In a survey of 1,000 gaming and football fans, Plusnet found that most of them would choose to play FIFA 19 over kicking a ball around for real.
How many is “most”? 72%. That’s a whole lot of people who prefer playing the beautiful game on a games console or PC over playing the beautiful game themselves.
When probed for the reasons behind their decision, almost a third said it was because they are “better at playing video games than the real thing” and 31% said, “I can play as my favourite players”. In addition, one in five 18-23 year-olds said they prefer football video games as they “don’t feel fit enough” to play physical real-world football and that it is “too tiring”.
Interestingly, watching real football games is just at risk as Saturday afternoon kickabouts. 63% of those surveyed said that they preferred playing a football video game to watching football on the TV, and 61% prefer it to watching a football match live in a stadium.
The survey also covered eSports; 56% said that they regard eSports events as “real sport” and 58% said that eSports should be represented at the Olympic games. A third said they “appreciate the different skills of both eSports players and professional footballers” and half said they consider professional gamers to be athletes.
Those asked were also keen to see the virtual sport continue to make in-roads into their real-world counterparts. 61% of respondents said they would like to see their club hire professional eSports players, following in the footsteps of Manchester City and West Ham United. 68% also said that they would support a player representing their nation at the eSports version of the football World Cup, the 2018 FIFA eWorld Cup.
So, FIFA and Pro Evo players… video games or real-life football? Leave a comment, below!
