament">Esports Charts</a>Objectification in Sport Media: Influences on a Future Women’s Sporting Event | <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/317240106_Objectification_in_Sport_Media_Influences_on_a_Future_Women%27s_Sporting_Event">International Journal of Sport Communication</a>More U.S. fans paying attention to women's sports, but large gap still exists | <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Daily/Issues/2022/10/26/Sports-in-Society/Female-sports.aspx&nbsp;">Sports Business Journal</a>New study: Women's sports comprise 15% of sports media coverage | <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.teamwass.com/news/new-study-womens-sports-comprise-15-of-sports-media-coverage/">Wasserman</a></div>

How the accelerator powered by AWS Startup Loft Accelerator finished.

Watchers’ CEO Yana Barden participated in the final event of the AI Bootcamp for Female Founders and presented our solution among 17 inspiring startups.

AI Sports Assistant: the feature we presented on the final AI Bootcamp for Female Founders

Last Tuesday, Watchers’ CEO Yana Barden participated in the final event of the AI Bootcamp for Female Founders and presented our solution among 17 inspiring startups.In the final demo, we presented our new feature based on AI. If we used AI earlier to provide health space for final users, providing a moderation system based on AI tools, we now create content with the help of this technology. Our AI Sports Assistant is a marvellous source of knowledge for all sports fans. These tools can be added to our integrated chats and be a useful interlocutor for all users. They can conveniently get checked clear information about athletes, teams, and sports in general and always have this assistant for smart and immersed conversations.We are in the first steps of developing the tool, but we know it can be a crucial and killer feature for our partners and get levelled up for the platforms.

Why is the Premier League the most popular football league worldwide? What are the best games in history according to their fans? And what emoji do they use to describe their matches in the best way? Read our small but strong study!

Emojis, speed and colonialism. Why do people like the Premier League, and just how much do they like it?

