Modern football driving fans away, research reveals

Yahoo

5 days ago

A new national survey has revealed why many UK football fans feel increasingly disconnected from the modern game.
Commissioned by LiveScore and conducted by YouGov Sport, the survey gathered responses from 3,007 adult football fans across the UK.
The survey questioned fans on their football fandom - reasons for supporting their club, where in the football pyramid their club plays, and how often they attend matches, as well as football content consumption preferences and behaviours. The findings show that modern fans engage with football in many different ways and their joy and frustrations extend beyond the stadium experience.
However, a dedicated section around enjoyment of football produced the most telling statistics, with eye-opening figures set to inform LiveScore's ongoing mission to Fuel Fans' Passion for Sport.It's important to recognise that not all UK football fans are the same. What motivates, inspires, and excites a Premier League fan from the northeast may differ significantly from what drives an EFL League One supporter on the south coast. Fans' perspectives on their own fandom are shaped by a range of factors.
For instance, 77% of EFL League Two fans support the club most local to them. This figure drops to 30% among Premier League fans, who are mostly influenced by family ties (45%) in determining where their support lies.
What unites all fans, especially in this country, is the passion for the game. Our survey results found a majority – 68% – of all football fans identify as a 'passionate' or 'core' fan, meaning they either attend matches or watch football on TV, or both, regularly. This could be as a Premier League, EFL, National League, or Scottish football fan. While 67% of UK football fans support Premier League clubs, 57% of them also follow at least one other team to some degree. This highlights that fan identities are often complex.
The findings and conclusions below reflect the views shared by most fans, according to the survey results, and highlight areas where football stakeholders can come together to improve the modern-day experience of the beautiful game.The modern game is increasingly shaped by money. While investment in football has arguably raised the quality on the pitch, it has also driven up ticket and TV subscription prices — and allowed broadcasters to frequently shift kick-off times. Even the most loyal fans are growing frustrated.
The survey reveals over half (53%) of all football fans believe that high ticket prices are diminishing their enjoyment of the sport. While a staggering 81% of fans don't consider tickets to matches as good value for money.
This comes as the likes of Arsenal, Chelsea, and Manchester United, three of the country's most well supported clubs, all announced ticket price increases heading into the 2025/26 season.
For those not attending matches in person, as much as 37% of fans miss matches entirely due to lack of relevant TV subscriptions. Meanwhile 1 in 10 rely on free highlights or illegal streams to watch football.
This upcoming season, it will cost Premier League fans, on average, a staggering £966.38 to watch their team on TV.
The commercialisation of the Premier League is a key reason for driving up the price of football in the UK.
The oldest age group surveyed (55+), many of whom experienced football fandom before the Premier League era, were most likely to agree (55%) that money is negatively affecting their enjoyment of the game.The Saturday 3pm kick-off is a firm favourite across football fans, with 58% choosing it as their top preference of match time. This rises to 60% in the 35-54 age group, and 75% for 55+.
Despite this, fixture scheduling is increasingly shaped by broadcast demands. Sky Sports' record-breaking exclusivity deal for the 2025/26 Premier League season will see its live match coverage rise from 128 games in 2024/25 to 215.
Many of these additional fixtures are expected to be scheduled for Friday nights, Sundays, and Monday nights. This includes broadcasting multiple 2pm Sunday matches, which will often feature clubs participating in the Europa League and Conference League.
However, only 5% of 18–34-year-olds selected this (2pm Sunday) as their preferred kick-off time. The figure drops to 4% for those aged 55 and over, and to 3% for those aged 35–54. Our data shows that this is the least preferred kick-off time among football fans.
While fans strongly favour Saturday 3pm, not all are in the stadium. In fact, 1 in 3 football fans don't attend matches at all, and just 34% say they are satisfied with how many games they're able to see live. For these supporters, especially those priced out or unable to get tickets, access to televised matches is essential.
At the centre of this tension is the UK's 3pm broadcast blackout, introduced in the 1960s to protect in-person attendances, particularly in the lower leagues. The rule remains in place despite growing questions about its relevance in today's game.
