Sport is how you stay in the conversation with yourself
En Perú, el ejercicio no es simplemente un hábito: para casi la mitad de los hombres del país, su ausencia genera un malestar genuino, una señal de que el movimiento físico está entretejido con la identidad y el bienestar psicológico. Una encuesta de Kantar Ibope Media coloca a Perú a la cabeza de América Latina en este vínculo emocional con el deporte, muy por encima de Colombia, México, Chile y Argentina. Lo que los números revelan no es solo una estadística de salud pública, sino una ventana hacia cómo una sociedad construye su sentido de sí misma a través del cuerpo en movimiento.
- Perú encabeza América Latina con un 45.7% de hombres que se sienten mal sin ejercicio regular, una brecha significativa frente al 37% de Colombia y México.
- La motivación deportiva no es uniforme: los jóvenes de 12 a 17 años buscan pertenencia social en equipos y clubes, mientras que los mayores de 40 ejercen como práctica deliberada de salud y autocuidado.
- El fútbol domina tan profundamente el paisaje deportivo que distorsiona la percepción: los partidos clasificatorios de la selección peruana alcanzan hasta 49 puntos de rating, cifras inalcanzables para cualquier otro contenido televisivo.
- Las plataformas de apuestas en línea han irrumpido como nuevos actores publicitarios en el ecosistema deportivo peruano tras la pandemia, transformando quién financia y moldea la experiencia del espectador.
- El vóley y el atletismo acompañan al fútbol en popularidad, mientras que el surf, el tenis y las artes marciales ocupan un espacio más aspiracional en el imaginario deportivo nacional.
Pocos días antes de que esta encuesta llegara a los titulares, el entrenador Ricardo Gareca afirmó públicamente que el deporte es el único vehículo real para que los jóvenes peruanos aprendan a competir. Los datos de Kantar Ibope Media parecieron darle la razón, aunque con una profundidad que va más allá del fútbol.
Casi 46 de cada 100 hombres peruanos reportan sentirse fundamentalmente mal cuando no hacen ejercicio con regularidad. No se trata de una preferencia, sino de una necesidad psicológica. Francisco Carvajal, CEO del clúster Pacífico de Kantar, observó que ningún otro país de la región se acerca a esa cifra: Colombia, México y Ecuador registran un 37%, Chile un 33% y Argentina apenas un 30%. La distancia no es marginal; sugiere algo particular en la relación que los peruanos establecen entre el cuerpo y la identidad.
La edad reencuadra completamente la motivación. Entre los 12 y los 17 años, casi la mitad practica deporte por su dimensión social: el equipo, el club escolar, la pertenencia. El deporte es, para ellos, un contenedor de vínculos. Pasados los 40, la motivación se transforma: cuatro de cada diez mayores de 45 años no se sienten bien sin actividad física regular, y la combinan con decisiones conscientes sobre alimentación. El deporte se convierte en una forma de autocuidado.
El fútbol domina el paisaje deportivo con tal intensidad que opaca todo lo demás. Los partidos clasificatorios de la selección peruana alcanzan cifras de audiencia que ningún otro contenido televisivo puede igualar, con un pico de 49 puntos de rating. El vóley y el atletismo lo acompañan en popularidad, mientras que el surf, el tenis y las artes marciales ocupan un espacio más aspiracional. Significativamente, el 46% de las mujeres encuestadas declaró jugar fútbol o tener deseos de hacerlo.
Tras la pandemia, el ecosistema comercial del deporte también se transformó. Las plataformas de apuestas en línea —ya consolidadas en América del Norte, Asia y Europa— irrumpieron en la publicidad deportiva peruana, apareciendo junto a los tradicionales anunciantes de tónicos, vitaminas y materiales de construcción. El cambio refleja no solo nuevas prioridades comerciales, sino una reconfiguración más amplia de cómo se monetiza la audiencia deportiva en el país.
A few days before this survey made headlines, Peru's national football coach Ricardo Gareca stood at a microphone and made a simple claim: the country needs its young people to compete, and sport is the only real vehicle for that to happen. The data that followed suggested he was onto something deeper than just winning matches.
