Sports Fans Not Techies Dominate Web
Studies show it’s sports fans, not tech savvy geeks who are more likely to embrace the internet. Yes, sports fans more likely to use a greater range of web services than the average surfer.
Sports fans are heavy internet users. That’s the latest report by the European Interactive Advertising Association (EIAA).
Sports website users spend more than 13 hours online every week – more than one and a half hours more than the average internet user. EIAA’s report, “Sport and the Shift to Interactive Media” surveyed more than 7,000 web users across Europe, looked at the behaviour of sports fans and compared those statistics with the average internet user. They found more than a third, 36% of all European internet users visit online sports sites.
Not only do they spend more time online, sports fans are more likely to engage with different types of media simultaneously than the average web surfer. This means they’re more likely to surf the internet while watching television. Almost of third, 32% percent said they watch television while online. For the average internet user only 16% are likely to combine the two activities.
They’re more social as well. Sports fans regularly use sites like Facebook and MySpace. Almost half of the sports fans surveyed (48%), say they use social networks, compared to 42% of all internet users.
The most popular internet activity however? Searching the internet itself. Of those surveyed 92% said they use search engines at least once a month, making it the most popular internet activity – even over email –, which came in at 89%. Instant messaging was popular as well – with 46% participating in that and 43% saying they listened to online radio as well.
They may go online to watch sports, but Alison Fennah, executive director of the EIAA, said, "This shows that as sports fans decide they must watch sport, they're learning about all the media they can watch it on."
The research was conducted by market research firm Synovate.
Sports website users spend more than 13 hours online every week – more than one and a half hours more than the average internet user. EIAA’s report, “Sport and the Shift to Interactive Media” surveyed more than 7,000 web users across Europe, looked at the behaviour of sports fans and compared those statistics with the average internet user. They found more than a third, 36% of all European internet users visit online sports sites.
Not only do they spend more time online, sports fans are more likely to engage with different types of media simultaneously than the average web surfer. This means they’re more likely to surf the internet while watching television. Almost of third, 32% percent said they watch television while online. For the average internet user only 16% are likely to combine the two activities.
They’re more social as well. Sports fans regularly use sites like Facebook and MySpace. Almost half of the sports fans surveyed (48%), say they use social networks, compared to 42% of all internet users.
The most popular internet activity however? Searching the internet itself. Of those surveyed 92% said they use search engines at least once a month, making it the most popular internet activity – even over email –, which came in at 89%. Instant messaging was popular as well – with 46% participating in that and 43% saying they listened to online radio as well.
They may go online to watch sports, but Alison Fennah, executive director of the EIAA, said, "This shows that as sports fans decide they must watch sport, they're learning about all the media they can watch it on."
The research was conducted by market research firm Synovate.
