Student Voices of The Relevance Report 2025: Sports

GuestsSierra Sohn — Author of “Where The Hell is My Money Going: A Gen Z Perspective” exploring Gen Z fandom, shareability, and what young audiences expect from the sports experience.Chinelọ Ogogor — Author of "Emerging Technologies for Sports Training, Biomechanics, and Injury Prevention" exploring biomechanics and the science-driven technologies elevating athlete performance and recovery.Ava Nichols — Author of "From Heartbeats to Headlines: The Communication Power of Athlete Health Data" exploring wearable tech, health data, and how technology forges new digital relationships between fans and athletes.Host: Fred Cook, Director, USC Center for Public RelationsDiscussion BreakdownWhy Sports Matter to Gen Z — 0:00Shareability, Pop-Ups, and the New Fan Experience — 1:00The Taylor Swift Effect & Cultural Momentum — 3:00The Price Problem: Where Is Gen Z’s Money Going? — 4:30AR Moments, Collectibles, and Immersive Stadium Touchpoints — 5:30Wearables, Data, and the New Language of Sports — 7:12Parasocial Accountability & Athlete Transparency — 8:30Data Accuracy, Misinterpretation, and Competitive Edge — 9:15Biomechanics: Science Meets Sports — 12:50Is Tech an Advantage or the New Baseline? — 14:35Fan Interaction: Live Polls, QR Codes, Betting, and Streaming — 16:11AI in Sports: Prediction, Sentiment, and Betting Trends — 17:43Will Sporting Events Start to Look Like Concerts? — 19:49Cross-Cultural Collaborations: F1 x Hello Kitty & Swifties x NFL — 21:50The Future of PR in Sports — 24:08Communicating Value vs. Setting Prices — 27:29Closing Reflections: Sports as a Shared Cultural Space — 28:21Key Insights1. Gen Z Is Redefining What Makes Sports “Worth It.”Sierra highlights that younger fans aren’t just buying tickets — they’re buying culture, exclusivity, and shareable moments. Experiences inspired by music and entertainment (Easter eggs, AR, photo ops) are central to keeping Gen Z engaged.2. Wearables Create a New Digital Relationship Between Fans and Athletes.Ava explains how devices like Oura, Apple Watch, and WHOOP let fans “train like their heroes.” But access to athlete data also raises issues of accuracy, perception, and competitive intelligence.3. Biomechanics Will Become Table Stakes for Performance.Chinelọ connects science and sport, showing how individualized biomechanical training can turn role players into high performers. Teams that don’t adopt these tools may quickly fall behind.4. AI Adds New Storylines, Not Fewer.From US Open prediction models to sentiment analysis, students argue AI doesn’t kill excitement — it creates more to follow, debate, and engage with.5. PR’s Role Expands as Sports Become More Technological and Cultural.Communicators must translate data, tech, culture, and fan psychology into clear stories. PR becomes the bridge between the science and the spectacle. Production CreditsA production of the USC Annenberg Center for Public Relations at the University of Southern California.Host: Fred CookExecutive Producer: Ron AntonetteSeason 7 Producers: Joe Carreon and Anvi MahajanProduction: Camille Culbertson, Jack Gisler, Toma BattinoEditorial: Joey Cha, Ivan Feng, Natalie Lopez, Grace AnSocial Content: Angelina Tran, Hailey Evans, Arushi Purkayastha, Chris ApyGrowth: Van Luu, Shaan DhaliwalLinksFollow the USC Center for PR (@usccenterforpr) on Instagram and LinkedIn. Follow Fred Cook on LinkedIn. Find all our reports at annenberg.usc.edu/cpr.Download the 2026 Relevance Report atannenberg.usc.edu/relevance