Kidscreen » Archive » Kids prefer to watch live sports on TV at home

With the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris just days from kicking off, children’s media researcher KidsKnowBest (KKB) caught up with its year-round community of American and British kids ages three to 18 to ask questions about trending sports topics.

In terms of awareness of major sporting events and viewing habits, KKB says there’s strong engagement between kids and live sports. For the UEFA Euro 2024 football tournament, for example, 69% of kids know about it, 87% tuned in, and 81% could name players from the participating teams.

Kids’ awareness of the Paris Olympics is even higher at 90%, but interestingly, only 67% plan to tune in for these events.

Watching on TV at home is the preferred way for kids to get their live sports fix (52% for UK kids; 47% for US kids). For British kids, social media was the next most popular option (26%), while kids in the US seem to like streaming services better (28%). On both sides of the pond, 70% of kids picked “dad” as the person they most often watch sports with. 

For girls ages 14 to 18 in the UK, Formula 1 (8%) is the only non-football entry on their top-four sports watchlist. KKB speculates their interest in the motorsports brand could be driven by a few factors, including the growing popularity of Netflix’s Formula 1: Drive to Survive series; F1 Academy’s recent collaboration with makeup and skincare brand Charlotte Tilbury (pictured); and buzz around Warner Bros Pictures’ upcoming feature film F1 starring Brad Pitt.

Looking at eSports, 66% of American kids are aware of it (compared to just 48% in the UK), and nearly 90% have participated (versus only 20% of UK kids). And when it comes to career aspirations, 63% of US kids under age 10 want to be pro gamers, while 61% of UK kids want to be pro athletes.