The concern remains that lifting the 3pm blackout, while serving Premier League fans, would be to the detriment of lower league attendances where gate receipts remain crucial to lower league club incomes. Would local fans turn their backs on lower league turnstiles on Saturdays at 3pm in favour of watching the topflight, or indeed their own club, on TV?
For the 3pm blackout to apply, over 50% of fixtures in England's top two divisions need to kick off at that time over a weekend. This will not be the case on the opening weekend of the EFL Championship this season (9-10 Aug) with the Premier League season not yet underway, and 6 of the 12 second tier matches kicking off outside of Saturday 3pm.
Although a small sample size (during UK school holidays and with no Premier League football on show), this could be a first indicator of how fan attendances are impacted, from Championship level down to non-league, by all EFL fixtures being televised live.The survey results show the two key reasons for not attending fixtures (81% of all responses) were ticket prices, and ticket availability.
These issues almost exclusively apply to the top two tiers, with 61% of EFL League One fans and 78% of EFL League Two fans saying they can easily get tickets. This figure reduces slightly to 68% of National League fans while rising again to 79% of those supporting clubs below that.
By contrast, the survey results show just 39% of EFL Championship fans and as low as 21% of Premier League fans experience easy access to tickets.
As referenced, Premier League fans account for 67% of all football fans in the UK (per the survey results), with as many as 8 in 10 of all football fans in the youngest survey age category (18-34). This group relies heavily on televised coverage.
The key question for decision makers is, therefore, whether he 3pm blackout still serves its purpose of protecting attendances across the entirety of the football pyramid, or if lower league fans' match-going commitment is irrelevant to it.
For the majority (82% of fans support clubs in the top two divisions in England per the survey results), the 3pm blackout cuts off access to the most in-demand kick-off time, making it one of the biggest barriers to enjoyment of the game.
As broadcast coverage grows and modern fan habits continue to shift, the 3pm blackout may come under fresh scrutiny. The data suggests it's time to re-examine how the rule aligns with today's fan experience, while still respecting the importance of tradition and protection of lower-league clubs.London fans tend to be among the most engaged in the country, with 41% reporting they attend live games weekly. That's more than double the national average of 18%. Similarly, 57% of London supporters say they are satisfied with how often they attend matches, compared to 34% of fans overall.
Digital engagement mirrors this trend, where 70% of fans in the capital watch live matches or highlights online weekly, exceeding the average fan rate of 61%.
Chelsea fans are particularly notable, with 50% attending live matches weekly, significantly above the 18% average. By contrast, their fellow London clubs Arsenal (15%) and Tottenham (13%) fall behind Manchester clubs; City (22%) and United (21%), both exceeding the fan average.
A key factor driving Chelsea fans' high attendance may be ticket availability. Nearly half of Blues fans (49%) say it is easy to get tickets for matches, well above the 30% national average.
Pinpointing the precise reason for this is complex but, while easier said than done, these findings suggest that improving ticket availability is key to boosting fan attendance across other regions as well. Premier League champions Liverpool recently revealed 1 in 5 tickets at Anfield next season are reserved for hospitality or corporate packages, highlighting how the biggest clubs continue to prioritise profitability over accessibility for core fans.The survey results highlight key pressure points affecting UK football fans' enjoyment of the national sport in 2025. Moments such as the empty stadiums during the Covid-19 pandemic and the widespread backlash to the proposed European Super League have underlined the enduring power and importance of fans at the heart of the game.
Whether in stadiums or on screens, in pubs or on social feeds, fans are the constant. Across the tiers, they bring football to life through their passion, and the countless ways they engage both on and off the pitch.
Yet the data reveals a deep and ongoing sense of frustration and disillusionment with the direction modern football is taking.
LiveScore urges clubs, governing bodies, and broadcasters to work together to protect the fan experience. By making thoughtful, data-driven decisions, with supporters placed at the centre, the industry can reignite fans' passion and safeguard the future of our beautiful game.
To access the full survey from LiveScore, you can find it in the link here: https://livescoregroup.com/press-news/livescore-publishes-uk-fan-survey/