NBA (and Michael Jordan) fans were thrilled that the premiere of ESPN’s ‘30 for 30’ documentary The Last Dance, highlighting Michael Jordan’s life and basketball career prime, was pushed up to April 19 due to the coronavirus. Reported likelihood of viewing the documentary, which was originally set to be released in the summer, is not too shabby. 

According to a CivicScience study of 2,200 members of the general population (age 13+), 18% say they are at least somewhat likely to tune in.

Let the 90s nostalgia commence. Those in both the 25-34 and 35-54 age brackets, who likely watched Jordan play for the Bulls in his heyday, are the most likely to say they’ll tune in for the series (which focuses on the 1997-98 Chicago Bulls).

We do see interest in the younger age groups too, even given that ‘not sure’ is high. Perhaps people are interested in the series for Jordan’s legendary status alone.

While men are more likely to have interest in watching this documentary series, 16% of women still report some likelihood in viewing.

Among NBA fans, nearly 40% are likely to tune in, quite a jump from the top-line Gen Pop numbers.

Looking at fans of the other major leagues / events, we still see vast interest among sports fans in general, much higher than that of the Gen Pop. The NHL is on top after the NBA.

🥅 29% of NHL fans are likely to watch

🏈 26% of NFL fans are likely to watch

⚾️ 26% of MLB fans are likely to watch

🏁 21% of NASCAR fans are likely to watch

TikTok Users Are All About It

In terms of the other major social media platforms, Twitter comes in second, but nothing comes close to TikTok users’ interest in the documentary.

🐦 31% of Twitter users are likely to watch

🤳24% of Instagram users are likely to watch

🗣 24% of Facebook users are likely to watch

⏯ 21% of YouTube users are likely to watch

In terms of users of ESPN+, we see just as much interest from intenders of the streaming service as we do from current users.

For the Love of Sports

It really comes down to a passion for sports. If you live and breathe sports (report that watching sports is a ‘passion’ of yours), you’re more than 2X as likely to say you’ll likely tune in than people who are somewhat into the game (‘like’ watching sports).

We see the same passion for sports correlation when crossing Last Dance viewing with what people miss the most in our current reality of staying home. Those who are at least ‘somewhat likely’ to watch The Last Dance over-index to an extreme in missing watching sports the most. They are more likely to say they miss watching sports the most, more than 2X more than missing friends the most.

Jordan – the household name that he is – will draw in sports fans of all kinds for ESPN’s docuseries. Especially during lockdowns, we wouldn’t be surprised if people who report they’re not likely to watch decide to tune in after all.