How popular is football?

[Tomos y Tanc]

Let's not overstate the popularity of football. Sure, twenty million people in the UK watched the Germany game live on TV, a huge audience, but fifty million people either couldn't watch or didn't want to.

Football is popular but it's not popular enough to cause either a shortage of crews or a dearth of passengers during a game.

 

[westv]

If England reach the final I think you might find your comments need revising.

 

[birchesgreen]

Football is very popular though not as much as the media would have you believe. It does seem though that people are afraid in the public eye (and to an extent in normal circles) to say they arn't interested. It's the polar opposite of religious beliefs which is always best kept private.

 

[AlterEgo]

Football is really popular - so much so, in England it is the only sport which you’ll find people go out of their way to claim not to like, as if it’s some sort of unique personality trait which makes them contrarian and interesting.

 

[Joe Paxton]

Let's not overstate the popularity of football. Sure, twenty million people in the UK watched the Germany game live on TV, a huge audience, but fifty million people either couldn't watch or didn't want to.

Football is popular but it's not popular enough to cause either a shortage of crews or a dearth of passengers during a game.

Don't treat the 20 million figure as gospel. Also, more like at least 27 million anyway with iPlayer and website streams:
https://www.themag.co.uk/2021/06/staggering-tv-audience-figures-as-england-unites-and-germany-exits/

 

[LSWR Cavalier]

I fear many more people cycle than play football, even cycling slowly from A to B can be called 'sport'.

Not many people have more than half a dozen friends, one needs 21 plus officials to play football.

When did you last cycle, play football, run, swim?

 

[Darandio]

Not many people have more than half a dozen friends, one needs 21 plus officials to play football.

You don't, a kickabout in the park is as much football as any other. 5-a-side is a massive participation sport.

 

[birchesgreen]

You only need a couple of people and a ball, and something to hit the ball against. We used to call it "Slam" at school.

 

[AlterEgo]

I fear many more people cycle than play football, even cycling slowly from A to B can be called 'sport'.

Not many people have more than half a dozen friends, one needs 21 plus officials to play football.

When did you last cycle, play football, run, swim?

Football is massive. It’s hard to get a booking for a five a side game in southeast London.

The difference between playing football and recreationally cycling, running or swimming is only one is a sport where you compete against other people. I cycle and swim but those aren’t sports; they’re just a way of trying to keep healthy.

 

[Geezertronic]

Let's not overstate the popularity of football. Sure, twenty million people in the UK watched the Germany game live on TV, a huge audience, but fifty million people either couldn't watch or didn't want to.

Football is popular but it's not popular enough to cause either a shortage of crews or a dearth of passengers during a game.

It is a bit disingenuous to mention fifty million that couldn't/didn't watch? How many of them are babies, people in nursing homes etc...? For a sporting event, 20m+ is still a pretty good number as the assumption would be that the viewing records for popular events on TV are based on UK viewing numbers rather than English viewing numbers

 

[JamesT]

It is a bit disingenuous to mention fifty million that couldn't/didn't watch? How many of them are babies, people in nursing homes etc...? For a sporting event, 20m+ is still a pretty good number as the assumption would be that the viewing records for popular events on TV are based on UK viewing numbers rather than English viewing numbers

My understanding of the 20m figure is that it represented 80% of the TV viewing audience at that time. Which is pretty impressive to me, given the wide choice of things to watch on TV, 4 out of 5 chose the football.

 

[Gloster]

How many people watch it because they don’t want to be the odd one out at work, or be accused of being unpatriotic, or they don’t want to be cold-shouldered in the pub (*)? It has become like religion in the days of the puritans: anyone who doesn’t join in is to be ostracised.

* - Some years ago a friend stopped using his local pub after over a dozen years after the new landlord started making jibes about the fact that my friend hadn’t even realised that England were playing on one occasion.

 

[Calthrop]

My understanding of the 20m figure is that it represented 80% of the TV viewing audience at that time. Which is pretty impressive to me, given the wide choice of things to watch on TV, 4 out of 5 chose the football.

As interesting to me, is the indication here of the very large number of people not watching television. Figuring very roughly (my maths, utterly awful) -- UK's population checked via Google (no offence meant) as a little under 70 million: this would seem to indicate as, at Euro 2020's very peak, 25 million watching something on TV: whence 45 million not watching TV. Discounting those "out of the equation" -- as mentioned by an earlier poster: babies / small children; people in nursing homes -- or otherwise critically ill; or people at work, in jobs demanding a high level of concentration; shift-workers asleep (and not choosing to forego sleep in order to watch the game); or doing essential non-paid-employment stuff, more urgent than footie-watching; or homeless and marginalised, without access to a television; and discounting all who for one reason or another, were voluntarily TV-less in that time-window -- this would seem to leave a mighty lot of people who could have been watching something on telly at the time when when the biggest game was on, had they wanted to -- but seemingly they didn't want to.

