[Infographic] This is how the UK plans to watch Football

It is an understatement to merely say that football (or ‘soccer’) is popular in the UK. Our colleagues went out of their way to figure out how they follow the matches – asking 2,000 people in the UK to find out how they plan to ‘Keep calm and watch on’ this summer.

The survey of 2,000 people found that when it comes to where the UK is planning to watch the football, at home with the family is the most popular choice amongst 41% of the UK population, with just over one in ten fans planning to watch the action play out in the pub. The top places the British people will be watching the action and the people they will be watching with are revealed to be:

1.           At home with family – 41%

2.           At home alone – 23%

3.           At home with friends – 18%

4.           In the pub – 12%

The ‘Out Of the Office’ rule

Whilst a lot of the footballing action will take place outside of working hours, employers in the UK can still expect to see a change in their workforce for the next month.

More than a quarter (27%) of fans in the UK admit to having booked time off work so they can ‘kick’ back and enjoy games, with one in ten admitting that they have not told their boss that’s why they have booked the time off. A further one in ten admits they will reschedule important meetings so they don’t interfere with watching key matches.

Football on Live Pause

With live pause allowing viewers to control how people in the UK watch TV, it’s no surprise that it is set to feature highly on how people are planning to watch the football this summer. Advert breaks and commentators/presenters are the top casualties of the live pause button – more than a third (38%) of the people in the UK stated they will live pause and skip over breaks and the chatter of presenters before and during the match, with Adrian Chiles being pulled out as the presenter football fans most want to ‘live pause’ – 26% admit they are likely to skip past his commentary.  

Football on repeat

With the action playing out in the Southern Hemisphere, match timings are set to have a huge impact on how fans watch matches. Nearly half (44%) of football fans in the UK are planning on recording matches to watch at a time that suits them better than the scheduled broadcast time, and a further 22% admit they will have no qualms about switching off half way through and recording the second half if the match is boring.

40% of football fans in the UK plan to record matches as well as watch them live so they can re-watch them later to critique and relive the game. 45% of football fans are optimistically planning on recording games so they can relive every goal and a further third (32%) will be recording games so they can then pick apart the match in detail.  

A Samsung spokesperson commented, “It’s clear that technology is set to play a large part in the viewing experience of football fans this summer with tablets, smartphones and smart TV’s all featuring heavily on how we plan to watch the football and technologies such as ‘live pause’ and recording being a key part of how we view each match. As the Official Consumer Electronics & Smartphone Supplier to the England Team, Samsung’s technology will be enhancing the experience of the England squad out in Brazil, all squad members will be equipped with the Samsung Galaxy S5 which comes preloaded with state-of the-art health features, including a heart rate monitor. We wish the team the best of luck and also hope that all football fans back home enjoy every moment of the tournament.”