SPORTS EVENT SPOTLIGHT 11 th November 2016
Sports Event Spotlight Throughout the course of the year Sport MR will be monitoring the level of interest in key sports events as they happen. Sports Event Spotlight is a time critical and sensitive measure of how much traction major sports events have in a given week. We are collecting further details on sports and events by different subgroups so if you are looking for more information please contact Jack Murray or Michael Stone. Topline findings will be published on Sport MR @SportmrInsight Jack@sportmr.co.uk Michael@sportmr.co.uk The survey was conducted amongst a nationally representative sample of 2,000 adults by our partner, Populus Data Solutions 2
Interest in Following Sport Q2 How interested are you in following the sports below - % Net Interested 1 Football 44% 2 Tennis 35% 3 Motor Sport 27% 4 5 Rugby Union Cricket 25% 23% 6 Darts 16% 7 Greyhound Racing 6% Our first measurement of greyhound racing shows a 6% following ( of men, 4% of women). When we look among this week s respondents at those who are very interested, football s lead widens with 27% saying this. Tennis, cricket and rugby union all score and motor sport 10%. 3
This Week s Events Events fans followed / will follow THIS WEEK and preferred EVENT TO FOLLOW England v Scotland (Football World Cup qualifier) 1 14% 33% F1 Grand Prix (Brazilian Grand Prix) 12% 2 England v South Africa (Rugby Union) 4% 15% 1st Test India v England (Cricket) 4% 15% ATP World Tour Finals (tennis) 4% Football League (League 1 and 2) 2% Wales v Serbia (Football World Cup qualifier) England v Australia (Rugby League Four Nations) 2% Scotland v Australia (Rugby Union) Wales v Argentina (Rugby Union) Preferred Event to Follow This Week 10% Will Follow This Week 13% 12% 12% 10% 10% The England v Scotland football international is the week s biggest draw, albeit scoring a little below what we typically see for the Premier League. The Football League, which this week has no Championship matches, has the following of one in eight of our respondents. One in five respondents is more typical in weeks when Championship matches are also scheduled. 4
This Week s Events Events fans followed / will follow THIS WEEK and preferred EVENT TO FOLLOW Austria v Republic of Ireland (Football World Cup qualifier) 7% Northern Ireland v Azerbaijan (Football World Cup qualifier) 7% Grand Slam of Darts 2% 6% Ireland v Canada (Rugby Union) 7% New Zealand v Scotland (Rugby League Four Nations) 6% England v France (Women's Rugby Union) 4% Anglo Welsh Cup (Rugby Union) 3% William Hill St Leger (Greyhound Racing) None of these 47% Preferred Event to Follow This Week Will Follow This Week 6% 4% 3% 47% The Grand Slam of Darts is of interest to one in twelve of our respondents. Football, rugby union and rugby league matches involving home nations other than England interest fewer people than England matches, reflecting the high proportion of English people in the UK population. They fare particularly poorly in respect of being the week s most interesting event to our respondents, though they are of some interest to many. 5
Key Findings Despite the London venue and the race for the World No.1 ranking, the ATP World Tour Finals score well below the Grand Slams in attracting UK public interest. The 13% following contrasts with 1 for the US Open, 25% for the French Open and 46% for Wimbledon. It is, of course, possible that interest in the final weekend, particularly if the No.1 ranking is on the line, may exceed the figures for this weekend s opening matches. Typically for major tennis tournaments, the event is of interest to almost as high a proportion of women (12%) as men (14%). 15% of the population will follow England s First Test in India. This is around three quarters of the following for home Test matches not against Australia. As with overall interest in cricket, the following of this Test has a heavy male skew and is older and has more of an AB concentration than the population as a whole. The following of this Test, however, is slightly less male, AB and older dominated than is true of the sport as a whole. This may reflect differences in access to satellite television coverage and time as well as desire to watch. One in five respondents will follow the Brazilian Grand Prix this weekend. For one in eleven, it will be the event they will follow most closely. The F1 following is consistent in number and profile throughout the season, largely unaffected by whatever else features in the UK sporting calendar. The loyalty of the F1 fan throughout the year and the heavy older ABC1 profile of its followers speaks positively of the ability of sponsors to reach out to followers who, in large number, represent a strong potential market for luxury brands. 6
GET IN TOUCH enquiries@sportmr.co.uk