Survey: Chinese Watch More Sports Than Any Other Nation

Multimedia sports provider Perform commissioned a global survey of sports fans that showed the Chinese "have an appetite for all things athletic," according to Rick Morton of THE AUSTRALIAN. Chinese sports fan average 11.7 hours a week viewing sports. Brazil and the U.S. are second and third, respectively, with 10.4 hours and 8.1 hours a week. Australia, however, ranks sixth with just 6.3 hours a week, "narrowly edging out our old rivals the Brits" who clock about 6.2 hours weekly. Cricket and tennis "raked in the lion's share of viewing hours by square-eyed Australians," while the Australian Football League and soccer scored highly as well. Meanwhile, the Chinese have a predilection for table tennis and badminton, and the Russians' partiality goes to ice-skating (THE AUSTRALIAN, 7/31).