We're often accused as a nation, of overwhelmingly suffering from "square eyes": the above would seem to throw some doubt on that view of things.

How many people watch it because they don’t want to be the odd one out at work, or be accused of being unpatriotic, or they don’t want to be cold-shouldered in the pub (*)? It has become like religion in the days of the puritans: anyone who doesn’t join in is to be ostracised.

* - Some years ago a friend stopped using his local pub after over a dozen years after the new landlord started making jibes about the fact that my friend hadn’t even realised
that England were playing on one occasion.

"Conform, or be despised and rejected" -- one of humankind's widespread nasty traits.

 

[UP13]

Do the TV viewing figures take into account multiple people watching the same television or streaming figures?

The one thing I'll say about football is that it has many, many fans who have never played at a level outside of school playground/kick about with mates. It has a universal appeal. Compare to sports such as rugby where the vast majority of fans are either players or former players from the grassroots level.

Football is ridiculously popular in this country and to suggest it isn't is just plain silly. However plenty of fans do forget that not everybody is a fan. I often find people will automatically ask which team you support without first asking if you even like football and not even bothering to specify they mean football team as it is automatically assumed that it is football you are talking about.

As a primary teacher I often have to remind my pupils that they should ask if somebody likes football before asking which team they support and even then specify it's a football team they are asking about.

Edit: I also 100% agree with the comparisons with religion.

 

[apk55]

I do not watch football and never have.
As a keen rambler I often go walking and on many days when there is a big match on I have not noticed any difference in the number of walkers out (particularity on the hard high sections)

 

[DarloRich]

Answer: Very.

Close thread

I do not watch football and never have.

You are missing out. Although you do seem to prove the principle set out by @AlterEgo in post #4!

 

[Gloster]

Alternatively, we are making it clear before people start discussing Dean Twonk’s ball-juggling skills that we are totally uninterested and have no idea of what they are going on about. Don’t waste you breath by going into the default position of thinking that wittering on about football is friendly behaviour. How would you feel if I suddenly started telling you about the effect of the Prusso-Danish War on the timber trade of the Gulf of Finland? It is the assumption that everybody is interested in football, followed by the attitude (when they find somebody who isn’t) that there is something wrong with that person. Unmutual.

 

[AlterEgo]

Alternatively, we are making it clear before people start discussing Dean Twonk’s ball-juggling skills that we are totally uninterested and have no idea of what they are going on about. Don’t waste you breath by going into the default position of thinking that wittering on about football is friendly behaviour. How would you feel if I suddenly started telling you about the effect of the Prusso-Danish War on the timber trade of the Gulf of Finland? It is the assumption that everybody is interested in football, followed by the attitude (when they find somebody who isn’t) that there is something wrong with that person. Unmutual.

Alternative to what? It’s the only sport people will actively claim a lack of interest in precisely because of what you say; it is the default point of conversation and small talk for many people, because it has extraordinary popularity.

I was being a little facetious in the first post!

 

[Calthrop]

Alternatively, we are making it clear before people start discussing Dean Twonk’s ball-juggling skills that we are totally uninterested and have no idea of what they are going on about. Don’t waste you breath by going into the default position of thinking that wittering on about football is friendly behaviour. How would you feel if I suddenly started telling you about the effect of the Prusso-Danish War on the timber trade of the Gulf of Finland? It is the assumption that everybody is interested in football, followed by the attitude (when they find somebody who isn’t) that there is something wrong with that person. Unmutual.

Alternative to what? It’s the only sport people will actively claim a lack of interest in precisely because of what you say; it is the default point of conversation and small talk for many people, because it has extraordinary popularity.

I was being a little facetious in the first post!

As one who finds football, and all other sports, anaesthetically boring; I nonetheless reckon that I can "see with my head", that it could be a positive and healthy thing to have some subject which offered interactional common ground to "all kinds and conditions" of people, many of them basically without very much in common. A great idea in theory; but tending to be spoilt by "original sin". A considerable minority -- including myself -- will find the supposedly uniting subject / topic / whatever, so utterly uninspiring and tedious (and / or -- interacting with "everybody and his dog", perhaps not a very high priority for them): that, maybe selfishly in relation to the "common ground" ideal; they will refuse to undergo the penance of trying artificially to cultivate -- or counterfeit -- an interest in it.

 

[camflyer]

Big sporting events like this are always a mix of the genuine fans who will watch every match, those with a casual interest and like being part of the shared experience, those who really don't care one way or the other and finally the folk who take pleasure in telling everyone else how much they hate it all.