Lewis Hamilton drives F1 past national team football

The Lewis Hamilton effect has lifted British support for F1 to 38% of the population, overtaking national team football, and the Champions League in the process.

Other success stories from BMRB Sport’s latest TGI Sport+ survey include the Tour de France, whose London stages and British involvement raised popularity by three points to 25%.

The overall popularity of most sporting properties didn’t change dramatically in 2007, with national team football surviving the failure to qualify for Euro 2008, and the FA Cup remaining at the head of the list despite an apparent drop (fieldwork did not cover the period when the Big Four were eliminated).

Wimbledon appears to have fared badly, perhaps as anticipation of a strong British performance was dented by the withdrawal of Andy Murray and retirement of Tim Henman.

International Athletics also lost ground, falling four points to 33%. Despite the success stories of female athletes in particular, the successful returns from suspension of Christine Ohurougu and Dwain Chambers has distracted attention in the lead-up to Beijing.

These data are taken from the first two waves of BMRB’s TGI Sport+ survey, conducted in the first and last quarters of 2007 respectively. Following the success of the first wave, the survey is now run continuously throughout the year.

Sport+ is available via subscription, to agencies or media owners, or through ad-hoc consultancy to rights holders. For more information, please contact:

James Smythe Director, BMRB Sport James.smythe@bmrb.co.uk 020 8433 4456 07881 686262

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