Media

Football, the Italians' collective ritual: 7 in 10 follow the matches and 4 million prefer the bar

Research reveals that football is still a collective ritual for Italians, with 7 in 10 following the matches and 4 million watching them at the bar

by Andrea Biondi

16 July 2024

3' min read

Key points

Attention generated and advertising memory
A passion that crosses media
Over 90 minutes
Visual attention to matches
The collective 'ritual' of the bar

3' min read

Seven out of ten Italians follow football. Still many - even today in times of the allways on, the always connected and the multiplication of screens - indulge (out of necessity or preferring it) in the collective ritual of watching at the bar: 4 million people at least, i.e. 15% of football lovers. But the attention span of those following matches (with the before and after) is always very high. In fact higher than in other programmes. And all this, you know, represents the Holy Grail for advertisers.

These are the results of the research project promoted by Omnicom Media Group in collaboration with Lega Serie A. The objective was to investigate the football ecosystem to understand how the focus on advertising works during the viewing of football content.

The attention generated and the advertising memory

This is the first practical declination of Beyond Visual Attention, a project by Omg that has integrated machine learning, AI and neuroscience to measure attention to advertising stimuli.A project that started a year ago. The challenge is to conceptualise and measure attention in a new way and consider that viewability and attention are different concepts. So much so that the research 'Beyond Visual Attention: when communication makes goal' was attended - in addition to Annalect (division of Omg), Ipsos and K2 - also by Ainem (Italian Association of Neuro Marketing). The final result is thus derived from a neuroscientific analysis in the laboratory by Ainem and a behavioural analysis in a natural context.

"I am particularly proud of this new step in the Beyond Visual Attention project, which has allowed us to study an area as articulate and as loved as football, with a partner of excellence like Lega Serie A," says Marco Girelli, CEO of Omnicom Media Group. "Football confirms itself as the most effective content to capture the attention of communicators and the results show how it continues to be a universal language, understood by all generations," says for his part the CEO of Serie A, Luigi De Siervo. 'We must try to maintain football,' he adds, 'as the main content in the media diet of Italians.

A passion that crosses media

The research, conducted on a sample of 4,000 Italians aged 18 and over, indicates that 69% follow football: that is 34 million people. The language is, however, transversal to the generations that use the different media in different ways, even if YouTube, radio and newspaper websites are the most used channels. Among all the media, TV continues to have an important specific weight, with 82% of football content being used to share their passion with family and friends. This is followed by social media with 61% of the audience interested in football.

Over 90 minutes

The live match obviously remains the highlight of the exoerience. 66% of football followers try to be in front of the screen at the time of the live match. But those 90 minutes are still embedded in an ecosystem made up of second screens and all the pre and post-match accompaniment. So much so that 47% of respondents say they use their smartphone before the match to search for info and updates on websites and apps, and 51% use it during half-time to check for updates on other matches (30%) or to check social media (20%). 44% use the TV after the match to search for other football content, such as in-depth programmes or other matches.

Visual attention to matches

But how attentive is the audience that enjoys the Serie A product in various ways? The data that emerges from the research is that the visual attention span of the entire event (including pre and post-match content) is 62%, a figure that rises to 66% if only the first and second half of the match are isolated. Even higher is the attention rate of the highlights, which reaches 71%. Football literally keeps you glued to the screen and even on the advertising front the figures are interesting with pre and post-match tabular advertising attention values of around 39%.

The collective 'ritual' of the bar

Everyone at home preferring the comfortable viewing of matches? Research says that this is not the case. Watching matches in bars or pubs according to the research are 4 million: 15% of football fans. And if you look at age here is the first surprise: 50% of them are part of GenZ or Millenials, i.e. people under 34. Moreover, those who think that viewing in a public context can be more distracting are wrong: there is an average figure of 41% attention, peaking at the final whistle where it exceeds 50%, with the physiological decline during half-time, where attention is around 39%.

Andrea BiondiVicecaposervizio
Luogo: Milano
Lingue parlate: Italiano, Inglese, Francese
Argomenti: Finanza, Media, Telecomunicazioni, Economia dell'entertainment, Innovazione
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