We’ve all been there, that moment you realise a distant cousin’s wedding is on FA Cup final day or a family catch-up clashes with The Ashes.

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Social lives and friendships are being put to the test with so much sport readily available on TV and online offering a dramatic – and cheap – night in.

A survey of over 1,500 global RadioTimes.com users found nearly three quarters (72 per cent) of people have skipped an important event to watch sport on TV.

For those who specified the reason, the most popular activity to skip was drinks or dinner with friends and family with a whopping 36 per cent of the vote, while 5 per cent had no qualms with admitting to having missed a funeral.

The daily grind has proven no barrier to watching sport for some folks with 18 per cent admitting to skipping work.

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Birthday parties are also a popular ‘no-go’ zone for sports fans (15 per cent), while some of our audience even missed weddings (9 per cent) and holidays (8per cent) to follow their team on TV.

Authors

Michael PottsSport Editor

Michael Potts is the Sport Editor for Radio Times, covering all of the biggest sporting events across the globe with previews, features, interviews and more. He has worked for Radio Times since 2019 and previously worked on the sport desk at Express.co.uk after starting his career writing features for What Culture. He achieved a first-class degree in Sports Journalism in 2014.

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