A new research report conducted by Roblox and Futures Sport & Entertainment confirms the platform’s ability to help sports properties and brands reach young audiences.  

The NFL, NBA and NHL are among the leagues with new Roblox content debuting this month. On Super Bowl Sunday, the NFL is collaborating with Voldex on NFL Universe Football, with extensive Super Bowl and Pro Bowl-themed games and avatar gear. NHL Blast is teaming with a developer studio called The Gang for a 4 Nations Face-Off update for Feb. 12, and the NBA, along with developer F84, will debut new features on Feb. 14 in conjunction with the NBA All-Star Game. 

“Roblox is a place where sports is happening in a meaningful way,” said Lisa Willett, a Roblox Senior Director with oversight over sports partnerships.  

Some of the notable research findings for the social platform with 88.9 million daily users across 190 countries include: 

• Roblox has growing scale for sports consumption: Users spent more than 500 million hours in sports experiences in 2024, a year-over-year increase of 26%.
• Properties can reach the coveted younger fan: More than 80% of Roblox users who visit its sports experiences are under the age of 35, while that demographic only represents 29% of TV sports viewership.
• The experiences have global reach: International Roblox users accounted for 54% of engaged hours.
• Roblox can keep fans engaged year-round: Almost half (43%) of time spent was in sports leagues’ offseason.
• Brands get exposure: Image recognition software determined that branding was visible for roughly one-third of all gameplay time. 

Willett added that there’s been an accelerated understanding from brands about reaching younger fans through Roblox, with 11% of sports experience visitors reported that they were more likely to watch live sporting events after the digital experience. 

“We’ve had some partnerships for some time, but I think we’re really hitting our stride more deeply in terms of bringing them to life on the platform,” Willett said, noting that it’s not just true of young, endemic brands but also more established ones.  

“A comfortable way for a very traditional brand to enter into our space is via their sports sponsorships,” she added. 

For the 2024 Paris Games, the IOC created an Olympic World on Roblox that was presented by Visa, and back in 2023, the USTA created Champions of the Court, an Emirates- and Ralph Lauren-backed Roblox experience for the U.S. Open. 

A year ago, the NFL launched Super NFL Tycoon on Roblox with support from Gamefam. NFL VP/Video Gaming Ed Kiang wrote to SBJ about Roblox’s value proposition, saying, “With such a strong foundation of new and returning players across Gen Z and Gen Alpha, our presence in Roblox has enabled the NFL to partner with best-in-class brands such as Intuit, SpongeBob Squarepants and Netflix. We’re excited to build on that success with a regular cadence of updates that educate new fans globally and build deeper fan connections through tentpole moments like Super Bowl LIX.”