Sports brand index 2019 Q3

Every quarter we survey British consumers on their brand awareness and preferences in relation to the sports industry. Our latest insights into this industry can be found below. Plus, in Q1 of each year we dive deeper into the data to create an in-depth report on the state of the industry.

To jump straight to our 2019 sports brand index report, click below:

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To compile this quarter’s sports brand index below, we looked at three things:

• Percentage of unprompted brand recall within the sports category
• How likely a person is to purchase each brand (Purchase Intent)
• How likely a person is to recommend each brand (Net Promoter Score)

Key changes in brand attributes

It’s already been a great summer for sports; the English team won the Cricket World Cup, at the very same time that Djokovic won the Wimbledon men’s singles title in a nail-biting five-hour match. Meanwhile, a record number of UK viewers (11.3 million) tuned in to see Sweden knock England out of the Women’s Football World Cup, leading FIFA to pledge to increase the number of teams involved in the 2023 competition.

A packed schedule of sporting events means countless opportunities for sports and non-sports brands who pair themselves up in the TV media slots. The increasing success of the Women’s World Cup, in particular, offers a new and potentially lucrative sponsorship opportunity for the right brands to appeal to a new segment of sports viewers. 

Each quarter we ask consumers to rank the top 10 sports brands they’ve named in eight category-specific attributes: Inclusivity, memorable branding and adverts, having the newest technology, trust, trend-setting, service, price, quality. Here are the main winners, losers and movers this quarter:

• There’s one clear winner in Q3. Liverpool FC dominate in all eight of the key attributes, taking the highest weighted ranking in each and proving that their fans are almost entirely satisfied with their offering this quarter. By comparison, the other football club in the leaderboard, Manchester United, received middle-of-the-table scores across all eight attributes – their highest score being for quality.
• Sports Direct’s fate also improves from Q2 to Q3. Whereas last quarter the brand received the lowest weighted ranking in six of the eight attributes, this quarter they only receive one low score, for being a trend-setter. 
• Newcomer to the leaderboard, Premier League, instead takes the highest number of last place positions – for failing to be inclusive, its customer service and offering a poor price.

Key takeaways

• The top three brands in the leaderboard remain unchanged from Q2 to Q3. In the process, Nike extends its substantial lead on other sports brands, driving up Total Brand Equity from 2330 to 2690. Meanwhile, Adidas and Liverpool FC in second and third positions lose Total Brand Equity, further increasing the gap between those brands and Nike. 
• Liverpool FC’s location in third position overall is particularly notable, winning just 0.9% of Unprompted Brand Recall (compared to Nike’s winning score of 38.1%). Their dedicated consumer base propels them to third place, with an industry-leading Purchase Intent and Net Promoter Score. With such a small and shrinking slice of the Unprompted Brand Recall, though, Liverpool FC are highly at risk of dropping from the leaderboard in the coming months.
• At the other end of the leaderboard, a drop in NPS from 10.5 to -35.7 drives FIFA down from 6th place in Q2 to 10th position overall this time around. 
• Two new brands join the top 10 in Q3. Premier League enters in 7th position, and Manchester United in 9th, pushing out Under Armour and Reebok in the process.

The full report

The report includes:

• The UK’s leading sports brands for awareness, purchase intent and Net Promoter Score
• Overall brand strength and total brand equity index
• Industry averages and market dynamics
• Key takeaways for the UK sports industry

The report is based on a nationally representative survey of 1,000 people in the UK (aged 18+), surveyed in January 2019. 

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Brand index methodology

The Attest brand index is a platform agnostic measure of a brand’s total brand equity in the health and wellness sector, as determined by real consumers.

What does that mean?

When we say ‘platform agnostic’, we mean the results are not influenced by any particular method of collecting them, like looking exclusively at social media mentions or at brand search terms. This reduces bias and gives us a more accurate view of a brand’s strength in its category.

Learn more about why we think this is the best methodology for brand intelligence.

Brand index data is gathered every quarter from a nationally representative survey to 1,000 UK consumers aged 18-65.