Video games will continue to be a touchpoint for children to become familiar with teams and athletes, and McCrindle suggests that collectibles, both physical and digital, are popular with the Alphas. Knesaurek said the NHL is considering a kid-friendly, digital trading card initiative as part of a future kids club program, seemingly a far cry from the NBA’s adult-oriented, blockchain-backed Top Shot program.
Morning Consult’s survey consisted of 2,036 parents, including 629 parents with children born after 2013 (Alphas), 1,023 parents with children born from 1997-2012 (Gen Zers) and 754 parents with children born before 1997. The Gen Z parents demographic carried a margin of error of 3 percentage points, while the margin of error for the Alpha parents demographic was 4 points.
Within the Alpha parents demographic, 423 parents had children born from 2013-2017 that are at least 3 years of age, conceivably making them old enough to be interested in or participate in sports. This group carried a margin of error of 5 points.
The NFL’s Nickelodeon effort was particularly noteworthy because, rather than feeding young digital natives the short-form content they have been conditioned to crave, the league and network adapted the long-form live television experience to kids’ sensibilities by incorporating familiar entertainment franchises and livening up the production. It’s a formula that tested well with the parents of Alphas in Morning Consult’s survey.
After being shown video highlights of Nickelodeon’s NFL production, 61 percent of Alpha parents said their children would enjoy the Nick version more than a traditional sports telecast, and 72 percent said they would watch a similar program with their children.
The NFL is also starting from a position of strength with the Alphas relative to other sports properties, as 27 percent of the 2013-2017 parents subgroup said their child is a fan or frequent viewer of professional football. That’s higher than any other sport, with soccer placing second and within the margin of error with 23 percent.
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