Our relationship to sports changes with us.
Sports don't preserve memories. They keep making new ones; at every stage of a life.
THE ASK:
Pick a category and uncover something new about those consumers using a new research method.
THE SPARK:
I’ve always loved sports, and that passion keeps growing. It made me curious about how all the roles in sports connect.
STEREOTYPE
Sports create timeless memories.
The heart of sports lives in what they leave behind: family celebrations, lasting bonds, and love shared across generations.
Winning a Superbowl with your new family
Buying the baby a jersey to raise them with same values
Bonds that outlast team trades
THE CHALLENGE
Sports create more than memories, they shape identity in ways we overlook.
Sports have always been told as a hierarchy, athletes perform, partners support, fans watch, but seeing how each group carries those experiences differently revealed a deeper story worth exploring.
RESEARCH METHOD:
CULTURAL PROBE DIARY
A diary format that met them where they were. It captured sports showing up in the small hours, the background noise, the objects on the shelf, and the sounds that trigger memory. 3 days. 3 groups of 3.
1
Athletes
Multi-sport athletes (soccer, cheer, football) explored identity, sacrifice, and sensory connections to their sports.
2
Partners
Romantic partners of athletes across career stages, exploring what they've sacrificed, gained, and lost to their partners’ sport.
3
Fans
Deeply attached sports fans exploring rearranged lives, shared rituals, and what sport fills that nothing else could.
WHAT EACH AUDIENCE SAID
My mom has funded my cheer career for 16 years
-Athlete, 20
His career has brought me places and opportunities I wouldn’t have otherwise.
-Partner, 34
My brother and I have been discussing sports since we we’re very young.
-Fan, 26
Athletes mentioned the grind they’ve had throughout their careers.
Partners reflected on the journey of their relationships.
Fans discussed their memories with their engagement.
Nobody was asked about time.
Time was everywhere.
Athlete Submitted:
His most public moment, a soccer pregnancy reveal,capturing a career milestone and a new chapter in time.
Partner Submitted:
Matching jerseys across generations, what’s shared now will grow into something new.
Fan Submitted:
Mbappé canvas becomes a symbol that evolves.What starts as admiration can turn into nostalgia, identity, or a reflection of who they were when it first mattered.
INSIGHT
Our relationship to sports changes with us.
SPORTS MEAN SOMETHING DIFFERENT
at 7, at 23, at 33, at 70
AND IT KEEPS MEANING SOMETHING.
For my cousin, being an Eagles fan started in childhood but took on new meaning at her wedding, where it became part of celebrating a new chapter in her life.
REFLECTED IN AUDIENCE(S)
ATHLETES:
They grow, achieve, and eventually retire. Their careers moving through the same stages they do.
PARTNERS:
They might start knowing nothing about the game, then build families and traditions around it.
FANS:
Some change teams as life changes. Others stay loyal since childhood, passing that loyalty through generations.
TAKEAWAY
Most sports brands focus on selling the moment, but the real opportunity is in the full arc. People don’t just have memories of sports, they have an evolving relationship with it that shifts across every stage of life. The brands that win will be the ones that design for that entire journey, not just the highlight.
Brands That Can Design for the Arc, Not the Moment
ATHLETES: TIAA
Acknowledge that retiring from sports is a disorienting transition and position financial planning as building the next identity not closing the last one.
PARTENERS: BABYLIST
Speak to the partner balancing a newborn and game day, where support for the sport doesn’t stop when life gets bigger, it just looks different, and design products that support both.
FANS: STUBHUB
Reframe resale tickets as recovering a moment you didn’t know you’d miss, for fans bringing their kids back to the stadium they grew up in.
What I Learned
When I think about my love for sports, I see how my connection to the Eagles has grown with me. I once thought I was a Steelers fan because my teacher was, but that changed as I did. And I’ve learned that evolution happens at every level for fans, partners, and athletes alike.