Sports fans prefer to watch at home says Epson survey

According to a survey by Epson’s projector division, the majority of Brits (65 per cent) preferred to watch this summer’s big sporting events at home, in peace and quiet, rather than view in social situations or cheering on with friends.

On average across the four big events in this year’s summer of sport (Euro 2016, Wimbledon, Tour de France, and the Olympics), just nine per cent of those surveyed watched at home with friends or at a pal's house, while four per cent watched at a pub. Almost four in 10 (39 per cent) said they liked to watch big sporting events at home… so they could shout at the screen in comfort.

Unsurprisingly, the Olympics was the most popular sporting event watched by 79 per cent for an average of 11.5 hours. It was followed by Euro 2016, watched by 65 per cent and an average viewing time of 8.6 hours. Wimbledon was also watched by 65 per cent, with a mean viewing time 6.8 hours. The Tour de France was watched by 48 per ent, with a mean viewing time of 3.8 hours.

Almost a third (31 per cent) said they became less interested in these sporting events when the home nations were eliminated or not involved.

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Paul Wilson, business manager for Epson’s projectors division commented: “Sport plays such an important role bringing people together, so it’s quite surprising how many Brits said they preferred to watch the summer’s sporting events at home. Given how successful British athletes and sportspeople have been this summer, we would have thought more people would have liked to get out to soak up the atmosphere with friends and compatriots"

More than a third (35 per cent) said they checked scores and results of sporting events while at work. However, more than a fifth (22 per cent) of employers put Euro 2016 games on for employees at work. This figure reduced to 15 per cent for the Olympics and 12 per cent for Wimbledon.

19 per cent of workers said they watched events online while at work. Almost one in 10 Brits admitted to calling in sick so they could attend a key sporting match. A third stayed up late or got up in the middle of the night to watch an important sporting event.

Epson home cinema projectors are distributed by AWE. For more news stories about AWE's product portfolio and services, visit our partner page here.