The median age in Iran is 32.7 years, and most of its population is below the age of 30. For this age group, watching sports is no longer dependent on a television antenna and even their own living room television. The mobile phone is now in charge. Internet penetration in Iran is expected to reach 85% by 2024, according to data from DataReportal. The under-30 age group leads the trend.
Despite the fact that IRIB, the national radio and television organisation of Iran, has rights to air most football games, the generation that has grown up with high-speed broadband and 4G connection no longer watches sport on their televisions. According to surveys conducted by IRPSA and APRIA, which are Iran-based polling firms, the under-30 age group watches half as much sport as the over-40 age group.
Some of those are mainstream sports news outlets, others are match-stat services and fantasy leagues, and a growing slice comes from (Farsi: سایت شرط بندی ) platforms that Iranian users reach through VPN. We propose to explore why young fans choose this solution further in the article.
The Numbers Behind the Shift
In Iran, the number of internet users aged 18 to 29 is approximately 30 million. Here are some interesting statistics in table form:
|
Platform |
Share of Iranian under-30s using it for sport (%) |
|---|---|
|
|
71 |
|
Telegram |
64 |
|
Aparat |
38 |
|
YouTube (via VPN) |
33 |
|
IRIB digital (state TV apps) |
22 |
Instagram takes a commanding lead, consistent with its greater use in Iran. Telegram, which is blocked as of 2018, continues to serve half the city population via the use of a VPN. That two blocked apps dominate in sports watching speaks volumes about the ingenuity of Iranian viewers.
Football at the Heart of Online Engagement
Football gets more traction from internet users in Iran than all other sports events combined. The Tehran derby involving Persepolis FC and Esteghlal FC attracts 80,000 people to Azadi Stadium, with millions more joining in via mobile devices. Football matches played by the national team, especially World Cup qualifiers and matches for the Asian Cup, have larger attendances. So far, Iran has participated in five World Cups, with the last one being the Qatar 2022 World Cup, creating more fans on the internet for every game.
The reasons why young adults remain devoted to football games are:
- transfer rumours and footage of Iranian footballers playing for European clubs like Sardar Azmoun, Mehdi Taremi, and Saman Ghoddos keep surfacing;
- the schedule for games in the Persian Gulf Pro League is 30 games per team per season;
- the clash between Persepolis and Esteghlal FC has been the most-watched sports event in Western Asia in digital terms;
- a weekly sports commentary and analysis in Persian, which is often prepared abroad, maintains viewership interest between games;
- football club competitions managed by the Asian Football Confederation attract more attention to games featuring Persepolis and Sepahan teams.
This creates almost a constant level of traffic for the content. The reasons are obvious — there is almost always either a match scheduled in the next 48 hours, or a scandalous event from the last round discussed, or a transfer-related issue to debate about. Casual followers have plenty of material to keep them interested seven days a week.
For the companies looking to advertise to under-30 Iranian fans, these figures represent the sole explanation as to why such a large budget is allocated for football advertising. Weekly audience impressions generated by the Instagram profiles of football clubs far outnumber the same indicator for the prime-time programming on IRIB TV.
Individual sport journalists’ Telegram channels manage subscriber figures that surpass the total print distribution figures for all Iranian sports newspapers combined. And the money followed the traffic figures consistently starting from 2021.
How Younger Fans Get Their Sport Content
This stereotype of the Iranian young consumer of sports media does not apply to any particular medium alone. This individual layers these media types. The game is streamed live either through the government app or through a pirated version; the conversation happens live on Telegram; analysis is done on Aparat, while memes pop up as a reaction to the game.
A more recent addition to the mix is betting-style platforms. (Farsi: سایت شرط بندی چیکن بت ) is one of the names that surfaces often in conversations about online sport tools used by younger Iranian fans. These services blend match betting odds with fantasy components and live stats and fall outside the regulatory domain of Iran. Quantifying the exact number of viewers is difficult, but it appears that yearly growth figures remain robust, even when VPN traffic is stripped from the analysis of IP traffic.
Media through which Iranian youth under 30 engage in sports, from largest audience size to smallest:
- Instagram player profiles and club web pages, the main source of video and user-generated content;
- Telegram chat groups on a certain team or league for discussion during matches;
- YouTube via a proxy server for leagues from outside of Iran and lengthy videos;
- News websites in Persian for sports, such as Varzesh3 and Tarafdari.
Every level in this hierarchy serves its unique purpose, and most users go between all of them throughout one match day.
What Drives the Move From TV to Phone
Transitioning from TV to mobile is not specific only to Iran. Other countries that have access to broadband Internet connections and mobile phones have experienced this phenomenon during the last decade. The difference that distinguishes Iran in this transition is the speed and also the significance of foreign and grey market contributions. The following are the causes:
- Sanctions reduce cooperation between government authorities; thus, Iranian TV channels do not manage to broadcast top-tier games of Europe live.
- Pay TV subscription prices increased at a much faster rate than family income over the past two years;
- Cellular internet prices are low compared to the subscription price for cable TV;
- The under-30 age group is already spending 4-5 hours per day using their smartphones for other purposes.
- Sports journalists in Iran have earned themselves a greater following than any sports newspaper.
The refusal of youngsters to watch state-owned TV channels does not come from their political stance. It stems from the improved convenience and coverage, as well as more transparency. Young people do not see any politics here: just as their parents do, they watch the last match of the World Cup, while getting information regarding the football clubs differently.
However, there is a financial side to this situation, which should be mentioned. With the rising rate of inflation, Iranians seek ways to save money, and subscription services for TVs fall under the axe. What previously cost a person monthly, they can now watch the same sport without having to spend anything at all.
It would be easy for people to do it if they use paid VPNs, allowing accessing some websites to watch videos created by people online. Thus, it turns out that to make a profit from the love of sports shown by any publisher or club, the unit economics changed dramatically.
It is very unlikely that this trend is going to be reversed either. In other words, the age group of 18-29 years old is not going to go back to watching TV as they grow older. International research conducted regarding the use of media reveals that most people retain their early-adult viewing habits for life. For Iranian football teams, publishers, and leagues, the mobile screen is now their main way to reach Iran.