<div style="font-size:14px;line-height:1;" id="toc">On this page&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="#speed-and-elegance">Speed and Spectacular Elegance</a>&nbsp;<a href="#marketing-that-drives">Marketing That Drives</a>&nbsp;<a href="#language-and-commentators">Familiar Language and Commentators</a>&nbsp;<a href="#it-s-all-in-thrill">It’s All in the Thrill</a>&nbsp;<a href="#how-do-we-watch">But How Do We Watch Its Matches?</a>&nbsp;<a href="#emoji-bonus">Emoji Bonus</a>&nbsp;<hr style="margin-bottom:1vw;">It’s the beginning of August, so the new Premier League season has begun. We won’t be sharing transfer news or predicting which team will prevail at the end of this season. We would like to share some ideas about viewers’ moods as they wait for the coming season, how often they (we! you!) are ready to watch matches, and which matches from previous seasons viewers cherish in their hearts.We’ll also share fans’ explanations of why the English Premier League is, simply put, the most popular league on the planet.<figure class="image" style="margin-bottom:1vw;"><img style="aspect-ratio:1348/896;" src="https://cdn.eu.watchers.io/16b27066-30ab-428a-8779-a34161e00348.png" width="1348" height="896"><figcaption>&nbsp;by GettyImages</figcaption></figure>According to a plethora of reports—and&nbsp;<a style="color:inherit;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://buzzmyvideos.com/en/the-european-football-youtube-report-2022/">here</a>&nbsp;we have one of the freshest of them—the English Premier League is the most closely watched European football league. Some reports claim that the Premier League is the most popular worldwide, not only in Europe.We would never argue with this, but we’ve decided to find out why this is so. We visited trends on Reddit and Quora and didn’t even have to ask because people had been discussing this topic themselves for the last several years. Reviewing many trends and conversations, we saw that they could easily be divided into four groups/reasons why people preferred the English Premier League, according to the fans themselves.<h2 id="speed-and-elegance">Speed ​​and Spectacular Elegance</h2>A popular opinion is also that football's speed and entertainment value attract spectators in the English Premier League. The Italians and Germans have tactics. But with the Premier League, we have fires and hurricanes. Those who support this theory discuss tactics across all of football but remain strangely silent about the reasons why the Premier League bypasses Spanish or, for example, South American football in terms of entertainment value.<blockquote>First, because they are really good to watch. Fast. Energetic. Skilful. Goals. Second, many people watch them. It allows for easier connection with others who like football. (<a style="color:inherit;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.reddit.com/user/teetoose/">teetoose</a>&nbsp;on Reddit)</blockquote><blockquote>But the element that makes the difference between Premier League and La Liga, for example, is passion. Any mid or low table team in the Premier League, such as Brentford, Crystal Palace or Leeds, can be exciting to follow. Even if a team is poor on field, there is all this captivating drama surrounding the club. You cannot say the same about Almeria or Girona (no disrespect)&nbsp;(<a style="color:inherit;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.reddit.com/user/craciunc93/">craciunc93</a>&nbsp;on Reddit)</blockquote><blockquote>Because it's the best quality soccer. (<a style="color:inherit;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.reddit.com/user/cheetah-21/">cheetah-21</a>&nbsp;on Reddit)</blockquote><h2 id="marketing-that-drives">Marketing That Drives</h2>Where would we be without marketing? Many viewers are convinced that the amount of money the Premier League spends on promotion and the quality of its advertising makes the world watch their games.<blockquote>Money. Premier League spent ridiculous amounts early on marketing and selling the league all over the world. Now it doesn’t need to so much because it's so big worldwide, it just markets itself.