Europe’s passion for sport burns brighter than ever

2023 is set to be an exciting year for European sport. As the skiing world descends on the snowy Austrian town of Kitzbühel – ready to watch the 83rd Hahnenkamm World Cup Races – we celebrate the start of a bumper year of sport in the Mastercard calendar.

The next 12 months will take us from the clay courts of Roland Garros and the 18th hole of the Open to the climax of the UEFA Champions League and the podium of the 2023 Rugby World Cup. It’s set to be exciting, tantalising, and nerve-wracking year for sports fans across Europe and we are proud to lend our support to making these events the best they can be.

But why does sport matter so much to Europe? Well, to commemorate the first event in our sporting calendar, we have today launched the Mastercard Sport Economy Index 2023 – published for the second year running – to find out.

Taking the pulse of European sports fans

In a survey of over 11,000 Europeans from 11 countries, we asked people to share their relationship with sport in the past 12 months – from treadmills and terraces to tickets and tech – and outline what they care about most when it comes to one of the region’s most famous and resilient passion points.?

First and foremost, the results of the Sport Economy Index 2023 show that sport remains a powerful heartbeat of society across Europe. We can see significant year-on-year increases in the percentage of Europeans attending live sporting events (+12 pp in 2022 vs. 2021) and regularly exercising (+10pp), as people continued to enjoy

This upturn in these behaviours translated into a significant boost to the sports economy, with consumer card spending on sporting goods, services and experiences was up 37% in 2022 compared to 2021, according to analysis by the Mastercard Economics Institute. A key driver of that was sales of sports equipment – such as golf clubs, tennis balls and bikes – which rose 15% over the past 12 months.

We also saw more Europeans leaning on technology to consume sporting entertainment on their own terms. Over six in ten people (61%) said that technology was an invaluable lifeline in how they engaged with their favourite events, teams, and competitors, with social media, multi-screen viewing, and esports streaming among the leading digital use cases in 2022. ?

Looking to the future

The Sport Economy Index also provides a great snapshot into the trends that could form part of tomorrow’s sporting Europe. It is exciting, for example, to see a strong appetite for virtual reality (VR) technology: a quarter of Europeans have already experienced sport via VR, with half of all respondents hoping to follow suit in the next year.

While over 60% of sports fans claimed that their experience of live sport improved over the past 12 months, the Sport Economy Index threw up some fun ideas for what we can expect from the stadium of the future. From bottomless brunch and fancy-dress to live music performances and in-game feed of player and coach communication, the top ten suggestions contains something for everyone and paint a picture of an experience that will only grow in inclusivity, magnitude, and popularity.

Whatever the future has for European sport, the next 12 months is set to be an enthralling one for fans across the continent. We are excited to be part of bringing some of the world’s greatest sporting events to life and ensuring Europe’s passion for sport burns brighter than ever in 2023.?