How NFL Fandom Is Evolving Amongst Younger Generations

Our favorite sports have changed a lot over the years, with new star players emerging, new technological developments affecting play, and new legions of fans gathering behind their favorite teams.

Gen Z, however, are changing our perceptions of how sports fandom works. According to a 2022 report from Emory University, just 23% of young people consider themselves “avid” sports fans compared to 42% of millennials. In fact, shockingly, 27% would consider themselves “anti-fans”. Despite this, other reports have found that Gen Z fans are reportedly following a wider range of sports on average (4.7) compared to Baby Boomers (2.3), according to Nielsen, suggesting that while they remain engaged in fandom, their attention is now spread across multiple teams and leagues, potentially diluting traditional notions of loyalty.

This shift is also reflected in how Gen Z consumes sport. Fans aged 18–29 dedicate just a quarter of their time to live sports content, compared to 60% for those over 60, according to LEK, indicating a move toward highlights and social media clips rather than full games. As a result, loyalty is increasingly becoming more centered around individual athletes rather than teams for Gen Z. Research supports this trend as 80% of Gen Z follow professional athletes online (Deloitte), 75% identify as fans of specific athletes (FleishmanHillard), 42% became fans of a new athlete in the past year (Morning Consult), and 60% continue supporting athletes even after they’re traded to new teams (AdWeek).

Hard Rock Bet players span generations, but we’ve observed that our large representation of GenZ bettors (ages 21-28), lean towards individual sports and player props compared to older generations. The UFC, for instance, is particularly popular with this group, with 31% of bettors on the sport falling within the Gen Z bracket. Similarly, Gen Z (29%) and Millennials (26%) place player prop bets at the highest rates, well above older age groups. Conversely, sports like college football see notably lower engagement from Gen Z, attributable to restrictions on college player props bets in most US states.

This raises an important question: Is Gen Z less loyal to their teams, or is their fandom more fluid in nature? To find out, we sent a survey to 2,000 NFL fans to analyze how Gen Z engage with the sport compared to older generations.

Here’s what we learned:

Just 29% of Gen Z support a team based on their location

In our survey, we asked fans how they choose which sports teams or athletes to follow to better understand how fandoms are formed across different generations.

One of our most interesting findings centers on the role of location in fan loyalty. Only 29% of Gen Z fans say they choose teams based on geography, whether that’s supporting a local franchise or backing an athlete from their hometown. This stands in contrast to older generations, where location plays a much more significant role: 47% of Gen X and 67% of Baby Boomers note geographic ties as their main reason for team loyalty, making it the top factor for fans over 60.

This data shows a generational shift away from traditional place-based fandom, suggesting that younger fans are now forming connections through different pathways such as social media.

Family influence remains strong across all ages

Despite the drop in geographic loyalty, family influence continues to be a big factor in shaping fandoms. Among Gen Z fans, 52% say they choose their favorite teams and players based on family support, making it their most common deciding factor. This pattern is consistent across generations, with 58% of Millennials and 50% of Gen X fans also having family influence as a key driver.

Performance over tradition

When it comes to what might be considered “traditional loyalty”, the results reveal an interesting trend. After family influence, the second most important factor for Gen Z fans is past performance, with 39% selecting teams and players based on their track record of success. Millennials show a nearly identical pattern, with 40% prioritizing performance history. Older generations, however, are far less likely to base their fandom on performance metrics, suggesting that younger fans might take a more results-oriented approach to their fandoms.

It looks like the way people become sports fans is changing. Our findings show that younger fans aren’t as tied to local teams. Instead, they’re more influenced by their family’s traditions and a team’s or athlete’s success.

Player Loyalty vs. Team Loyalty

Another indicator of changing fan loyalty patterns emerged when we asked fans what they would do if their favorite player switched teams. 22% of Gen Z fans said they would follow the player to their new team, essentially moving away from their current franchise.

The contrast with older generations is clear, with only 8% of Gen X fans and just 5% of Baby Boomers making the same choice. In fact, 94% of Boomer respondents said they would stick with their team regardless of player movement, suggesting the strongest level of team-based loyalty across all the generations. Although, 22% of this figure was respondents wanting to stick with their team but also follow their favorite athlete.

Super Bowl or favorite athlete?

To discover the individual appeal that athletes hold for younger fans, we asked respondents whether they would rather see their team win Super Bowl 60 or have a one-on-one meeting with their favorite player.

Across all generations, similar patterns emerged, with the majority of respondents wanting their team to win the Super Bowl. However, while 25% of Gen Z fans chose the personal meeting over team success, they weren’t actually the most player-focused group. In fact, 30% of Millennials would prefer to meet their favorite athlete, rather than see their team lift the Lombardi Trophy.

Unsurprisingly, the Boomer generation is the most invested in team success, with 81% of respondents choosing to see their favorite team win the Super Bowl. This suggests they are more focused on a team’s overall achievement rather than the success of individual players, unlike the younger generations.