&nbsp;(<a style="color:inherit;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.reddit.com/user/ChrisGadge/">ChrisGadge</a>&nbsp;on Quora)</blockquote><h2 id="language-and-commentators">Familiar Language and Commentators</h2>A logical assumption is the theory that the English premiere is watched worldwide because…well…because it’s presented in English. We can understand commentators and follow the news no matter where we are in the world. Many Americans are fond of this idea and follow English football because it’s much easier than French football, for instance. But fans from across the whole world agree on this point. Many of them add that the Premier League unites players from around the globe, while in other national leagues, most players are local.<figure class="image" style="margin-bottom:1vw;"><img style="aspect-ratio:2564/1444;" src="https://cdn.eu.watchers.io/cbeaa4c7-81b4-4f78-b732-0e570b5919e8.png" width="2564" height="1444"><figcaption>Photo: John Walton/EMPICS Sport | by Getty Images</figcaption></figure>To boot, many fans agree that commentators make it worth watching English football, although here, the details fans provide differ—and interestingly, by a whole 180 degrees. Some claim that English commentators are calm and measured, and others say that they brighten up even boring matches with their emotions.<blockquote>I firmly believe it's because of the English language and how widely it is spoken and understood throughout the world.&nbsp;(<a style="color:inherit;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.reddit.com/user/Ok_Giraffe6654/">Ok_Giraffe6654</a>&nbsp;on Reddit)</blockquote><blockquote>This is definitely the biggest factor imo. Additionally, they were early to update their quality of broadcast to the standards set by USA sports.&nbsp;(<a style="color:inherit;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.reddit.com/user/yourfriendkyle/">yourfriendkyle</a>on Reddit)</blockquote><h2 id="it-s-all-in-thrill">It’s All in the Thrill</h2>However, the most widely supported theory has to do with surprise: you can never predict who will win or how the forces will be distributed, even further down in the ranking than fourth place. In the French Ligue 1, you’ve only got PSG; in the Bundesliga and La Liga, there are two teams at this level; in the Italian Serie A, there are three… But only in the Premier League do we have a situation where there are virtually no underdogs. This vague but sweet theory confirms that nothing is in vain if fans believe in surprises and chance fate.<blockquote>Mainly because of the thrill. You never know which team will beat the other. Which is not the case in La Liga or the Bundesliga. In these two, the thing that matters is who is the winner in El Classico or Bayern-Dortmund matches. The competition in the league is very low.&nbsp;(<a style="color:inherit;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.quora.com/profile/Krishna-Menan-1">Krishna Menan</a>&nbsp;on Quora)</blockquote><blockquote>Because who wants to watch Barca vs elche or Granada. Who ever reads this won’t be able to tell me one player from elche or granada not even 1. Ask Barca fans and they won’t know either. Seem to have it all figured out when they are fighting midgets&nbsp;(<a style="color:inherit;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.reddit.com/user/gunnersami/">gunnersami</a>&nbsp;on Reddit)</blockquote>Many fans also believe that the Premier League is as popular as it is because of its accessibility. For example, in the US, matches can be watched on Disney+. Many TV channels worldwide have the rights to show PL games, while other leagues have fewer broadcast partners.Only the odd answer didn’t fall into one of our four categories. Other answers were “It’s all about bets”, “It’s just good old colonialism”, and something about purposefully directed matches. No, we aren’t joking!<blockquote>There is the element of camera work as well. I personally found it harder to watch the Spanish and the Italian league on screen as the camera is zoomed out during normal action and it’s harder to identify the players. While the EPL has a more zoomed in camera set up which makes me feel closer to the pitch. But it could be just me.