The report says almost half of supporters who watched an England match at a World Cup online experienced buffering, loading problems or a complete loss of service. At the tournament final, more than 40% of football viewers reportedly had difficulty following the game through streaming.
The issue was not limited to the World Cup. The update says 34% of respondents encountered problems during the FA Cup final and Eurovision, while one in five people reported recurring trouble watching major live events online.
Those figures matter because football is often treated as a premium digital product, yet its biggest matches remain national occasions. A delayed stream or sudden outage is more than an inconvenience when millions are trying to watch the same moment.
The survey has added weight to political concerns over plans to end terrestrial broadcasting. The report says Andy Burnham and the prime minister have both expressed reservations, while campaigners argue that free television remains vital for households without reliable broadband or paid streaming subscriptions.
The market argument for digital broadcasting is powerful: streaming offers flexibility, on-demand access and new commercial opportunities. But the reported failure rate during high-demand events underlines the infrastructure challenge. Terrestrial television does not depend on every household having a stable internet connection at the same time.
For football, accessibility is central to the sport’s public value. If supporters are forced behind a paywall or into unreliable online services, the audience becomes narrower and the shared national experience weaker.
The next major tournament and FA Cup final will provide another test. If broadcasters and policymakers cannot guarantee dependable access online, pressure to preserve free terrestrial football is likely to grow.