YouGov/SMG Insight Launches Report On Sports In Middle East And North Africa

YouGov/SMG Insight is launching a new indepth study of sports in the Middle East and North Africa - ‘Popularity and Participation of Sports in the Middle East and North Africa 2011’ - and will be making it free to download from the middle of September. The report reveals the sporting habits of respondents across 16 countries, providing strategic information on these fast emerging areas.
The report analyses 3 distinct regions: North Africa; the Levant region; and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries and covers three core areas:
 Which sports respondents follow on TV or in the media on a regular basis
 Which sports respondents personally participate in on a regular basis
 Which sporting event/competitions respondents follow on a regular basis.
Headline findings from the report include:
 The top three most followed sports in North Africa are: football (63%), swimming (22%) and martial arts/wrestling (19%). Football and swimming are also the top favourite sports in the GCC with 55% and 16% respectively. Motorsports is the third most followed sport with 13% of respondents. In the Levant region, football leads the way (55%) followed by basketball (21%) and motorsports (20%).
 The FIFA Football World Cup was cited as the most popular football event/competition by just over half of respondents from the Middle East and North Africa (55%).
 The Spanish La Liga (26%) and UEFA Champions League (25%) were also cited as regularly followed football competitions.
 Less popular were the English Premier League (16%), Arab Champions League (14%) and UEFA Europa League (13%).
To pre-order the ‘Popularity and Participation of Sports in the Middle East and North Africa 2011′ report here, please visit www.smg-insight.com. Copies will be available from September 19th. For more information, contact SMG Insight’s Frank Saez on 020 7012 6000 or email fsaez@smg-insight.com.