Capturing engagement numbers - methodology toolkit
R&D Science and Analysis Programme - Capturing engagement numbers for unticketed sporting and cultural events: methodology toolkit
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In 2023, the R&D Science and Analysis Programme at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport commissioned an independent research project to explore methodologies for measuring engagement with sporting and cultural events, location, and activities beyond ticketing data.
The research began in October 2023 and completed in June 2025. It was carried out by a consortium of researchers at Verian, the University of Glasgow and Faculty. Verian led the consortium.
The research was conducted in two strands; the first strand of research explored potential datasets and methodologies for capturing engagement numbers at live events, the second strand of research applied these methodologies to a variety of events through case studies to explore suitability of methodology and optimisation. The events explored within these case studies were: Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture, the Great North Run 2024, the Giant’s Causeway, The British Museum, and screenings of the Women’s Euro’s final 2022.
This methodology toolkit has been developed to support Government analysts through the key steps involved in leveraging modern, data-intensive approaches to predict attendance at sporting and cultural events. It also documents the key decision-points analysts will be confronted by when deploying these methodologies and provides guidance to help inform those decisions.