Geek tradition now extra fashionable than soccer as nerdy hobbies takeover trendy Britain
Geek culture is more popular than football in modern Britain, new data shows. Nerdy hobbies like science-fiction, video gaming and superheroes have overtaken the nation’s interest in the beautiful game.
A whopping 61% of Brits are keen on sci-fi, 59% are gamers, but those who follow footie are now outnumbered at just 57.6%. And the trend is set to soar, with three quarters of under-35s listing computer games as their major leisure time pursuit, followed by fantasy (64.6%), superheroes (62.6%) and sci-fi (62.1%), with football lagging behind in fifth place (61.5%) for younger generations.
Half of younger respondents said they loved Japanese anime, like the Pokémon cartoons, and a quarter were keen on Korean K-Pop music, found the survey of 2,000 Brits aged 18 to 65.
(Image: AFP via Getty Images)
The poll shows soccer boasts a hardcore of die-hard fans, but pursuits once considered dorky now appeal to a wider range of people, catapulting them into the mainstream and threatening to turn football into a niche interest.
When it comes to gaming, Call of Duty, Super Mario, Grand Theft Auto, Minecraft and Sonic top the list.
More than nine in 10 Brits said they had turned to video games, sci-fi and other nerdish hobbies to escape the stresses of life.
And the same number said geek culture provided them with a strong sense of community.
(Image: Future via Getty Images)
The How Nerdy is Britain? report said: “Gaming is now more popular than football in the UK, thanks to the appeal of nostalgia, an escape from daily stress and the rise of anime and K-culture.”
Toan Nguyen, founder of Jung von Matt NERD, which published the study, said: “There’s a shift happening in British culture where traditional pastimes like following and watching football are now competing with global phenomena like gaming and science-fiction.
“The insights from our study emphasise how geek culture has not only grown in acceptance but has also created deep emotional connections with fans.”
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