Half of English football fans think VAR has had a negative impact on the experience of match going fans

• 16-34s are more positive towards VAR, whilst 55-75s are more negative
• Fans split on whether they want VAR to continue to be used in its current form next season.
• English football fans are more open to keeping VAR if it is quicker and used less.

New polling from Ipsos, taken ahead of a vote by Premier League clubs on the future of Video Assistant Referee (VAR) technology, explores whether English football fans support or oppose it remaining in the league. 

Attitudes towards VAR

English football fans were asked to consider whether the introduction of VAR in the Premier League has had a positive or negative impact on different aspects of football:

• Half (50%) of English football fans said VAR has had a negative impact on the experience of match going fans (30% positive, 17% neither). 
• 45% of younger English football fans said VAR has had a positive impact on the experience of match going fans compared to 33% who say it has had a negative impact. 
• However a majority of fans aged 55-75 (70%) and over half of fans aged 35-54 (53%) said VAR has had a negative impact on the experience match going fans. Just 16% of fans aged 55-75 and 26% of fans aged 35-54 think VAR has had a positive impact on the experience of match going fans.

44% of English football fans think VAR has had a negative impact on football overall, compared to 37% who said it has had a positive impact.

• Almost half of younger English football fans aged 16-34 think VAR has had a positive impact on football overall (48%), whereas a third think it has had a negative impact (31%). 
• Over half of English football fans aged 55-75 said VAR has had a negative impact on football overall (57%: 26% positive). 
• 48% of fans aged 35-54 said VAR has had a negative impact on football overall, compared to 35% who said it has a positive impact. 

43% of English football fans think VAR has had a negative impact on the quality of decisions made by match officials, compared to 35% who said it has had a positive impact.

• 40% of fans aged 16-34 said VAR has had a positive impact on the quality of decisions (35% negative), compared to over half (55%) of 55-75s who said it has had a negative impact (25% positive). 

The future of VAR

English football fans were asked about whether they think the Premier League should stop using VAR from next season, which is in the context of Premier League clubs having a meeting to vote on a proposal to remove it. Overall, English football fans are split on whether it should continue to be used in its current format. 44% said that they think Premier League clubs should stop using VAR from next season, whilst 40% said to keep VAR. However again there were splits by age: 

• 50% of English football fans aged 16-34 said that Premier League clubs should keep VAR next season, with a third (33%) saying it should stop being used (14% neither).
• Around half of 35-54s (49%) and 55-75s (51%) said that Premier League clubs should stop using VAR from next season, with a third saying to keep it (35-54s: 33%; 55-75s: 34%)

Fans were then presented with a hypothetical situation where VAR was used less and decisions were made more quickly, and asked whether in these circumstances English football fans would want to keep VAR or stop it. 

If VAR was quicker and used less, almost half of football fans support keeping it in the Premier League next season (48%), compared to 35% who said it should stop being used (13% no preference). This picture is consistent across ages groups with 53% of 16-34s, 44% of 35-54s, and 49% of 55-75s saying the Premier League should keep VAR if its usage was modified.

Keiran Pedley, Research Director at Ipsos said:

These findings show football fans are split on the future of VAR, with older fans inclined to scrap it and younger fans inclined to keep it.
Overall, fans do appear to be prepared to give VAR time if changes are made that improve the process. However, the strength of concern about the impact VAR is perceived to have had on the matchday going fans experience should not be underestimated.

Technical note
Ipsos interviewed a representative sample of 792 Online British adults aged 16-75 who said they would describe themselves as football fans. Polling was conducted online between 17-20 May 2024. Data are weighted to match the profile of the population. All polls are subject to a wide range of potential sources of error.

Cover image source: 

"VAR on Tablet During Football Match - Video Assistant Referee" by footycomimages is licensed under CC BY 2.0 .