YouGov Sport

What YouGov Sport does

YouGov Sport is the dedicated sports and esports research division of YouGov plc, a London-headquartered, publicly listed (LSE: YOU) international online research and analytics group founded in 2000. The division provides daily brand tracking, audience profiling, sponsorship measurement, custom research, and ad-testing services to sports properties, leagues, sponsors, broadcasters, publishers, and esports organizations. Its customer base includes FOX Sports, Premiership Rugby, Rugby League World Cup, Excel London, Southampton FC, Cheerz, and Extreme E, with named senior commercial leadership in the UK (David Lucas, Head of Sports UK; Matt Mills, Commercial Director) and the US (Jonathan Pelts, Head of US Sport; Paul Lundquist, SVP Research), and a global head, Nicole Pike.

The division's core technology is an audience intelligence platform built on a global panel of 30 million+ registered members across 64 countries, with 2 million+ profiling data points covering attitudes, opinions, media consumption, and behavior. The flagship product, SportsIndex, performs daily tracking of 16 brand health metrics across 3,300+ sports and esports brands, supported by always-on historical data. Other products include Global Fan Profiles, Sports Sponsorship Solutions, Research Surveys, Ad Testing, and — launched in 2025 — YouGov Parallax, which combines AI-powered consumer simulation with real-panel validation. Data is delivered through dashboards, a Profiles API, and Model Context Protocol (MCP) integrations.

YouGov Sport generates revenue primarily through subscription-based brand tracking, custom research engagements, and audience intelligence subscriptions, sold via an enterprise field-sales motion with annual contract cadence and custom-quoted pricing. The 24-hour enterprise inquiry response SLA, multi-country sales coverage (UK, US, Germany, France, Spain, Italy), and dedicated industry reports and case studies support a sales-led, content-supported go-to-market. No standalone revenue is disclosed; the division operates as a sector vertical within the publicly listed parent group, which reports 3,000+ employees across 34 countries.

Name

YouGov Sport

Legal name

YouGov plc

Website

https://sport.yougov.com

Company type

Public

Founded year

2000

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

YouGov Sport is the sports and esports research division of publicly listed YouGov plc, providing daily brand tracking, audience profiling, sponsorship measurement, custom research, and AI-simulated consumer intelligence to sports properties, leagues, sponsors, broadcasters, and esports organizations worldwide.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Sports & Esports Market Research Software

NAICS

Spectator Sports (7112), Spectator Sports (71121)

SIC

Services-Amusement & Recreation Services (7900)

akta.pro primary industry

Sponsorship Sales, Valuation & Analytics Services (Rights Sales, Measurement, Consulting) (MPAKALAK)

akta.pro secondary industry

Sports Business Consulting & Advisory (Strategy, Valuation, Due Diligence) (MPAKAKAL)

Keywords

• Sports market research
• Brand tracking
• Audience intelligence
• Sponsorship measurement
• Esports analytics

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Brand Tracking & Measurement: Subscription-based brand tracking services providing daily monitoring of brand health metrics across sports and esports properties. Continuous monitoring with historical data access.
2. Custom Research & Surveys: Market research services ranging from quick surveys to custom research projects. Provides actionable intelligence with expert consultation for sports industry clients.
3. Audience Intelligence: Audience understanding solutions built from 30 million registered panel members worldwide. Available through dashboards, API, and MCP integrations for comprehensive consumer insights.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

YouGov Sport provides subscription-based sports and esports market research, daily brand tracking, and audience intelligence services. Its core products—SportsIndex, Global Fan Profiles, sports sponsorship solutions, custom research surveys, and ad testing—are built on a global online panel of more than 30 million registered members and are delivered to enterprise clients via dashboards, API, and MCP integrations.

Product overview

YouGov Sport offers a comprehensive market research and brand intelligence platform for the sports and gaming industry. The core platform is built on an audience intelligence system spanning 30 million registered panel members with 2 million+ profiling data points. Key products include SportsIndex for daily brand tracking across 3,300+ sports brands, Global Fan Profiles for deep audience segmentation, and YouGov Parallax for AI-powered simulation with real-world validation. Additional modules include sports sponsorship solutions, custom research surveys, and ad testing capabilities. Data is accessible through dashboards, API, and Model Context Protocol (MCP) integrations.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• YouGov Sport: Sports & esports market research, brand tracking, and audience intelligence services for the sports industry.
• YouGov Profiles
• BrandIndex