Almost half of Gen Z would split with a partner over team rivalries

While earlier findings might suggest Gen Z has weaker traditional team loyalty, further results from the survey suggest that when Gen Z fans do commit to a team, their fandom runs deep and even sometimes to dramatic levels.

Love vs. Loyalty

When we asked fans whether supporting a rival team would be a dealbreaker in a relationship, 45% of Gen Z said they would end a relationship over their partner’s team choice. This is much larger than other generations’ responses, with only 27% of Gen X and just 4% of Baby Boomers willing to let sports preferences impact their love life.

You could also argue that this isn’t so much about team loyalty, but more a sign of how dating works for younger generations in 2025.

Putting money where their fandom is

Gen Z’s financial commitment to their teams tells another story of their loyalty. The average Gen Z fan is willing to spend $211.81 to see their team play, which is a substantial amount that likely reflects both their fandom and the financial reality as the youngest earning demographic in the survey. While this falls below Millennials ($297.64) and Gen X ($215.22), it significantly exceeds Baby Boomers’ average of just $98.80.

Fandom in the digital age

Perhaps the most interesting finding is the willingness of young fans to give up their digital lives for their team. When asked if they would delete their social media to guarantee their team a Super Bowl victory, a massive 51% of Gen Z fans said yes. This is a significant jump from older generations, as only 37% of Gen X and 24% of Baby Boomers were willing to delete their socials.

Gen Z’s dedication also shows up in their daily habits, as they are willing to watch a game anywhere, on any device. For instance, 49% of young fans would stream a game during work hours, 27% would watch during a date, and a committed 12% would even tune in during a wedding. In contrast, 30% of Baby Boomers stated they wouldn’t watch a game if they were away from home.

However, whether this reflects deeper passion and fandom or simply different attitudes toward multitasking and screen time, it demonstrates how sports fandom is woven into Gen Z’s daily digital lives.

Gen Z spend a quarter of NFL games on their phone

Although Gen Z are actively involved in sports fandom, and would go to extreme lengths for their teams, developments in social media mean they may not be as actively engaged with games as older generations. Just 68% of younger fans watch full NFL games, compared to 75% of millennials, 85% of Gen X and 86% of Boomers.

Instead, Gen Z are becoming increasingly dependent on highlights and clips found on social media, which can be more easily shared. 20% of Gen Z say they watch sports through these videos, while for older groups, this statistic ranges from 5% to 12%.

In addition to watching more short-form sports content, Gen Z are more likely to spend large portions of an NFL game on their phone rather than actively watching. 43% of young fans spend between 31 and 45 minutes of an average match using their phone, while older generations spend significantly less time distracted. The averages for each generation were:

• Gen Z = 43 minutes and 31 seconds
• Millennials = 41 minutes and 58 seconds
• Gen X = 23 minutes and 17 seconds
• Baby Boomers = 8 minutes and 41 seconds

The most common activity for Gen Z fans when using their phones during an NFL game is browsing social media (56%), followed closely by texting (54%). However, 19% of Gen Z fans use this time on dating apps, 10% update their fantasy team and 27% are looking at their bets.

Traditional rivalries are still going strong with Gen Z fans

While many Gen Z sports fandom habits are shifting, one constant that hasn’t changed is the presence of rivalries in their support of NFL teams. When we asked our participants to name the NFL team that they despised the most, not a single person answered, “none of the above”, which shows that rivalries have endured through the recent shift in Gen Z support from teams to athletes.

The most despised team, by far, was the Dallas Cowboys. 21% of participants listed them as their most hated NFL franchise, with millennials showing particular distaste for them (17%). The New England Patriots then ranked as the second most despised NFL team (11%), while the Kansas City Chiefs rounded out the top three (9.2%).

On the other hand, the team that inspires the least hatred among fans is the New Orleans Saints. Only 2.5% of people who answered our survey considered them their most hated franchise.

Has being a fan of sports really changed that much?

When we combine the results of our survey, we can see that Gen Z is certainly reshaping what it means to be a fan. Their habits are less rooted in tradition or geography, and more based on online presence, the individual star power of athletes and a fluid approach to fandom.

However, while it seems easy for older generations to dismiss the preferences of younger viewers, they’re still deeply engaged in their fandom, despite their support manifesting in new ways. So, whether you’re an old-school NFL fan or a new viewer, there’s no denying that the Gen Z portion of the fanbase is here to stay.

Speaking of supporting your favorite sports teams, if you want to stay up-to-date with everything going on in the sporting world, don’t forget to head over to our news page for all the latest updates. And don’t forget to check out our sportsbook if you want to play the odds on your favorite team’s next game.

Methodology

To understand Gen Z’s NFL fandom, we combined HRB’s anonymized betting data with insights from a survey of 2,000 NFL fans conducted in August 2025.