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Picking up the tabootball fans in the future will be as likely to bebuzzing to the sound of clicking digital tabletsas they are pounding drums, waving rattles or

singing terrace anthems according to the latestresearch by the Football Fans Census.

The survey, conducted amongst over 1200 fans up and downthe leagues, predicts an explosion in usage of the new digitaltechnology over the next few years, potentially changing theway clubs engage their fans forever.

Whilst current usage, according to the survey is still relativelylow, with 4% of respondents owning a tablet computer, afurther 6% are planning to buy a tablet in the next 12 months.This would represent an exponential growth rate of 150% in ayear and mirrors wider market predictions for the technology.

According to Garnter Research, 54.8 million tablets arepredicted to be sold worldwide in 2011, with 20 million unitsshifting before the end of this year, while a gargantuan 200million units are predicted to be sold in 2014.

To put these astonishing predictions into context, if football’sfans follow these growth rates, 40% of fans could bepurchasing a tablet in 2014, on top of very significantnumbers already owning one by then.

Tim Gentles, MD of the Football Fans Census, is bullish aboutthe implications “this represents a seismic shift in the digitalconsumption habits of the average football fan. Not so longago match day add-ons involved a paper programme, a meatpie and little more. The potential for clubs to extend theirrelationship with fans via this new media is huge – fromelectronic programmes to streaming games to rich content –tablets could open the door for a deeper engagementbetween fan and club...but only if clubs learn how to harnessit.”

Looking deeper at the survey, a significant number of fans areclearly ready to move with this technology. Asked whetherthey’d be interested in buying electronic versions of match dayprogrammes, 12% of fans in the survey replied positively.

Gentles observes “Interest in electronic programmes is muchhigher among casual and non match goers than season ticketholders, 17% versus 8%. This is good news for clubs, the printformat works well for fans at the games and tablet technologypresents a huge opportunity to extend this aspect of the matchday experience to the millions of fans who can’t get to theground.”

On top of that, 61% of those in the survey said they havefollowed a game this season on computer, whether by text,audio or video streaming. Of those who had watched a gamevia a video stream, the splits between fans were fairly equal:37% were casual match day attendees and 32% season ticketholders.

Clearly the future’s bright for football fans as digitaltechnology gallops onto ever more advanced platforms. Whilethe poor bandwidths found in stadia may mean fans areunlikely to turn up to games armed with their iPad just yet,there is already a huge opportunity to engage with fans whocan’t get to games and the onset of tablets promises moreversatile, richer content opportunities.

The only question for clubs would appear to be when, ratherthan if, they chose to embrace it.

BY JON BUSK

Do you own a tablet computer (like an iPad)?Yes 4%No 96%

Are you planning to get a tablet computer (like an iPad) in the next12 months? Yes 6%No 80%Don’t know 14%

Would you be interested in buying electronic or online versions ofyour club's match day programme?All respondents

Yes No Don’t know12% 72% 16%

Split by Match AttendanceYes No Don’t know

Casual (0-10 Games) 17% 62% 21%Regular (11-20 Games) 17% 68% 15%Season Ticket Holders 8% 79% 13%

Have you followed a game live on a Computer this season?Yes, by text commentary 32%Yes, by audio commentary 23%Yes, by video streaming 33%No 39%

Yes, by video streamingCasual (0-10 games) 37%Regular (11-20 games) 32%Season 32%

Football Fans CensusThe Media Centre, 19 Bolsover Street, London, W1W 5NAContact: Tim GentlesEmail: tim@footballfanscensus.comPhone +44 (0) 207 665 4127Web www.footballfanscensus.com

Research

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