How large is the Latino sports fan economy in the United States?

How big is it today?

McKinsey values the US sports economy at $160 billion in 2024 and projects more than $300 billion by 2035. Latino fans account for $31 billion of the 2024 total, or 19%, in line with their share of the population. By 2035 McKinsey expects that to reach about $80 billion and 25%, which means Latino fans would supply one third of all the growth in US sports over the decade. The research was conducted in collaboration with Telemundo, which is worth knowing when reading it.

Do Latino fans spend differently?

Yes. McKinsey found that Latino fans spend 15% more than non-Latino fans across sports categories, including media subscriptions and tickets to live events.

Why is the segment growing?

Age. Latinos are 26% of the US population under 25, and about 56% of all Latinos are under 34. The US Hispanic population passed 68 million in 2024. Participation is moving the same way: Aspen reports that 65% of Latino kids ages 6 to 17 tried a sport in 2024, a higher rate than Black or White youth.

How do Latino fans respond to sponsorship?

Nielsen has measured it several times. Hispanic sports fans are 39% more likely to recommend a company and 37% more likely to feel loyal to a brand when it sponsors a sport they follow. In 2026 research, 32% said they consider a brand for the first time when it sponsors something they follow, and they were 11% more likely than the general population to buy a brand after seeing its sponsorship.

Where does soccer fit?

Nielsen counts 62.2 million soccer fans in the United States, 27% of the population and the fourth largest soccer fan base in the world. Of those fans, 22% are Hispanic and 76% are Millennials or Gen Z. The share rises with the event: 53% of the more than 12 million US viewers of the 2024 Copa America final were Hispanic.

What is missing from this picture?

Two things. First, access: research by McKinsey and the US Soccer Federation found that Latino and Black children are three times more likely than White children to stop playing soccer because they feel unwelcome, which helps explain why so much Hispanic soccer lives in community clubs and independent leagues rather than in pay-to-play academies. Second, measurement: there is no public figure for what local and semipro soccer sponsorship is worth in the United States. Hispanic Retail Media (HRM) is compiling a census of clubs in Hispanic communities to start closing that gap, and represents those clubs' open inventory as a sales house.