&nbsp;(<a style="color:inherit;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.reddit.com/user/lazymonkey9/">lazymonkey9</a>&nbsp;on Reddit)</blockquote><h2 id="how-do-we-watch">So, ok, we now know why we love the Premier League so much. But how do we watch its matches?</h2>What else can you do beyond asking fans directly? Among our survey participants, there were both very dedicated fans (who have been watching Premier League matches since 1999) and beginners, for whom this season will be only the second. We did not ask them for any personal details, but did clarify what clubs they supported. We found out that an approximately equal number of our respondents support Chelsea, Man City, Manchester United, Liverpool, and Arsenal, with slightly fewer favouring Tottenham, Leicester and West Ham.We asked fans if they enjoy commenting on matches themselves, especially for their friends. 16.9% said that they do. Half of our respondents explained that it depends on their current mood, and 32% said that they favour the comments of professionals over their own.We also wanted to learn how fans feel about toxic messages during a match. After all, as we wrote earlier, it is precisely in the Premier League that we see an exceptionally high percentage of racist comments towards the players. Of course, this is odd because the English championship is multinational. Nevertheless… It turns out that most fans (55.9%) are annoyed by insulting comments about players, and a quarter of our respondents (25.4%) are indifferent to them. Only 8.5% of respondents admitted that they sometimes participate in such behaviour.<figure class="image" style="margin-bottom:1vw;"><img style="aspect-ratio:2434/1570;" src="https://cdn.eu.watchers.io/e22209d3-ac8c-4c4f-9668-4d9a93233a41.png" width="2434" height="1570"></figure>We also asked which Premier League game holds a special place in fans’ hearts. We expected that we might find a single “favourite” match in common. But it turns out that fans remember many different games. Ultimately, however, there were two matches that fans singled out more than others. Admittedly, one of these wasn’t a championship match at all but an FA Cup match. So many fans named this particular match so that it would be negligent of us simply to ignore it.The most memorable Premier League game was Manchester City v Queens Park Rangers. The score was 3:2; the match occurred on May 13th, 2012.<figure class="image" style="margin-bottom:1vw;"><img style="aspect-ratio:1792/1212;" src="https://cdn.eu.watchers.io/9afbf2a7-577b-48a3-9f56-6882e590d77b.png" width="1792" height="1212"><figcaption>by Getty Images</figcaption></figure>Man City needed to bypass Manchester United, while Queens Park Rangers needed to keep hold of their place in the League. It was the last match of the season. The decisive goal came from Aguero, who was playing as a substitute. Later, English bookmakers called this goal “the most expensive goal in history”: they had to pay out 20 million pounds to people who bet on Man City's victory with a score of 1:2 in favour of “QPR”. In the poll provided by Sky Sport, English fans picked this moment as the most memorable and brightest in PL history.The most memorable FA Cup match was Chelsea v Arsenal, with a final score of 6:0. It took place on March 22nd, 2014.<figure class="image" style="margin-bottom:1vw;"><img style="aspect-ratio:2066/1284;" src="https://cdn.eu.watchers.io/aa749152-5580-4a94-9d1d-cb21a3a5d944.png" width="2066" height="1284"><figcaption>by BCC Sport</figcaption></figure>The bitter irony is that this match was a game anniversary—the thousandth anniversary!—of former Arsenal coach Arsène Wenger. Later, Arsenal managed to beat Chelsea on more than one occasion, including in an FA Cup final. The score, of course, wasn’t as impressive.<h2 id="emoji-bonus">Emoji Bonus</h2>Finally, we asked fans to share emojis that reflect their attitude to English Premier League matches. Here are the top 5:<figure class="image" style="margin-bottom:1vw;"><img style="aspect-ratio:1358/1354;" src="https://cdn.eu.watchers.io/cf48239b-3eeb-4fe4-bb62-a0f788b35bb9.png" width="1358" height="1354"></figure>Surely, this whole range of emotions represents the entire future of any Premier League season, regardless of what team you actually support.</div>

