Late-night World Cup kick-offs are expected to change how UK football fans watch this summer’s tournament, according to new research from EE.
The tournament, hosted across the United States, Canada and Mexico, will mean late evening and overnight matches for UK viewers. EE says more than 80% of fans expect the timing to affect how many matches they watch live.
A quarter of respondents said they would mainly watch the biggest fixtures live, such as their own team’s matches or knockout games, while others expect to rely more on highlights and updates.
EE’s research also highlights growing concern over live streaming delays. Some 79% of fans said they would be upset if they heard about a goal before seeing it on their own screen, through notifications, group chats or people nearby celebrating.
The operator described this as the “roar before the score” effect.
More than four in five fans said they would be frustrated if a stream cut out and they missed a key moment, while 93% said it was important that live matches are shown with as little delay as possible.
Younger viewers are expected to follow the tournament differently. Among 18-24-year-olds, only 30% expect to use traditional broadcast TV, while 43% plan to use social media for updates or highlights.
With more fans likely to catch up later because of late kick-offs, 76% said they would take steps to avoid finding out results before watching, including avoiding social media, muting notifications or staying away from their phones.
Greg McCall, Chief Security and Networks Officer at BT, which operates the EE network, said reliable connectivity had become increasingly important as fans move between live streams, clips, social feeds and group chats.
EE said two thirds of fans considered reliable mobile or broadband connectivity extremely or very important to their viewing experience.
Source: broadbandtvnews.com