Irish sports audiences are increasingly moving towards ‘second screen’ devices to keep in touch with multiple live sports experiences.
25% of respondents in the 15-24 age group said they would use a second device to either watch or keep updated on a second event while watching a first. This figure drops as age increases with only 8% of 55+ saying they would use a second screen.
The findings have emerged from exclusive research undertaken by Sport for Business and Amarach Research over one of the biggest sporting weekends of the year.
The research asked a national representative audience of 1,000 whether how and where they had watched the Aintree Grand National, the four Heineken Cup Quarter Finals involving Munster and Leinster, the Allianz League Football match between Tyrone and Dublin and two televised Premier League games involving Liverpool and Arsenal.
The Grand National was broadcast live on RTE and BBC and generated the largest audience with 30% of those questioned having watched some or all of it.
The second most popular TV event was the Munster Vs Toulouse Heineken Cup clash (22%), followed by Liverpool against West Ham in the Premier League(16%). Both of those matches were exclusively live on Sky Sports, as was the fourth most popular event of the Leinster game against Toulon on the Sunday afternoon (15%).
Everton Vs Arsenal came next at (14%) while the Ulster Vs Saracens Rugby (12%) just edged out Dublin Vs Tyrone in Gaelic Football (10%), despite the latter being free to air on TG4.
In total, 56% of the population had watched one or more of the events over the weekend, a figure that highlights the national love affair with sport of all kinds.
The survey also breaks down where the viewing took place between home, pub, friends houses or the internet. The pub remains a strong second choice behind watching at home across all ages and social classes. 19% of those who watched the Munster Vs Toulouse game did so in a pub as opposed to 4% in a friend’s house and the same percentage at a family members’ home.
The full research report is available exclusively to Sport for Business members. You can request a copy of the report by submitting your email below or sign up to membership here.
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