Here we explore various studies about women athletes and women spectators.

Here, we explore various studies about female athletes and spectators.

Do women watch sports?

<div style="font-size:14px;line-height:1;" id="toc">On this page&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="#where-to-watch">Where can we watch female sports?</a>&nbsp;<a href="#not-as-new-audience">A completely new audience, or not as new?</a>&nbsp;<a href="#how-to-watch">How do women watch sports?</a>&nbsp;<a href="#what-sports-watchers-watch">What sports do women in the Watchers' team watch?</a>&nbsp;<a href="#get-in-touch">Get in touch</a>&nbsp;<hr style="margin-bottom:1vw;">In 2021 and 2022, many information agencies researched how viewing attitudes had changed during the pandemic. How do people watch sports now, and how will they watch it in the future?These studies revealed quite a few exciting things. For example, according to the survey provided by Meta, three out of four sports fans use social media exclusively to follow sports events and their favourite teams. One in five spectators who watch sports regularly don’t identify as sports fans. Also, it turns out that the popularity of women’s sports has risen significantly and that women themselves have become more active viewers. Likewise, they form a more significant percentage of the total TV and online broadcast audiences. Press enter or click to view image in full size<figure class="image" style="margin-bottom:1vw;"><img style="aspect-ratio:1600/1168;" src="https://cdn.eu.watchers.io/0af51774-5cfb-4578-b4e7-5b5078735ad3.webp" width="1600" height="1168"><figcaption>By Getty Images</figcaption></figure>The Meta study shows that Latin America boasts the most gender-balanced sports spectators. In Latin America, almost as many women as men watch sports (49% vs. 51%).The most significant difference in watching patterns between the sexes can be seen in the Middle East and Africa. 61% of men watch sports, and only 39% of women do.<blockquote>“Growing up, I didn’t see Muslim women on billboards or TV. I felt like my dreams and goals were limited, because how do you dream bigger without seeing someone who looks like you accomplish those things?”</blockquote>—Asma Elbadawi, the Sudanese athlete, basketball trainer, and poetess, who convinced the International Basketball Federation to remove the ban on hijab-wearing.<h2 id="where-to-watch">Where can we watch female sports?</h2>Despite the growing popularity of women’s sports, finding an online broadcast isn’t easy, and this is even more true on TV.At the end of last year, the Altman Solon company conducted a study in which they surveyed 18 thousand respondents from 16 countries in Asia, North America, Latin America, and Europe. Here are their insights.They found that more than half of women living in the United Kingdom watch sporting events at least once a month. Every fifth woman in the UK says she watches the FA Women’s Super League as her favourite championship.<figure class="image" style="margin-bottom:1vw;"><img style="aspect-ratio:1426/1398;" src="https://cdn.eu.watchers.io/b98fe7d8-9e99-4744-8db9-1104053322d4.webp" width="1426" height="1398"><figcaption>Photo: @asmaelbadawi on Instagram</figcaption></figure>Why do these results refer much more to the UK if the poll was international? The answer concerns the partnership which has been active between SkySport, the Women’s Sport Collective, and BBC since 2021. SkySports managers claim audience size and engagement growth were extraordinary due to the integration.According to SkySport, the number of female sports viewers has increased by 49% since 2017. At the same time, in 2017, the International Women’s Cricket Championship final was viewed by more than a million viewers on SkySport platforms—more than the average Premier League match.“The final vs. a regular match?” We might be sceptical of the significance of this statistic, but remember that men’s football is the most popular sport around—and beyond all reach in terms of the overall level of interest. But now women’s cricket can compete with it!<blockquote>Respondents from 33 out of 40 countries indicate that football is the most popular sport. In the USA it is outstripped by American football, in India—cricket, in Canada—hockey, and by basketball in the Philippines.</blockquote><figure class="image" style="margin-bottom:1vw;"><img style="aspect-ratio:1600/900;" src="https://cdn.eu.watchers.io/e3af40dd-38f2-4cb6-b6a8-399a8f19befd.webp" width="1600" height="900"><figcaption>©&nbsp;<a style="color:inherit;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.ld25.tv/">https://www.ld25.tv</a></figcaption></figure>The Women’s Super League (WSL) broadcasts show the highest ratings. Nielsen estimates that with the rise in WSL fans, the season’s total British audience was 14.5 million, becoming the country’s fourth most popular national League.However, the most crucial part of this picture is a partnership. No league can become famous if sports fans don’t have access to watch its matches.<h2 id="not-as-new-audience">A completely new audience, or not as new?