IAB Report: Super Bowl Goes Mobile
A Report Prepared by the IAB Mobile Marketing Center of Excellence
Released February 2, 2012
IAB Report: Super Bowl Goes Mobile
Super Bowl Goes Mobile: Smartphones and Tablets Rate High in Consumer Plans for the
Big Game
The benefits of mobile internet access are beginning to be felt increasingly broadly, both in consumers’ daily
routines, and in special occasions--holidays, traditions, and events. Among those mobile-impacted events, of
course, is the Super Bowl. According to Nielsen, Super Bowls rank as five of the top six most viewed US
telecasts of all time, and it seems likely that 2012’s game will maintain that tradition. This report examines how
the rise of mobile interactivity is impacting this particular American tradition. Although for most of its existence
the Super Bowl has been a one-screen phenomenon (namely, the big one in the living room), the data show that
for increasing numbers of US consumers, it’s much more likely to be a two-screen event.
New England Patriots Fans “Win” the Mobile Super Bowl
As one way to examine the impact of mobile device usage on the Super Bowl, the IAB created an index based
on survey data to assess mobile sports savviness. This index incorporates data based on 8 characteristics:
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Ownership of a smartphone
Ownership of a tablet
Regular activities (weekly or more frequently), via a smartphone or tablet:
o Watching video
o Accessing sports content
o Posting on social media sites
o Reading news
o Sending and receiving e-mails
o Sending and receiving text messages
We weighted accessing sports content and posting to social media most heavily (since both are important to
mobile sports fans devices). The other six characteristics received equal, lesser, weight.
While this index could be applied to any demographic or other group, we thought it would be interesting to
look at consumers who identified as rooting for the New York Giants in the Super Bowl, versus those who said
they would be cheering on the New England Patriots. The composite, index scores were very close, but fans of
the New England Patriots were slightly more mobile sports savvy than fans of the New York Giants. The Patriots
fans’ indexed score (relative to a national average=100) was 116, the Giants fans’ indexed score was 114.
The metrics that went into the index are in the table below:
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IAB Report: Super Bowl Goes Mobile
Fans Report Similar Ownership of Mobile Devices…
Source: IAB Mobile Super Bowl Consumer Survey, conducted by Harris Interactive, January 2012. n=2,217 (US adults ages 18 and older).
…But Different Levels of Usage of Various Mobile Activities
Source: IAB Mobile Super Bowl Consumer Survey, conducted by Harris Interactive, January 2012. n=2,217 (US adults ages 18 and older).
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IAB Report: Super Bowl Goes Mobile
Both Pats fans and Giants fans are more mobile sports savvy than the average US consumer. But the slight
difference in propensity to watch video and the large gap in propensity to post to social media sites nudged the
advantage in favor of fans of New England. At least some of this is driven by differences in the demographics
of the two teams fan bases.
Giants fans
Patriots fans
Gender
male
female
59%
41%
54%
46%
Age
18-34
35-44
45-54
55+
27%
17%
20%
36%
31%
16%
22%
30%
The gender difference is not large enough to be significant. However, on average Patriots fans are slightly
younger than Giants fans, and that difference goes a long way toward explaining mobile video use and social
media use among these fans. The age difference also explains some of the index stats that work the other way:
slightly older consumers would logically be more likely to access news and to favor mobile e-mail.
The Mobile Super Bowl
Regardless of who they are rooting for during the Super Bowl, people planning to watch it (and 70% of
Americans say they are) who own a smartphone or tablet are very likely to have their device nearby. 56% of
smartphone owners say they plan to use their phone during the game (for a variety of purposes), and 45% of
tablet owners plan to use their tablet.
This is the first year that the Super Bowl is being streamed live over the Internet, and consumers with Verizon
smartphones will be able to watch the game on their mobiles as well. However, not many consumers are
thinking in that direction yet: only 4% of smartphone owners said that they planned to view the whole game on
their phone.
Most likely due to the mobility of these devices, propensity to use them during the game changes depending on
where people plan to watch it. 62% of smartphone or tablet owners who plan to watch the Super Bowl away
from home (at a friend’s house, public place, or somewhere else) plan to use their device during the game.
However, smartphones and tablets are not just for when you’re on the go: 53% of smartphone or tablet users
planning to watch at home also expect to make use of their gadgets.
In the least surprising finding of our survey, 18-34-year old Super Bowl viewers with smartphones look like they
will be glued to those devices as much as they are to their TV sets (or maybe even more).
