As the Premier League kicks off, new research has revealed the extraordinary lengths Brits are willing to go to in order not to miss their favourite sporting events, with many cheekily resorting to streaming games in unexpected locations.

At work (38%), Family events (30%) and as passengers on car journeys (25%) topped the list of the most common occasions on which people have sneaked away to catch a glimpse of sporting action, according to a survey of 2,000 British adults conducted by Sky Mobile.

Even more surprising is that half of us (51%) He even admitted to sneaking into the bathroom during social events to check the scores, showing how deep the nation’s obsession with sports runs.

Shockingly one third from Employees confess that they were caught watching sports at work, 20% Watch the company clock for 3-5 hours per week. And 30% have admitted to canceling meetings and missing important appointments to watch their favorite sport.

The 10 most unconventional places where Brits watch sport on Sky Mobile:

1. At work (38%)

2. As part of a family celebration (30%)

3. In the car (25%)

4. On the toilet (21%)

5. In a hospital waiting room (17%)

6. During a friend’s birthday party (15%)

7. During a meeting (9%)

8. At a wedding ceremony (8%)

9. During Christmas dinner (8%)

10. In the garden shed (8%)

Before the start of the season, half (49%) of sports enthusiasts admit that they tried to cancel their summer plans to watch sporting events live, with one in ten willing to miss a friend’s wedding or a meeting at their child’s school to watch a big game. In addition, feign illness (30%) and work long hours (19%) are at the top of the list of excuses with 13% claim a family emergency.

The Brits have admitted to using some extreme tactics to avoid spoiling important match results before they can catch up. These include avoiding social media (45%) to completely foregoing the Internet (36%), and even leaving group chats (12%).

These figures are not surprising, as studies show how much we love our favourite sport. In just six months, fans watched almost a billion hours of sport on Sky*. (936 million hours).

Amber Pine, Managing Director of Sky Connectivity, said: “We’re a nation of sports lovers and many Brits stream sports on the go, with our research showing that big football matches lead to a 13% increase in mobile data usage*. That’s why at Sky Mobile we don’t want fans to miss a moment and customers can stream all of the Sky apps, including Sky Sports and Sky Go, without using up their data allowance.”

The extent of the problem is clear: more than a third (36%) say they’ve run out of data while trying to stream sport, but sports-loving Brits can breathe a sigh of relief as all Sky Mobile customers can stream Sky apps, including Sky Sports, Sky Go, Sky News and more, without touching their data allowance.

With the football season getting underway, fans can stream even more sport as Sky Sports+ offers access to 50% more live sport across live streams, the mobile app and its own new channel – all at no extra cost. The new release offers more coverage than ever from the EFL, both tennis tours and the Men’s Super League, all of which Sky Mobile customers can stream via the Sky Sports app.

Notes for editors:

For further information please contact the Sky team at

*Data from Sky’s Attention Index Report (January – June 2024), conducted using a Public First survey of a representative sample of over 3,000 people from every region of the UK.

Public First is a member of the Market Research Society. The full tables containing all the data used in this report can be downloaded from the Public First website.

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