Established in the wake of lower than anticipated levels of event entries post-pandemic, The Mass Participation Pulse provides actionable insight to support event organisers, brands and anyone else with an interest in seeing more people, taking part in more mass participation events, more often.
We’ve created the largest and most in depth survey for the mass participation events market of its kind in the UK, having asked nearly 20,000 runners, walkers, cyclists, swimmers, triathletes to share their thoughts and opinions since 2022.
We’ve partnered with other event organisers, brands, charities, and entry platforms to help shape the future of mass participation events in the UK.
Our belief is that the best route to this growth is through better understanding current and potential mass participation event participants; why they take part, their behaviours, needs, thoughts and their attitudes towards active events. We hope that this report provides those insights, highlights trends and identifies opportunities to support the growth we all want to see.
Last year’s report pointed towards 2024 being a strong year, with 41% of our respondents planning to participate in more events. So, we’re delighted to report that this has largely been the case, with significant growth seen across the industry with record ballot entries for events like the London Marathon and the Great North Run and substantial growth reported by event entry and fundraising platforms.
For a report that came about because of concerns about a slower-than-expected return to events post-pandemic. It is particularly pleasing to see many of our partners, reporting event entry levels well beyond 2019 pre-pandemic levels. This suggests that, as an industry, we are well and truly back ontrack and can start looking forward instead of back.
Key findings from this year’s report:
- Events overall and running events in particular, had a very positive year in 2024
- Event organisers are attracting new audiences to take part in events, with over a quarter of people we spoke to having taken up events since 2022.
- These new event audiences are younger, well-educated, relatively wealthy and more likely to be female than existing event participants.
- People are spending more on events and apparel, travelling further to take part and signing up earlier than at any time since the pandemic.
- Event participants are more positive about the events they take part in with a doubling in the percentage who feel that events offer good value for money
- Participants put more value on the basic’s of toilet provision, clear signage and ease of getting to and from event sites than almost any other element of the event experience.
- Social media and recommendations from friends and family are now the most common way for people to hear about events.
- Sentiment around finances for the year is more positive than we have seen at any point in the last 3 years but cost of living pressures have not gone away for many.
- The year ahead is looking positive with 32% of respondents expecting to increase the number of events they plan to take part in this year
About Us:
Massive specialise in supporting clients to design, develop and deliver mass, major and live outdoor events. As well as audience insight and market research, we’re trusted to deliver, logistics, branding, wayfinding and staffing support for some of the world’s biggest events, support many of the UK’s most successful fundraising events and manage sponsorship activations for global brands.
Get in touch if you have any questions regarding the pulse or need support with your events or campaigns – crd@wearemassive.co.uk.