What Men Want: Football Scores Over Dates

Super.ae survey shows that two in five men would choose sports event over a date

It may not come as a surprise to most ‘football widows’ but 39% of men in the Middle East would be prepared to cancel a date to ensure they could watch a sporting event, according to new research commissioned by Super.ae, the region’s newest football portal, which is owned by the Abu Dhabi Media Company (ADMC).

The YouGov survey of 918 men in the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt revealed that one in five men (20%) would go so far as to skip work or school if it clashed with an important tournament, while almost half of those polled (44%) admitted to checking on scores while at a family celebration or wedding. Football was by far the most popular game with 92% of the respondents identifying it as one of their favourite sports. Tennis and Volleyball came in a distant second and third with 30% and 27% of the votes, respectively. The study was conducted to celebrate the launch of Super.ae on 11 October 2009.

The poll also provided a number of interesting insights into the online behaviour of the region’s male sports fans revealing that they are twice as likely to visit a sports website as they are the Twitter micro-blogging service. Those polled spent an average of 3.9 hours per week surfing sports websites, compared to 36% (330) who spent an average of 1.6 hours per week on Twitter. 4% of the respondents admitted to spending 16 hours or more per week looking for sports news online.

“The results are not at all surprising particularly in the Middle East where sport in general and football in particular, forms such an important part of the average male’s lifestyle,” said Ricky Ghai, Executive Director of Digital Media at the Abu Dhabi Media Company (ADMC). “The fact that football scored over all other sports is just another indicator of how seriously this region takes the game. In fact, it was the need to cater to these dedicated followers that was a critical factor in our decision to launch Super.ae.”

“Super.ae is a one-stop online portal for football fans in the Middle East giving them access to news, streaming content and interactive features such as discussion boards and chat rooms,” said Khaldoun Elcheik, Managing Editor of Super.ae. “We are aware that our audiences want instant access to news and content and Super.ae offers them exactly what they want, and a little bit more, at the click of a mouse.”

Super.ae features breaking news, up-to-the-minute scores, action-packed highlights and live match streaming, combined with lively editorial and commentary. Former England internationals Andy Cole and Terry Venables will be regular contributors to the site, as will a number of regional and international sports experts such as Mohammed Najeeb, Keir Radnedge and Gerry Cox. Audiences also have the opportunity to participate by sharing content and taking part in online conversations through chat rooms, forums and blogs. The site also features many one-off exclusive features and interviews with the biggest stars in the game today, both from the Middle East and North Africa region and Europe.
 

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