SCOTLAND’S obsession with football has been highlighted in new research by BT Vision.
It reveals that almost half of Scotsmen would miss spending a day with their family and nearly a third would miss a family birthday to watch a big match. Ten per cent would even be prepared to miss the birth of their own child.
The average man in the region devotes six and a half hours a week to thinking, talking and watching football, which is almost an hour longer than he spends looking after children. In contrast, 30 per cent of Scottish men say they spend less than an hour a week cleaning.
Across the UK, the survey shows that the average male football fan begins watching football at age eight and during his lifetime will spend a whopping 26,461 hours and 36 minutes obsessing about the beautiful game via TV, internet, text and chatting with friends, family, kids and work colleagues.
When it comes to choosing the perfect place to watch that all-important match, it appears that home really is where the heart is, as more than twice as many said they prefer to watch the football on their TV at home (38 per cent), rather than down the pub (15 per cent).
UK men do spend twice as much time with their partner as they do obsessing about football. Andy Baker, commercial director for BT Vision, said: “We’ve always known that football is at the heart of our sporting nation, and this research shows that Scotland certainly breeds some very passionate fans.
“This season BT Vision is offering customers even more sport with the addition of Sky Sports 1 and Sky Sports 2 to our service with prices from as low as £6.99. This is in addition to our already very successful existing offer from ESPN.
“That’s truly great news for football fans all over the country who want to enjoy sport at these great value prices.”
Corinne Sweet, psychologist, said: “The research shows many men struggle to find a balance between their passion for football and family. One compromise can be for fathers to involve their children more by watching matches together, and in making football games fun, family events at home.”
BT customers with selected TV broadband and calls packages can now get the “Total Sports Package”, which comprises Sky Sports 1, ESPN and BT Vision sports for just £6.99 a month or £11.99 to include Sky Sports 2. BT Vision combines Freeview channels via the aerial with on-demand content delivered via BT Broadband. Customers can pay-per-view or subscribe to thousands of hours of sport, film, documentaries, drama and kids entertainment, available on-demand and all the Freeview channels, all available on the TV.
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Contact: BT Scotland press office
Phone: 0800 085 0660
Website: http://www.bt.com/sport
