The internet has surpassed television as the primary platform for 18- to 35-year-old Europeans to watch their favourite sports, according to research by the Havas Sports & Entertainment agency.
The study found that 36.1 per cent of the age group watch their favourite sport or team online on a weekly basis in comparison with 32.1 per cent who watch on television.
“The implications of this are huge and suggest the broadcast sales model for sport needs to be carefully considered in the future,” Havas chief executive Lucien Boyer said. “Whilst television will clearly continue to remain of enormous importance, the younger generation choose to consume sport in a number of ways, so the key now is to be a content provider that can satisfy the demands of sports fans across all platforms.”
The survey was carried out online and included 3,500 sports fans from France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Spain and the UK. It was conducted between December 23 2011 and January 3 2012.