Forget the headlines about youth sports dying out—the majority of tweens are still playing, still watching with family, and still passing down the same rituals their parents grew up with. But tween sports fandom is equal parts tradition and next-gen. Sports idols aren’t just admired for their game—they’re followed the way tweens follow their favorite creators, judged as much on personality and “watchability” as on stats. And when tweens tune in, YouTube is just as likely to be the screen as cable, with creator-led competition content carving out a category all its own.
YPulse’s Tweens: Sports and Athletes report gives brands, marketers, and researchers a data-driven look at how this generation plays, watches, and forms fandom around sports—the old-school habits still holding strong, the new ones taking over, and what it means for reaching them.
Report Length: 33 pages, report is based on a survey conducted between 4/8/26-4/18/26 among 1,500 8-12-year-olds in the U.S. and Canada
