From Mascots to Characters: Rethinking Children's Fan Engagement in Sport
Professional sport invests enormous amounts of resources into adult fans. I'm not convinced we've made the same investment when it comes to young fans.
The South Sydney Rabbitohs have done something I haven't seen many clubs attempt. Rather than simply refreshing Reggie Rabbit, they've expanded the mascot into an entire family of characters, each with their own personalities, relationships and backstories.
Most mascots are symbols. They appear before kick-off, visit schools, pose for photos and disappear until the following week. Characters are different. They have personalities, relationships, strengths, flaws and stories that children can follow over time. The Rabbitohs have already started building that world by introducing each member of the family, explaining who they are and how they relate to one another. Children aren't just seeing a mascot anymore; they're beginning to get to know a cast of characters.
I think that's where the opportunity lies.
Imagine being 6 years old, and receiving a personalised welcome letter from the Rabbitohs family introducing themselves and welcoming you to the club. Every Monday evening, a new 8-minute YouTube episode follows the same characters through adventures that subtly teach teamwork, resilience and belonging. One week, a player appears to help solve a problem. Next, a local junior club becomes the setting for the story, with its mascot making a cameo. Another episode sees Chemist Warehouse helping a character recover from an injury, naturally reinforcing the importance of looking after your body. Those same characters then appear at home games, feature in junior membership packs and return throughout the school holidays.
None of those ideas are particularly revolutionary on their own. The opportunity is connecting them. Every interaction reinforces the last, building familiarity with the club, its people and its values. Instead of creating a series of individual activations, the club creates a world that children recognise, trust and want to return to.
Kids under 8 now spend ~2.5 hours each day consuming screen media, while online video has become the largest component of their viewing, averaging ~40 mins a day- more than double what it was just 3 years ago. Whether we like that trend or not, it's changing where children build familiarity, form relationships with characters and spend their attention.
Professional sport has spent years refining the adult fan journey. The next opportunity is designing for the moments between matches. If lifelong sporting allegiances are often formed during childhood, then engaging young fans shouldn't simply be about making the 80-minute match more enjoyable. It should be about building familiarity in the spaces where children already spend their time and creating connected experiences that keep the club part of their week, not just their weekend.