Almost one in two Irish adults say they will only turn up to live sports events and concerts when a vaccine for Covid-129 is available, the latest sponsorship market monitor by the Onside agency shows. The study indicates that various team contact sports fan bases across GAA, rugby and Irish soccer are largely aligned on their return to play preferences.
One in five adults support the idea of playing the GAA Senior Football & Hurling Championships, Guinness 6 Nations and Autumn Series Rugby and FAI League of Ireland behind closed doors and viewable digitally in the second half of 2020, with a further 17 per cent in favour of reduced capacity crowds being allowed to attend such games.
Four in 10 Irish adults believe Ireland’s remaining qualifiers for the postponed UEFA European Championships in 2021 should be played this year. Onside CEO John Trainor said age was a definite factor in return to play preferences. While three in 10 adults aged 18-24 are against these games being played, it grows to 52 per cent of adults aged 45-64.
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Over six million viewers tuned in across Germany for Sky’s coverage of the return to league football between Borussia Dortmund and Schalke – double to what might have been expected. The return of Nascar’s North American stock car racing series on May 17 saw an average audience of 6.32 million viewers for Fox, up by nearly 40 per cent on the previous race.
Among the 17 per cent in favour of events going ahead in Ireland with live attendees later this year, 50 per cent stadium is the preferred option. When it comes to live music, arts and theatre performances at major indoor venues in 2020, one in four would support reduced capacity or digitally streamed music concerts, while close to six in 10 would rather see such events in major indoor entertainment venues hold off on a return until next year.
