San Antonio ranks Highest for NBA Excitement.

The latest Scarborough Sports Marketing study examines the fans and cities that should be most excited for the return of the NBA. Avid NBA Fans make up 9% (22M) of all American adults age 18+. Scarborough Sports Marketing defines Avid Fans as American adults who say they are “very interested” in a given sport. Additionally, 5% of American adults attended an NBA game in the past 12 months.

According to the study, the top three local markets for Avid NBA Fans are cities in which the NBA is the only major professional league in town. Similarly, five of these top seven local markets are home to teams who made the playoffs last year. The top local markets for Avid NBA Fans are: San Antonio (26%), Memphis (19%), Salt Lake City (18%), Los Angeles (17%), Boston (17%), New Orleans (17%) and Cleveland (17%). Avid Fans are not only geographically diverse, they also run the range of the generation* spectrum; Gen Y (26%), Gen X (30%), Baby Boomers (30%) and the Silent Generation (14%). 20% of Avid Fans have an average household income of $100,000+ and one quarter (25%) have at least a college education.

As the games tip off with a whopping five events on Christmas Day, teams are hopeful that fans will return to the arenas. 13% of Avid Fans say they are willing to pay $75+ for a NBA single game ticket and according to recent** data, 15% of Avid Fans and 18% of event attendees are interested in buying partial or full-season tickets.

“With the league coming back, advertisers and sponsors regain their ability to interact with millions of Americans who love the sport,” said Bill Nielsen, vice president, Scarborough Sports Marketing. “Aside from ticket sales, 21% of Avid Fans and 24% of event attendees purchased NBA apparel in the past 12 months. Similarly, the draw of NBA events and the enthusiasm surrounding the teams is imperative to the economic growth of the local markets in terms of bars, restaurants and arenas.”

Avid Fans represent a significant marketing opportunity; in the coming year, Avid Fans live in households that plan to purchase computers (12%) and HD televisions (9%). Avid Fans are also 95% more likely than all American adults to live in households that plan to purchase a video gaming system in the coming year and 63% more likely to plan to purchase a smartphone in the same time frame.

If we focus on NBA attendees, American adults who have attended an event in the past 12 months, they are even younger and more affluent than Avid Fans; a prime target demographic for sponsors and advertisers; Gen Y (25%), Gen X (37%), Baby Boomers (31%) and the Silent Generation (7%). 34% of NBA attendees had a household income of $100,000+. Attendees were also 86% more likely than all American adults to live in households that own smartphones, e-readers (82%) and iPads (76%). The items this fan group plan to purchase for their household in the next 12 months include: computers (14%), smartphones (10%) and high definition televisions (10%).

*Scarborough defines the different American generations as Generation Y (age 18-29), Generation X (30-44), Baby Boomers (45-64) and the Silent Generation (65+).

**Recent, as it applies to this data point, means the 6 months from August 2010 to March 2011.

For more information at http://www.scarboroughsportsmarketing.com