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IAB Report: Super Bowl Goes Mobile
Planned Use of Smartphones During the Super Bowl
Source: IAB Mobile Super Bowl Consumer Survey, conducted by Harris Interactive, January 2012. n=2,217 (US adults ages 18 and older).
Planned Use of Tablets During the Super Bowl
Source: IAB Mobile Super Bowl Consumer Survey, conducted by Harris Interactive, January 2012. n=2,217 (US adults ages 18 and older).
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IAB Report: Super Bowl Goes Mobile
The IAB also examined what Giants and Patriots fans planned to do with their smartphones during the big
game. The top five responses were very similar, though Pats fans’ previously cited propensity to use social
media stands out in their responses to this question, too.
SMARTPHONE USERS’ PLANS FOR THEIR DEVICES DURING
THE SUPER BOWL
Text, email, or IM to discuss the game
Post updates, messages, or pictures about the game to social media sites
Call friends/family to discuss the game
Check on non-Super Bowl-related news and info during the game
Check stats on teams and players online
Giants Fans
Patriots Fans
44%
26%
26%
16%
15%
46%
31%
21%
19%
13%
One other difference: nationally about 7% of smartphone owners said they intended to use their device to get
some work done during the game. That number drops to only 3% of smartphone owners who will be rooting
for the Giants on Super Bowl Sunday, as compared with 9% of smartphone owners favoring the Patriots.
Multitasking Pats--and Giants--fans have the IAB’s sympathies.
Mobile and Super Bowl Ads
These days Super Bowl commercials constitute an event almost as anticipated as the game itself. About one in
ten consumers who own smartphones and/or tablets said they planned to use these devices to get more info
about Super Bowl advertising during the game.
PERCENT OF DEVICE OWNERS USING THEIR GADGETS FOR
SUPER BOWL ADVERTISING
Get more information about the products/services advertised during the
game
Get more information about the commercials themselves
Either/both of these activities
Tablet
Owners
7%
Smartphone
Owners
8%
11%
13%
6%
10%
PCs’ Role in the Super Bowl Ad Mix
The IAB also asked consumers some questions on planned Super Bowl-related PC use either during or after the
game this year. 42% of those planning to watch the game said they intended to use a PC for Super Bowlrelated activities, and a similar 41% said they intended to use a computer for one or more activities related to
the commercials. Indeed, 18% of consumers said they planned to use a computer during or after the game to
watch the Super Bowl commercials, making that the most popular PC-based Super Bowl-related activity.
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IAB Report: Super Bowl Goes Mobile
PCs’ Role in the Super Bowl Ad Mix
Source: IAB Mobile Super Bowl Consumer Survey, conducted by Harris Interactive, January 2012. n=2,217 (US adults ages 18 and older).
Survey Methodology
This survey was conducted online within the United States by Harris Interactive on behalf of IAB from January
23-25, 2012 among 2,217 adults ages 18 and older. This online survey is not based on a probability sample
and therefore no estimate of theoretical sampling error can be calculated. For complete survey methodology,
including weighting variables, please contact the IAB’s Mobile Marketing Center of Excellence, at
[email protected].
IAB Mobile Sports Savvy Index Methodology
The IAB selected eight data points from the Harris Interactive survey to comprise its Mobile Sports Savvy Index.
It looked at smartphone and tablet ownership, and weekly or more frequent smartphone or tablet use of the
following: posting to social media, accessing sports content, checking news, e-mail, text messaging, and
viewing video. For Giants fans and Patriots fans, the IAB indexed each of these data points relative to the
national average, and then aggregated the individual index values via a weighted average giving the most
weight to accessing sports content and posting to social media, and equal, lesser, weight to the other six
criteria.
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IAB Report: Super Bowl Goes Mobile
COMPONENTS OF IAB MOBILE SPORTS SAVVINESS INDEX
(NATIONAL AVERAGE=100)
Percent who own a smartphone
Percent who own a tablet
Weekly or more frequently (percentages of consumers who own a
smartphone or tablet):
Watch videos via smartphone or tablet
Post to social media via a smartphone or tablet
Access sports content via a smartphone or tablet
Send or receive e-mails via a smartphone or tablet
Send or receive text messages via a smartphone or tablet
Read news via a smartphone or tablet
Final Index Score (Weighted Average):
Giants Fans
Patriots Fans
112
123
111
104
100
98
147
104
100
110
114
114
131
136
95
104
97
116
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