Football

Report highlights

• While the Irish Republic was the market that generates the most football-watching visits to the UK, Iceland and Norway took top spots when considering propensity to go to a live football match – with 13% and 12% of all visits respectively featuring live football.
• The average spend per visit for football spectators in 2019 was £909, which was 31% higher than the average UK visitor (£696), demonstrating their high value to the UK economy.
• Around one quarter of those attending a football match said the main reason for visiting the UK was to watch sport – equating to 353,000 visits. Among the remaining visitors who went to a football match in 2019, 38% were in the UK for holiday purposes and 27% here to visit friends/relatives. Meanwhile 6% were here for business visits, which is equal to 94,000 visits inclusive of a football match.
• Of the visitors who gave their primary journey purpose to the UK to ‘watch sport’, 62% attended a football match, confirming that football is the sport that attracts the largest volume of inbound visitors.

In 2018/19, we commissioned research on football tourism among Experience Seekers in six markets: Brazil, China, India, Norway, Sweden and the USA. The research aimed to better understand the impact and role of football on tourism, the attraction of English football for international tourists, and how to connect with this audience.

The survey asked international travellers who fit into the Experience Seekers (PDF, 1.34 MB) segment, who have some level of interest in football.

We found that in all markets surveyed, more than 80% of those who followed a foreign football league also followed the Premier League. Visitors were also more likely to have visited the UK to watch a Premier League match than a Champions League match, stressing the importance of this sporting competition.

Market-specific insights:

USA: Football was likely to be the main focus of the trip: six in 10 Americans who travelled to watch football abroad purchased their match tickets before booking the rest of the visit. Experiencing the atmosphere was a huge draw, with 70% of Americans citing it as a reason for going to watch football. They were also interested in experiencing ‘traditional Britain’, as seeing iconic sights and trying British food were in the top three activities that most interest American Experience Seekers.

Brazil: Brazilian football fans were most likely to follow teams with Brazilian players – and with such a rich national history of football, they were a key audience for sport tourism in the UK. Football was not always the initial driver, with 34% of football tickets bought after booking the trip; there was as much interest in doing a stadium tour (86%) as there was in seeing a live match (84%).

China: The Chinese market showed great potential, 92% of the respondents said they intended to visit the UK in the next two years and 85% agreeing that it would be a once in a lifetime trip. There was huge interest in other activities: 7 in 10 wanted to go on food and drink tours, and go shopping. Chinese football fans were heavily reliant on travel agent websites for inspiration and information about international travel.

Norway: Only 41% of Norwegian football fans said they have a strong interest in football, indicating that it was not the main draw for a trip to the UK. They were more likely to follow one team, with 47% being dedicated supporters. As they are more likely to have visited the UK before, efforts to convert interest into intention needed to focus on all the things on offer that they may not have experienced before.

Sweden: Similarly to Norwegians, Swedish football fans were less likely to be influenced by the football element of their trip. Swedish Experience Seekers enjoy the social aspect of the trip, where football is not the main focus but wanted to enhance their overall enjoyment of the trip by: experiencing festivals, pubs and other sporting events that were key to this market segment. They were as likely to watch a match in a pub (65%) as they were to want to go to a Premier League match (66%), and they enjoy football matches in a variety of ways.

India: An ideal holiday for Indian football fans would be to watch big matches or cup competitions as part of a multi-destination tour. 69% were only likely to consider travelling to Britain to watch football as part of an organised tour – and of those who watched a football match abroad, 68% visited more than one country on a previous trip. Interest in football-based activities such as playing football or fantasy football was high among Indian football fans. With the UK being the home of cricket and almost all Indian football fans also followed cricket (94%), and this could provide an opportunity for a combined offer.