CHICAGO and NEW YORK, Jan. 20, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, 120 Sports unveiled the inaugural Millennials' Athlete Index based on exclusive research, conducted in conjunction with Ranker, that for the first time reveals the athletes mattering most to its target audience - Millennials.
120 Sports, a digital broadcast network involving multiple sports leagues and media properties that's built, developed and programmed for the Millennial generation, uses up-to-the-moment insight from consumer trends and current data research to shape the way it produces 24 hours of daily live and on-demand programming. The network, available exclusively as an OTT network on supported smartphones, tablets and connected devices, focuses on the hot topics, sports and athletes this generation of sports fans craves.
Athletes representing eight different major sports, including basketball, football, baseball, soccer, golf hockey, tennis and action sports were represented within the top 40.
2015 120 Sports Millennials' Athlete Index Top 10
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1) Stephen Curry, 26, NBA
2) Mike Trout, 23, MLB
3) Russell Wilson, 26, NFL
4) Kevin Durant, 26, NBA
5) Madison Bumgarner, 25, MLB
6) Aaron Rodgers, 31, NFL
7) J.J. Watt, 25, NFL
8) Andrew Luck, 25, NFL
9) Lionel Messi, 27, La Liga
10) Odell Beckham Jr., 22, NFL
In its extensive research, including a partnership with Ranker and leveraging its own viewership trends, 120 Sports surveyed over 1,400 Millennials (defined as 18 to 34-year-olds) to choose the professional, Olympic and collegiate athletes that matter most to them. Voters could cast both positive and negative votes on the rank of athletes, sending their favorite athletes to the top, while voting athletes they may dislike lower on the list. To determine the top athletes, Ranker uses an algorithm designed to balance various dimensions of agreement, popularity and positivity.
Breaking down the results by region, the top-rated athletes were Curry (Midwest), Damian Lillard (West Coast), Trout (Northeast), Peyton Manning (South) and Watt (Mountain).
The rankings provide additional insights including:
-- 8 out of the top 10 are 26 years of age or younger
-- 2 out of the top 5 are defending champions in their respective sports
-- Jonathan Toews, NHL, was the most liked athlete among females
-- 1 female athlete in top 15
-- 70% of the top 10 attended college
120 Sports, named for its concept of offering live and on-demand original sports programming designed and produced in two-minute segments, chose to unveil these monumental survey findings on the inaugural 120 Sports Day. January 20, 2015, has been officially proclaimed "120 Sports Day" by Rahm Emanuel, Mayor of Chicago, where the 120 Sports production facilities are located. Over the course of its daily live and on-demand programming, the 120 Sports hosts and expert analysts will further break down the Millennials' Athlete Index and reveal additional findings and key rankings.
2015 120 Sports Millennials' Athlete Index Top 11-40
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11. Alex Morgan, 25, USWNT
12. Damian Lillard, 24, NBA
13. Marcus Mariota, 21, NCAAF
14. Calvin Johnson, 29, NFL
15. Cristiano Ronaldo, 29, La
Liga
16. Clayton Kershaw, 26, MLB
17. Jonathan Toews, 26, NHL
18. Patrick Kane, 26, NHL
19. Tom Brady, 37, NFL
20. Tim Howard, 35, USMNT
21. Anthony Davis, 21, NBA
22. LeBron James, 30, NBA
23. Rickie Fowler, 26, PGA TOUR
24. Tim Duncan, 38, NBA
25. Marshawn Lynch, 28, NFL
26. Rob Gronkowski, 25, NFL
27. Giancarlo Stanton, 25, MLB
28. Shaun White, 28, Action
Sports
29. Steven Stamkos, 24, NHL
30. Maria Sharapova, 27, WTA
31. Henrik Lundqvist, 32, NHL
32. Buster Posey, 27, MLB
33. Bubba Watson, 36, PGA TOUR
34. Felix Hernandez, 28, MLB
35. Sidney Crosby, 27, NHL
36. Alexander Ovechkin, 29, NHL
37. Klay Thompson, 24, NBA
38. Russell Westbrook, 26, NBA
39. Peyton Manning, 38, NFL
40. Tiger Woods, 39, PGA TOUR
About 120 Sports:
120 Sports is a first-of-its-kind network partnership involving multiple leagues and media properties created for the digital generation and the devices it uses most. In 120 Sports, today's fans have access to unauthenticated video programming through a new platform built to intuitively integrate video and data in ways they haven't experienced before. Equity partners in 120 Sports include Time Inc. /Sports Illustrated, MLBAM, the NHL, the PGA TOUR, Campus Insiders and Silver Chalice.
To learn more about 120 Sports, visit http://www.120sports.com or follow us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/120Sports and Twitter https://twitter.com/120Sports.
About Ranker:
Ranker.com is a crowdsourced destination where consumers view, rank, and vote on broad opinion-based rankings ranging from "The Best Board Games" to "The Best Movies of All Time" to "The Best Inexpensive Cars". While lists and opinions are all over the web, Ranker's technology is based on user engagement, turning these lists into the "best possible rankings" based on the wisdom of crowds.
Ranker, a Quantcast Top 200 site, attracts over 19 million monthly unique visitors, and over half a million people a month vote on various lists on the site. As a result Ranker has one of the world's largest databases of opinions with more than 100 million votes gathered on 50,000 items. For more information on Ranker, please visit www.Ranker.com. Follow Ranker on Twitter and Facebook.
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SOURCE 120 Sports
