Sports & Co. The Fan Index / College Edition · Q2 2026

The Fan Index · College Sports Edition

83% of college sports fans plan to spend in the next year.

The bigger question for any program is where that money goes. Among the college sports fans in our national survey, the largest share still points to the game, tickets plus food and drink, at 35%, with streaming right behind at 21% and closing fast. The full picture, and what it means for the schools that serve them, is below.

By Abe Rakov, Founder, Sports & Co.

The topline From a national survey of 1,669 sports fans

Plan to spend

of college sports fans plan to spend on sports over the next 12 months, above the national average.

Support NIL

of fans nationally support athletes earning through NIL and revenue sharing. The fan base is on board.

Spent at the game

of college sports fans’ spending goes to tickets, food, and drink at live events. Being there still leads.

The findings

Four things the Q2 survey told us about the college fan.

01Where the money goes

The biggest pool of fan spending is at the venue.

At the venue, tickets, and food and drink together make up 35% of college fan spending (23% tickets, 12% food and drink), well ahead of streaming at 21%. The screen is catching up fast, but being there is still where fans put the most money. For revenue and ticketing teams: the in-venue experience is the largest single revenue pool. Price and design it like the priority it is. The full report cuts spending by age and league, and shows how price sensitivity shifts by income.

Tickets to live events23%

Streaming & pay-per-view21%

Merchandise & apparel15%

Food & drink at events12%

Fantasy & betting12%

02The growth lever

When fans say “price,” they’re telling you they want in.

Conventional wisdom says fans are driven by price. The data complicates that. Most fans, 82%, can be moved by something. Among them, price leads but is far from the whole story: 45% name lower cost, 36% point to an improved product (team performance, the in-venue experience, or more player access), and 19% want better streaming. The biggest opportunity after price is one athletic departments have a lot of control over, and it is nearly as large. For revenue and ticketing teams: there’s no one fix, and price is only part of it. The report breaks the levers down by income and by active and lapsed fans, the basis for a portfolio rather than a guess.

Lower prices45%

An improved product36%

Better streaming19%

03The attendance barrier

The biggest thing keeping fans home is the couch, not the cost.

Asked what most keeps them from attending more, college fans name watching from home or a bar first, at 30%, ahead of distance (24%) and the friction of tickets, parking, and seats (20%). Only 8% say the game-day experience itself is not worth it. Fans are not staying home because the game is not good enough; they are staying home because home is easy and getting in is a hassle. For revenue and ticketing teams: the toughest competitor is the at-home experience. The fixable part is the friction, distance, tickets, parking, and seats, which together far outweigh any complaint about the game itself.

Prefer home or a bar30%

Not close to a venue24%

Tickets, parking, or seats20%

Not enough time10%

Attend as much as I want9%

Experience not worth it8%

04The generational divide

NIL support is broad, but the donor end is divided.

NIL support is strong among younger fans, at 67% of those under 30 and 71% of those 30 to 44, then steps down to 44% among fans 60 and up. The recruiting and game-day audience is firmly on board. The friction sits at the older, donor-heavy end, where support and reservation run close to even. For development teams: the gap to manage is with donors, not recruits. The report shows where support thins out by age, so fundraising language can be calibrated to a base that is more divided than the headline number suggests.

30 to 4471%

18 to 2967%

45 to 6058%

60+44%

The split that matters

Two playbooks: active and lapsed fans.

We asked both groups what would most increase what they invest in college sports. Toggle between them. The gap is the strategy.

Active fans spread their answers across price, the in-venue experience, and streaming. There are several ways to earn more from them. Lapsed fans concentrate on one thing: price. Two segments, two playbooks.

What we’re watching

Four storylines we’re watching through year-end.

Revenue

An engaged base that plans to spend.

College fans plan to spend at a higher rate than fans of other sports, and tickets still lead their budget. We’re watching which programs convert that intent into recurring revenue, through ticket tiers, access products, and value-priced family plans, and which leave high-intent fans without an easy way to spend more.

Content

Athletic departments are becoming media companies.

Streaming and pay-per-view already pull 21% of college fan spending, nearly level with tickets, and most of it flows to outside platforms today. That is the opening. A handful of programs, LSU and Clemson among the most visible, are turning their content teams into full revenue operations: LSU’s unit, The Brand, now runs roughly 60 full-time staff plus around 90 part-time across video, podcasts, design, broadcast, and NIL services. We’re watching which departments build the infrastructure to capture some of that at-home spend directly, and which keep treating content as an afterthought.

Access

Price is the lever, but it isn’t the whole answer.

Among the fans who can be moved, price is the top lever but not a majority: 45% name lower cost, 36% point to an improved product, and 19% want better streaming. We’re watching which departments treat that as a product and access investment this fall, and which assume their most loyal fans will simply absorb whatever the ticket costs.

NIL

The donor base is where support thins.

Younger fans are firmly behind athlete pay; the divide opens at the older, donor-heavy end, where support and reservation run close to even. That tension is now a fact every development office has to design around. We’re watching which programs read the room with their donors and which assume the broad support number holds all the way up the age curve, and find out otherwise mid-campaign.

The full Q2 2026 Fan Index

Get the full report.

Everything above is drawn from the Q2 2026 Fan Index, our 19-page report on a national survey of 1,669 sports fans. The full report adds the age and league-by-league breakdowns behind the findings, plus how price sensitivity shifts by income. Subscribe free below, or, if you already read Sports & Co., take a 1-minute survey to get it now.

What’s in the full report

Athlete compensation, in full

Net support for paying athletes, and the 27-point gap by age that shows where support thins at the older, donor-heavy end. The full read for calibrating NIL messaging to a divided base.

The growth lever, decomposed

Among movable fans, price leads at 45%, but an improved product (36%) is close behind and well ahead of streaming. The report breaks every lever down by income band so a ticket and product strategy can be built, not guessed.

The at-home fan

Why streaming has already overtaken tickets as the top spend for fans 60 and over, and what that means for the seat schools price and the content operation they can build around the broadcast they don’t.

Loyalty in motion

Older fans follow the team; younger fans follow the player. A league table ranks team loyalty across sports, with college football near the top.

The attendance question

Why fans stay home, what would bring lapsed fans back, and the different playbooks active and lapsed fans actually respond to.

The league tables

Ten sports side by side on reach, dedication, attendance, spend intent, and loyalty, college football and basketball among them.

Questions, or want a specific cut of the data? Reach Abe Rakov at abe@sportsandcompany.com.