Limelight Sports Highlights Underengagement Of Under 35s

New research commissioned by sport experience agency Limelight Sports and undertaken by SMG YouGov, has revealed that 78% of those who took part in participation sport events in the last two years were over the age of 35, with 48% over the age of 45. This weekend, Limelight Sports, is staging the world’s largest Duathlon, London Duathlon, exactly the type of event that is proving increasingly appealing to the younger market. 

London Duathlon takes place in Richmond Park and is the only event which closes the park to traffic. The sold-out event, first held in 2005, consists of run-bike-run elements with the choice of four individual challenges, including the Classic (10k run, 44k bike and 5k run), and one team challenge event.  

With the growing popularity of participation sport events, which have seen 2.5 million people taking part since 2011, Limelight Sports, the creators of some of the UK’s most high-profile participation sport events including Sainsbury’s Sport Relief Mile and Sky Ride is looking to broaden the engagement of sport events to engage the under-35 year old demographic. 

Bastien Hibon, Marketing Director at Limelight Sports, commented, “From our new research it is clear that currently the major market for participation sport events is people aged 35 years old and above, with a large section of the younger market looking for more than just traditional running, swimming or cycling events. At Limelight Sports we are finding that by developing creative and premium sporting experiences, there is a great opportunity to attract new audiences to our events. These experiences are highly appealing to brands as they can be tailored to engage specific target audiences, positioning the partnering brands as trailblazers in what is a large and fast growing market. We are seeing a growing desire for under-35’s to be involved in participation sport experiences and we are very excited to further develop our market-leading offering, with events such as London Duathlon, for this important demographic.”