Products and services

• SportsIndex (YouGov BrandIndex for Sports) Daily brand tracking product for major sports and esports properties, monitoring awareness, consideration, loyalty, and other brand health metrics across 3,300+ brands globally on 16 core metrics, with historical data for longitudinal analysis.
• Global Fan Profiles Audience intelligence product providing deep understanding of the make-up, attitudes, and behaviors of sports and esports fans worldwide, built on 30 million registered panel members and 2 million+ profiling data points.
• Sports Sponsorship Solutions Strategic decision-making solution that combines sponsorship, viewership, and digital media expertise to help sports brands, teams, and sponsors measure and demonstrate sponsorship effectiveness and ROI.
• Custom Research Surveys Custom market research service ranging from quick surveys to comprehensive research projects, delivered with YouGov Sport experts to produce actionable intelligence for sports and gaming clients.
• Ad Testing Campaign testing solution that lets sports and gaming brands test advertisements, reach target audiences, and optimize campaign performance across sports and gaming media.
• Audience Intelligence Platform (Profiles API & MCP) Core data platform providing audience intelligence from 30 million registered panel members worldwide, accessible via dashboards, the Profiles API, and Model Context Protocol (MCP) integrations, with 2 million+ profiling data points on attitudes, opinions, media consumption, and behavior.
• YouGov Parallax AI-powered research product that combines AI-driven simulation (AI twins) with real-world validation from YouGov's 30 million registered panel members, enabling predictive modeling of consumer attitudes and behavior.

Quantifiable outcome

• Track and measure brand impact for FIFA World Cup advertising partners with objective data
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers7 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration1 record

AI capability4 records

Feature5 records

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Two Circles: Two Circles is a sports data and marketing agency that helps rights holders grow commercial revenue through data-driven fan understanding and sponsorship strategy. Comparable to YouGov Sport's audience profiling and sponsorship solutions stack for sports properties.
• Hookit: Hookit provides sponsorship analytics focused on sports, measuring media value, social engagement, and ROI for sponsors and properties. Overlaps with YouGov Sport's sponsorship measurement and brand tracking offerings, especially on digital and social channels.
• Nielsen Sports: Nielsen Sports (formerly Repucom) is the most direct competitor to YouGov Sport, offering sponsorship evaluation, broadcast and media measurement, and fan profiling for sports rights holders and sponsors globally. Overlaps directly with SportsIndex, sponsorship ROI and fan audience intelligence offerings.
• SponsorPulse: SponsorPulse specializes in sponsorship effectiveness research and consumer affinity tracking, providing rights holders and brand sponsors with measurement of sponsorship ROI. Directly comparable to YouGov Sport's sponsorship solutions and ad testing capabilities.
• GWI (Global Web Index): GWI provides global audience research across consumer segments with detailed profiling of media consumption, attitudes and behaviors. Closely comparable to YouGov Profiles and Global Fan Profiles, serving brand-side and agency audiences with syndicated and custom audience intelligence.
• Brand Finance: Brand Finance is a brand valuation and strategy consultancy with a dedicated sports practice valuing leagues, teams and sponsorship assets. Comparable to YouGov Sport's brand health tracking and sponsorship valuation analytics from a financial/branding perspective.

Broad incumbents

• Ipsos: Ipsos is a global research firm operating in brand and communications tracking, public opinion and audience research with capabilities serving sports and sponsorship clients. Competes with YouGov Sport for brand health tracking and custom sponsorship research, especially among rights holders and brand sponsors.
• Kantar: Kantar is a global market research and analytics incumbent with a dedicated sports practice offering brand tracking, sponsorship effectiveness and audience profiling. While broader than YouGov Sport, it competes directly for sports sponsorship measurement and consumer intelligence mandates.

Others

• YouGov Profiles (Broader Parent Platform): YouGov Profiles is the broader parent platform that powers YouGov Sport's audience intelligence. While part of the same company, it is listed because it is the upstream data infrastructure from which YouGov Sport's sports-specific intelligence is derived.

Emerging players

• Sports Innovation Lab: Sports Innovation Lab is an emerging sports data and analytics firm providing fan intelligence and sponsorship insights to brands and properties. Overlaps with YouGov Sport's Global Fan Profiles and emerging esports coverage, though with narrower panel scale.

Market position

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/YouGov
• Facebookfacebook.com/YouGovUS
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/yougovsport

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about YouGov Sport