</h2>25% of those who watched women’s cricket had never watched men’s cricket in the past, and six million WSL viewers had never watched Premier League games. The conclusion is simple — if you don’t provide access to women’s sports, you are losing a potential audience.According to research by Travis Schaedler and Audrey Wagstaff in 2020, respondents who described women’s sports as “slower” and “less exciting” didn’t have any experience watching women’s competitions; their knowledge was built on prejudice. In addition, less than 10% of sports media covers women’s sports regularly.<blockquote>The Olympics have become gender balanced. 48.8% of the Olympic athletes in Tokyo were women. At the Olympics in Beijing, this figure dropped a bit — to 45%. According to Thomas Bach, President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the Japanese Olympic games were the first gender-balanced in history.</blockquote><figure class="image" style="margin-bottom:1vw;"><img style="aspect-ratio:2318/1544;" src="https://cdn.eu.watchers.io/71788633-475f-4dfc-9535-46f773bd987a.png" width="2318" height="1544"><figcaption>©Getty Images</figcaption></figure>As the female viewer base grows, so do the top women’s sports leagues. However, according to research, women are more event-oriented and prefer to watch flagship matches and top competitions. These results give rise to great potential for audience growth and the ability to transform female viewers from occasional viewers into more frequent viewers.Let’s look at competitions that women manage to watch not only in the UK but around the world. Compared to men, women are more likely to watch the Olympics, Women’s and Men’s World Cup, including FIFA games and World Tennis Association events. But women rarely watch regular championships, and this only leaves room for growth.<h2 id="how-to-watch">How do women watch sports?</h2>We also surveyed women to learn how they would prefer to watch games: whether alone or together, online or at the stadium—and what they need to make viewing more pleasant.<figure class="image" style="margin-bottom:1vw;"><img style="aspect-ratio:1036/1300;" src="https://cdn.eu.watchers.io/9a9a87de-487f-4aa9-83d5-b44ec1c66311.webp" width="1036" height="1300"></figure>We also asked an open question — what do you need to get pleasure from viewing sports online? Most women reiterated the importance of friends and good company, followed by snacks/food and a lack of advertisement while watching. One of the respondents shared that a bottle of beer comes in handy, “maybe two, if the game is bollocks”.<h2 id="what-sports-watchers-watch">What sports do women in the Watchers' team watch?</h2>"Unfortunately, not all sports close to me can be seen on TV or a video platform, as their broadcasting would be hard to organise, and their entertainment value is low. I would like to see more Open-Water Swimming Championships, triathlon races, and General Aviation Sports (air rally racing, precision flying, and air navigation races).&nbsp;From what the media offers, I watch football and Red Bull competitions. I have never missed a single Red Bull Air Race before, but now, after cancellation, I am following Cliff Diving. These are the guilty pleasures that I watch alone. As for football… Who cheers at the stadium alone? You need company; if we can’t come together with friends, we exchange impressions online”. —&nbsp;Yana Barden, CEO“Different women watch sports differently, just as is true of men. Some like to discuss and be in a crowd, whether real or virtual, because that brings joy. Others follow a game attentively, analysing tactics. I watch football and always react very emotionally. After all, football is like a film — the same strong emotions, editing, and close-ups are all present without any prepared script, and seasons are like series and have plot twists”. —&nbsp;Alina Kuzo, Editor-in-Chief<h2 id="get-in-touch">Get in touch</h2>If you want to build communities on your platform with a trusted and healthy space, and allow your users to discuss sports while watching,&nbsp;<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://watchers.io/form">connect with us</a>. We will help you&nbsp;find the most suitable solution.<hr style="&gt;
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 &lt;a style=;margin-bottom:1vw;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.facebook.com/business/news/insights/the-changing-profile-of-sports-fans-around-the-world">Sources:The changing profile of sports fans around the world | <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.facebook.com/business/news/insights/the-changing-profile-of-sports-fans-around-the-world">Facebook IQ</a>Analysis: 2021 Sports Survey | <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.altmansolon.com">Altman Solon</a>Exposure to Women’s Sports: Changing Attitudes Toward Female Athletes | <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://thesportjournal.org/article/exposure-to-womens-sports-changing-attitudes-toward-female-athletes/">The Sport Journal</a>Women's Sport: Record viewing in 2021 according to Women's Sports Trust research | <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.skysports.com/more-sports/other-sports/news/29877/12535281/womens-sport-record-viewing-in-2021-according-to-womens-sports-trust-research">Sky Sports</a></div>