According to research from Kantar Ibope Media, nearly 46 out of every 100 Peruvian men report feeling fundamentally unwell when they're not exercising regularly. That's not a preference. That's a psychological need woven into how they experience themselves. When Francisco Carvajal, the CEO of Kantar's Pacific cluster covering Peru and Chile, looked at the numbers across Latin America, Peru stood alone at the top. Colombia, Mexico, and Ecuador each registered 37 percent. Chile came in at 33 percent. Argentina, at 30 percent, was the lowest among the countries surveyed. Peru's 45.7 percent wasn't just higher—it was distinctly higher, suggesting something particular about how Peruvian men relate their bodies to their sense of self.
The picture shifts when you break the data by age. Among teenagers and young adults between 12 and 17, nearly half engage in sports primarily for the social dimension—the team, the school club, the university circle, the belonging that comes with showing up. For them, sport is a social container. But move to people over 40, and the motivation transforms. Forty percent of those older than 45 say they cannot feel right without regular physical activity, and they pair that exercise with deliberate choices about what they eat and drink. For them, sport becomes a health practice, almost a form of self-care.
Football dominates the Peruvian sports landscape so thoroughly that it warps perception. The three most popular sports—football, volleyball, and athletics—command enormous attention, yet that attention doesn't always translate to participation. Football, though, has been gaining ground among women; 46 percent of female respondents said they either play it or would like to. Other sports occupy a more aspirational space in the national imagination. Surf and tennis each draw interest from 23 percent of respondents who either follow them or express desire to try them. Martial arts disciplines—karate, jiu-jitsu, muay thai—have carved out their own following as well.
The commercial ecosystem around sports has shifted noticeably since the pandemic. Online betting platforms, long established in North America, Asia, and Europe, have surged into prominence in Peru's sports advertising landscape. They now appear regularly in the commercial breaks of sports programming, alongside the traditional categories of tonics, vitamins, and construction materials. The shift reflects not just changing advertiser priorities but a broader transformation in how the sports audience is being monetized.
Football's grip on the national viewing audience remains unmatched. When Peru's national team plays in World Cup qualifying matches, the ratings dwarf everything else on television. The most-watched match in recent memory was the most recent one—Peru versus Paraguay—which drew 49 rating points in Peruvian households. The least-watched was Peru against Colombia in June 2021, which managed 34 points. Even at its lowest, a national team football match commands an audience that most other programming can only dream of reaching. That's the scale of the sport's hold on the country.
Citações Notáveis
Peru needs its young people to compete, and sport is the only real vehicle for that— Ricardo Gareca, Peru national football coach
When we talk about sports, it's a matter of aspiration— Francisco Carvajal, CEO of Kantar Ibope Media's Pacific cluster
A Conversa do Hearth Outra perspectiva sobre a história
Why does Peru stand so far ahead of other Latin American countries on this measure? What's different about how Peruvian men experience their bodies?
The data doesn't explain the why, only that it's true. But you could argue that in a country where football is almost a national religion, where the team's performance matters to collective identity, the body becomes a site where you prove something to yourself. Exercise isn't optional—it's how you stay in the conversation.
The age split is striking. Why would teenagers exercise for social reasons while their fathers exercise for health?
Youth are still building identity. They need the mirror of the group, the team, the shared ritual. By 45, you've already figured out who you are. What matters then is whether your body will let you keep living the life you want. The motivation shifts from external validation to internal maintenance.
Football is watched obsessively but not necessarily played. Why the gap between spectating and participating?
Because watching is easier, and because football has become so professionalized that the gap between what you see on television and what you can actually do feels unbridgeable. But other sports—surf, tennis, martial arts—they exist in a different register. They're things you might actually try. That's why they're aspirational rather than just popular.
Online betting platforms appearing in sports ads—is that a problem or just market evolution?
It's both. It's the market finding new money in sports audiences. But it also says something about what sports broadcasting has become: not just entertainment, but a venue for financial speculation. The pandemic accelerated it, but the direction was already set.