The England Lionesses’ victory at the Euro 2022 tournament has been voted the top live TV sporting moment of the past 20 years in a survey conducted by Everyone TV, the organisation responsible for streaming service Freely, which is backed by the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5.

The survey of 2,000 sports fans also celebrated other unforgettable moments, including 16-year-old Luke Littler’s impressive performance at the 2023 Darts World Championship, Leicester City’s astonishing Premier League title win in 2016, Andy Murray’s Wimbledon triumphs in 2013 and 2016, and England cricket team’s dramatic 2019 World Cup win against New Zealand.

In the last five years, 48 per cent said they have found themselves watching more female sport – with men slightly more likely to say this (51 per cent compared with 46 per cent of women).

Amy Rowcliffe, Marketing Director at Everyone TV said: “The Lionesses’ Euros win was truly iconic and memorable. It fully deserves to top this list. Seeing so many people watching more female sport is incredible and with the Lionesses taking the top spot, it just shows how influential it has become.”

Additionally, in keeping with the ethos behind Freely that everyone should be able to access great quality free TV, regardless of location or income, a significant majority (nearly 8 in 10) emphasised the importance of keeping large sporting events free to all on TV.

Rowcliffe added: “People love watching live sporting events on TV and agree they should stay free for everyone. Being able to watch these world events live and free, as well as streaming them on demand all in one place, means you won’t have to miss a moment of your favourite sporting events.”

On average, sports fans spend 172 hours a year watching live sports on TV, more than a week of non-stop viewing. With Freely, sports enthusiasts can enjoy some of the world’s best sporting events like the Olympics, the Paralympics, the Euros, Wimbledon and more, all for free.

Survey respondents also highlighted the convenience of watching sports at home with football (62 per cent) being the favourite sport to watch at home, followed by tennis (33 per cent), athletics (26 per cent) and Formula 1 (25 per cent). When it came to the variety of sports watched, the average is two a week – but those aged 25 to 34 watch the biggest mix overall with 18 per cent of them enjoying four different sports weekly.

Over half (54 per cent) reported being open to watching different types of sports on TV, as nearly a third (30 per cent) have been inspired to play a sport after watching an iconic sporting moment on telly. The study also found nearly four in 10 (36 per cent) would like to watch more live sports on TV.

Those polled felt iconic sporting moments are made when an underdog wins (31 per cent), it’s a record-breaking achievement (29 per cent) and it’s of historical significance (28 per cent), with 72 per cent saying sports commentary is key in the making of these legendary occasions.

Close to 70 per cent feel it’s important to watch iconic sporting moments as they happen – and 59 per cent said this was for the added excitement of not knowing the result.

Finally, those polled voted Usain Bolt, Lionel Messi and Lewis Hamilton as the greatest sports people of the last two decades.

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Categories: Articles, Consumer Behaviour, Content, FTA, Research

Tags: andy murray, england, football, Freely, messi, Olympics, sports