American Sports Report | Marketagent, 27.09.2022

Über Home Runs, Touch Downs & Slam Dunks

Baden (OTS/marketing agent) – American football, baseball and basketball have a long tradition in the USA and it is hard to imagine American culture without them. In a current study of 2,000 Austrians, Marketagent, together with the three first-division teams Traiskirchen Lions, the baseball and softball club Grasshoppers and the Dacia Vikings, examined the extent to which the Big 3 of American sports have found their way into Austrian sport. The result: The popularity of American Sports is also evident in the Austrian sports world. More than half have played basketball at least once, 3 out of 10 have already seen an American football match live and one in seven said they would like to try baseball themselves.

Every second person has a positive image of American Sports. In particular, men and people between the ages of 14 and 39 enjoy American sports. “The attractiveness of American sports can be explained above all by their high entertainment factor. Respondents primarily mention the excitement of the games, the fun that goes with them and the interesting sports“, explains Thomas Schwabl, Managing Director of Marketagent.

The “Big 3” of American Sports

There are a number of sports that are ingrained in American culture. When they hear the term “American Sports”, most Austrians immediately think of American football (60%), followed at some distance by baseball (29%) and basketball (17%). American football is primarily seen as a sport that is tough, physical and requires a lot of strength. Baseball and basketball, on the other hand, are mostly associated with a lot of endurance, skill and speed. A strong fighting and team spirit is also attributed to all three sports.

And how active are the Austrians themselves in American sports? 63% have tried to hit the basket in basketball, almost 3 in 10 have swung a baseball bat in their life and 19% have already tried football. „The survey results show very well that a large proportion of people in Austria have already played basketball. The clubs are encouraged to find measures to bring these groups of people more often to the sports hall for the events!“says Paul Handler, managing director of the Traiskirchen Lions on the survey results.

Almost half have watched a television broadcast of an American football match and 3 out of 10 have watched a game live in the past. „In order to be able to better assess the development and potential of a sport, surveys of this kind are helpful and important! The Vienna Vikings are particularly pleased about the interest in American football in Austria,“ says Alfred Neugebauer, head of sponsorship at the Dacia Vikings. A basketball game was already on TV for 31%, slightly fewer (25%) were in the arena for a match. However, compared to American football and basketball, few have seen a live baseball game: 14% have watched a televised broadcast and 17% have attended a baseball match. „This shows the almost expected obscurity of a major sport like baseball in Austria. It is important to borrow from other associations and change this fact through consistent PR,“ appealed Peter Feichtinger, chairman of the Grasshoppers baseball and softball club.

Still need to catch up on the rules of the game

And honestly, who in this country really knows how many points there are for a touchdown or how far an average home run is hit? In terms of knowledge about gameplay, there is actually still a lot of catching up to do in Austria. After all, almost 3 out of 10 respondents rate their understanding of basketball rules as good, 17% describe themselves as fit for American football and 11% know how baseball is played. Even if the rules are (still) the least well-known, among the “Big 3” of American sports, baseball is the most popular sport to try out: 14% state that they would like to swing the “baseball bat” themselves.

American vs. European fan culture

A sports club would be nothing without its fans. Here, however, the survey participants perceive a few differences in fan culture. The interviewees believe that both fans of American and European sports clubs show the same amount of passion for “their” team. However, a rougher wind is apparently blowing at the European events: European fan culture is much more associated with riots and rowdy than that of American sports. The concept of “arch enemies” among teams is also more closely associated with European clubs than with American ones.

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