Inside SBJ’s National Sports Forum: What Does It Take to Engage the Next Generation of Fans?

Wednesday, December 9 | 12:30 PM ET

Inside SBJ’s National Sports Forum

What Does It Take to Engage the Next Generation of Fans?

The next generation of sports fans is growing up with more choices, more interests and more ways to engage with sports than ever before. In this episode of SBJ Live, we examine what Gen Z and Gen Alpha are telling the industry about the future of fandom and what teams and leagues can do now to build lasting relationships with younger audiences. The conversation examines key dynamics shaping young fans and how those insights can inform a stronger pipeline for the next generation of fandom.

The episode is part of our SBJ Live series focused on impactful content from SBJ’s National Sports Forum. A version of this session took place at the Forum in St. Louis earlier this year. The Forum heads to Houston, March 8-10, 2027. More information available here.

What We Will Discuss

• How Gen Z and Gen Alpha engage with sports differently than previous generations
• The expanding range of interests and touchpoints competing for younger fans’ attention
• Five fan dynamics that can help teams and leagues increase engagement
• How organizations can apply those insights to fan-development strategies
• Building a long-term pipeline that turns young audiences into lifelong fans

Who Should Attend

• Team and league marketing professionals
• Fan engagement and fan development leaders
• Audience development and consumer insights professionals
• Digital and social media teams
• Ticketing, CRM and database marketing leaders
• Brand marketers working in sports
• Executives focused on the long-term growth of their fan base

Featured Speaker

Chad Menefee, PhD, is the Executive Vice President of Strategic Intelligence for SSRS and Sports Poll. His strategic work focuses on fan base development, lifetime value, and community. Chad has led strategic projects for clients including ESPN, the NFL, MLB, EA Sports, Anheuser-Busch, and others. As a co-founder and managing partner of Luker on Trends, he was recognized as a Sports Business Journal Forty Under 40 recipient. He has managed Sports Poll, the industry’s first syndicated sports research product, for the past 15 years. He also helped launch Sports Poll Kids to track the sports interests of younger generations of fans in 2021.

Registration is free. All registrants will receive a recording of the webinar following the event.

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