Let's take a deep look at the latest studies about sports fans’ toxic behaviour online.

We take a deep look at how moderation works in online sports rooms and at the latest studies about sports fans’ toxic behavior online.

Abuse in sports online communities. How do we fight it?

<div style="font-size:14px;line-height:1;" id="toc">On this page&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="#according-to-the-reports">According to the reports</a>&nbsp;<a href="#is-it-because-of-social-media">Is it because of social media?</a>&nbsp;<a href="#Real-steps">Real steps</a>&nbsp;<a href="#pitfalls-to-avoid">Pitfalls to avoid</a>&nbsp;<a href="#get-in-touch">Get in touch</a>&nbsp;<hr style="margin-bottom:1vw;"><h2>According to the reports</h2>Since 2020, international sports associations, trade unions, and independent analysts have paid attention to the number of hate attacks on athletes that happen during competitions. This awareness has led to extensive research about abusive behaviour in online sports communities. FIFA, FIFPRO, the Conversation, World Athletics, Australian sporting organisations, eSafety, NBPA, and others presented proprietary studies.<img src="https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:1400/1*6qiCkhXHTxe3Bjmzt_mSRA.png" width="700" height="399">Studies have been conducted about different sports in different countries. The nuances of them are different, but the essence is the same: the core of online abuse is homophobia, racism, sexism, ableism, islamophobia, transphobia, and threats. These are listed in order of frequency of occurrence from the most to the least if you look at the situation as a whole. But in various leagues, different phobias and forms of discrimination come to the fore.<blockquote>“In recent times we have seen female athletes, those from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and diverse cultural and multilingual backgrounds increasingly becoming the targets of unimaginable online abuse, hatred, misogyny and racism.” — eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant, Australia</blockquote>So, the EURO 2020 Final, ending with the English team losing and the Italian team winning,&nbsp;<a style="color:inherit;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://digitalhub.fifa.com/m/58e4c303ca2197f5/original/FIFA-Threat-Matrix-Report.pdf">showed</a>&nbsp;an unacceptable level of racism among European and English fans. The African Cup of Nations 2021 Final highlighted fans’ homophobia. Misogyny and sexism traditionally accompany women’s competitions. The Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo, which were the first gender-balanced (women’s participation was 49%), showed the highest level of sexism.&nbsp;<a style="color:inherit;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://worldathletics.org/news/press-releases/online-abuse-study-athletes-tokyo-olympic-games">According to studies</a>, 87% of all abusive online messages were addressed to women.<h2 id="is-it-because-of-social-media">Is it because of social media?</h2>Toxicity breeds toxicity. In the beginning, bullying is directed against athletes, then spreads to other fans, training staff, and athletes’ relatives and friends. Toxic comments and messages have no limitation period because they are posted in public accounts on Twitter, Instagram, and other social media; therefore, they continue to get impressions and be shared.<img src="https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:1400/1*jCKtoMqioaPGVqH3Uz8GdA.png" width="700" height="828">You might notice abusive comments if you've seen sports clubs' and certain athletes' pages and accounts even once, especially during a match or after a loss. Also, you might want to pay attention to Twitter threads, which have become popular and reached the top.If you are not a social media user, you may know from traditional media that athletes and sports organisations have joined boycotts of social media more than once. In April 2021, the Premier League, the English Football League and the Women’s Super League&nbsp;<a style="color:inherit;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/56872469">boycotted</a>&nbsp;social media for four days because of persistent disregard for abuse problems. However, two months after the EURO 2020 Final, the English team faced a wave of abuse that prompted FIFA to take action.<h2 id="real=steps">Real steps</h2>Many people think that the reason for abusive behaviour on social media is anonymity, but it's not all that simple. Social media is not a space to be completely anonymous. After the bullying waves during the EURO 2020 Final, a lot of online abusers were called to the police.<img src="https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:1400/1*CZNd8OCS0KtSVI0RxQrV6w.jpeg" width="700" height="526">Gareth Southgate consoles Bukayo Saka, who missed England’s final penalty in the shootout ©AFPTwitter and Instagram remain the spaces where bullying breeds bullying, regardless of whether the identity of the authors of abusive threads is often fixed or easily revealed. Triggers for bullying can be a game score, a player’s mistake during the game, or even an athlete's photo on their personal account. When anything can be a reason, there are no reasons at all.Following research, FIFA plans to launch a moderation service to search for toxic posts across social media. According to the Threat Matrix company, the two-level check will allow them to solve complex cases (as with the Italian player whose nickname is Gorilla. In this case, the gorilla emoji is acceptable when it is a toxic marker in racism cases.<h2 id="pitfalls-to-avoid">Pitfalls to avoid</h2>Of course, this is not the first attempt to fight toxicity in online spaces. For example, in 2021, Xinning Gui, PhD at Pennsylvania State University, made a presentation at the Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. She shared the instruments used to struggle with abuse in the cybersport space and how players utilise them for personal value. For example, they flag game competitors, not abusers.<img src="https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:1400/1*Srxvvc0GGbQo3Kf_w9uHfg.jpeg" width="700" height="401">Sifan Hassan of Team Netherlands celebrates after winning the gold medal in the Women’s 10,000m Final on day fifteen of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games (Photo by Cameron Spencer / Getty Images via CFP)The dishonesty of some users is not the only pitfall in fighting online abuse. One tough case was the recent Beijing Olympics, where, along with the hate comments towards athletes, real censorship was applied to Internet users. So, many European athletes claimed they weren’t ready to publicly say anything about negative issues related to the Olympics until they left China. In general, the Chinese system for checking online messages is aimed at posts and comments expressing an anti-government point of view, not for checking abuse.How to find a balance? How do you create a trusted online space for comfortable communication, avoiding abuse, and still remembering freedom of speech?<h2 id="get-in-touch">Get in Touch</h2>If you are looking for a way to increase engagement and provide additional content on your website or app, remember the safety of your users. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://calendly.com/watchers-platform/social-tools-for-your">Book&nbsp;a&nbsp;call </a>with the Watchers team, and we will be happy to find the best solution for your platform.</div>

Blog with tag: sports