A Nation of Armchair Supporters

Latest research from Mintel in the UK shows that television is the most popular way to enjoy sport. Nearly all (99%) of the 35 million adult supporters in Britain watched live sport on television at home or at a friend's house during 2002.

With the English football season now drawing to a close, Mintel's research shows that football is by far the most popular spectator sport in Britain. Of the 1,018 adults questioned, nearly seven in ten listened to or watched football in 2002. This is more than one and a half times that of the next best supported sport, athletics. Meanwhile motor-racing slipped from second place in 1999 right down to eighth in 2002. This dramatic fall from grace was mainly due to the reduction of Formula One's audience to a hardcore motor racing enthusiasts by the dominance of Ferrari and Michael Schumacher, which has turned the casual spectator off.

Among other sports the enduring popularity of snooker keeps it in the top 3, while golf and rugby union followed football and athletics in recording impressive increases in the number of spectators.

Football also accounts for twice as much television airtime as the next most screened sport, golf as in 2001 over a quarter (28%) of all televised sports coverage was devoted to football. Furthermore football, along with tennis and cricket, saw the largest rise in televised output.

Attendance at sporting events is dominated by men in a ratio of almost two and a half to one while more than twice as many men as women watch live events outside the home and listen to sport on the radio. The margin is much closer for watching in the home, with nearly three in four men having viewed sport this way compared to just over half of women. Cricket is the sport that displays the strongest male bias in its spectator profile. While the male to female ratio in football, athletics and snooker is less than two to one, in cricket it is approaching three to one. In tennis the male bias is least pronounced, with close to one in four men and one in five women watched in the previous 12 months.

Where sports viewing is dominated by men, it is women who account for the bulk of those who do not watch or listen to sport. Surprisingly, nearly two in five (37%) women had no experience at all of watching or listening to live sport in 2002, compared to just over 1 in 6 (16%) of men.

At home, terrestrial channels (BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel Five) are most commonly watched, with exactly half of all adults doing so in 2002, compared to just 28% of adults viewing sport on satellite and cable channels over the same period. This is despite the fact that pay-TV channels BSkyB and Eurosport screened 85% of all televised sport,with BSkyB alone accounting for almost two thirds of total coverage. 'This may be a sign that cost is a significant influence on spectating sports, as terrestrial television in the home is by far the cheapest way to watch live sport', comments Mark Brechin, Senior Leisure Analyst at Mintel.

Despite the recent growth in the value of broadcast rights, it now appears likely that the rights market has peaked, as most sports channels are running at near capacity. 'This suggests that increasing attendance levels at live events is a potential growth area of revenue to sport in the UK', comments Mark Brechin.

Mintel research shows that nearly half of adults (44%) agree that nothing can beat the atmosphere of going to watch a sports event live. Among those that had watched or listened to a live event during the past 12 months, this figure rose to 60%. In contrast, only 18% of all respondents believed 'It is better watching a live sports event on TV than going to watch it in person'. 'Our consumer research shows that, regardless of how extensive or enhanced sports television programming becomes, it will never be able to surpass attendance at an event as a live experience', concludes Mark Brechin.

Buying a ticket on the day is the most popular method available for spectating at live events, with one in four adults saying they had done so in 2002. During the same year an estimated one million more people claimed to have been business guests at a sporting event in the past year, than held a season ticket. As just a third of adults had been to a live fixture in 2002 more people listened to a radio broadcast or watched a live fixture in a pub or bar than had been a spectator at a live event.

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas unless otherwise stated.

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