Celebrity investors in sport may generate headlines, but are they actually influencing fan behavior? In this article, we explore the question through the lens of SailGP, which has recently welcomed high-profile team owners like Ryan Reynolds, Hugh Jackman, Kylian Mbappé and Anne Hathaway.

Following on from the recent YouGov Star Power report, which looked at the role of individual athletes on fandom, we turned our attention to celebrity ownership in sport. The data indicates that a sizeable chunk of sports fans acknowledge the impact celebrity ownership can have in them choosing to support a new team or even follow a new sport.

  • 1 in 5 sports fans (20%) say they’ve started following a new team because a celebrity or athlete from another sport invested in it — think Ryan Reynolds at Wrexham or Stephen Curry in TGL Golf.
  • 19% say they’ve followed a new sport entirely for the same reason, including emerging formats like SailGP, padel, and electric powerboat racing.

But the impact isn’t spread evenly across the fanbase. Younger sports fans are far more likely to respond to celebrity affiliation than older ones:

That’s nearly 1 in 3 fans aged 25–34, compared to just 1 in 20 among those 55+. The takeaway? Celebrity ownership is most potent with the next generation of sports consumers — a key audience for newer properties looking to scale quickly.

A standout showing for SailGP in New York

Preliminary YouGov Sport figures suggest that SailGP’s return to New York has outperformed recent events across both online press and social media — particularly thanks to its newly announced celebrity team owners.

Online press activity around the Mubadala New York Sail Grand Prix saw a major lift. Compared to the 2024 edition of the same event, the number of articles mentioning SailGP rose by 132%, while potential readership was up 74%.

A similarly impressive uptick was noticed during the event in San Francisco earlier this season, where article volume was 83% higher compared to the previous event there, and readership increased 36%.

When benchmarked against the 2025 season average, New York still stands out — with 86% more articles and a 64% boost in potential reach. In fact, it now ranks as the best-performing SailGP event for online readership since 2022.

Social media performance paints an equally compelling picture — albeit with a twist. While the number of posts referencing SailGP was actually 17% lower than at the 2024 New York event, overall impressions soared by 141%, thanks in large part to posts from Hugh Jackman and Ryan Reynolds on Instagram. Compared to the 2025 San Francisco event, social posts were up 22%, with impressions doubling (+100%). And against the 2025 season average, post volume was 52% higher, while impressions saw a dramatic 138% increase — making Mubadala New York Sail Grand Prix’s most impactful event on social since 2021.

Looking at secondary media reach and sentiment compared to 2024, the results speak for themselves. Thursday before the event weekend saw a 10x surge in reach, possibly driven by the Reynolds/Jackman reveal.

And it wasn’t just about quantity — the tone of coverage was more positive too. Positive sentiment in secondary media mentions saw a notable lift in 2025, particularly on the Thursday before the event weekend when the Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman news broke. That single day accounted for a 494% increase in positive media mentions compared to the same day in 2024. While race weekend sentiment remained relatively flat year-on-year, the pre-race buzz was clearly more upbeat this time around — a strong signal that celebrity involvement is shaping how the sport is perceived in media narratives.

Another encouraging sign for SailGP might be the increased traction among younger users. The age profile of X users posting about SailGP is trending younger.

Compared to 2024, the share of posts from users aged 18–44 rose in 2025, while representation among those aged 55+ declined — hinting that the sport’s growing star power may be resonating more with younger digital audiences.

Buzz lifts following celebrity team reveals

YouGov BrandIndex data reinforces the idea that celebrity involvement isn’t just about earning headlines — it shapes how fans talk about the sport. In Australia, the announcement of Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman as team owners in early June coincided with the most noticeable lift. Buzz scores climbed steadily from 22.0 to 26.3 in the two weeks following the news, marking the strongest gain across all markets.

France saw a similarly strong reaction after Kylian Mbappé was revealed as team owner in March. Buzz scores there rose from 16.2 to 22.1, suggesting the association with one of the world’s biggest football stars struck a chord with local audiences.

Italy’s response to Anne Hathaway’s May announcement was more modest but still visible, with Buzz moving from 6.6 to 10.2 over the same period.

Meanwhile, in the United States — where a consortium of investors including actor Issae Rae, boxer Deontay Wilder, NFL player DeAndre Hopkins and soccer player Jozy Altidore were announced back in 2023 — the lift was smaller and steadier, with Buzz increasing from 10.1 to 13.1.

Taken together, the data shows that the biggest shifts tend to occur shortly after a celebrity reveal — particularly when that figure has strong local or global resonance. And even where the jump is more modest, the sustained upward trend suggests these partnerships are having a lasting effect on brand perception.