Town are the second most popular Championship team amongst Sky Sports subscribers, according to figures released by the satellite broadcaster.

Sky looked at which Championship teams had been watched on three or more occasions by 500,000 subscribers in 119 postcode areas since January last year.

Derby County were the most watched club in 82 of the 119 regions with the Blues most popular in 10 and joint-third Leeds and Middlesbrough in eight.

In addition to a stranglehold on East Anglia - including Norfolk - the Blues also appear to have strong fanbase in the West of Scotland. The full chart can be found here.

Matt Roberts, head of sports and news research at Sky, said: "The majority of Championship fans tuning in to watch Championship games live on Sky were from the older generation, and Derby have figured in England's top two tiers since 1992/93 and were prominent in the old First Division throughout the 70s.

"However, what was surprising was the Rams' overwhelming majority of support across the UK. Many people expected Leeds, in particular, to win a considerably higher number of regions.”

Photo: Action Images

AdonisBlue added 10:52 - Mar 2 People watch Derby to see them lose...right?
2

runningout added 11:07 - Mar 2 Blimey...
1

Crock added 11:15 - Mar 2 "And Derby have figured in England's top two tiers since 1992/93" What a stupid thing to say. That would only make sense if they were promoted from the third level in 1992.
2

dav86 added 11:26 - Mar 2 Maybe we'll be on sky a bit more now
3

tractorlowrie added 11:30 - Mar 2 I'm one of the ones watching here in the west of Scotland... mind you there is sod all else to do up here!
9

HighgateBlue added 11:32 - Mar 2 Whilst I think there is a reasonable amount of affection for Town across the country, I don't think the arbitrary criteria they have used can be said to show who the "most popular team" is, or even the "most popular team to watch". We're talking here about winning discrete areas (perhaps not winning by very much at all) on the arbitrary criterion of how many people have watched a team 3 times since Jan last year. Much will depend on (a) how many times each team has been on Sky in that period, and (b) who they've been playing. We have been on Sky a lot in that time, as we were in the playoff hunt at the end of last season, and Sky showed us 5 times before Xmas this season (presumably expecting us to be doing well). How on earth is a team which is on less frequently supposed to be watched on an arbitrary 3 occasions when they have been on less frequently. All codswallop...

1

GiveusaWave added 11:50 - Mar 2 Sorry, but the conclusions drawn from this could be many. Maybe people genuinely do support the club. Maybe it was the time of day/night of the matches. Maybe they love laughing at our woeful hoofball.......the list goes on and on. It would be great if it were true....but this article suggests a massive jump in the reasoning process....
1

GiveusaWave added 11:53 - Mar 2 * For example. I have 2 friends (yes I do have friends) who play "drinking" games during ITFC matches. Every time there is a hoof there is a forfeit. Maybe its caught on?
1

Kikapu added 12:11 - Mar 2 I can see a hike in advertising prices at Portman Rd coming up. Good.
0

iaintaylorx added 12:23 - Mar 2 I have no idea what they enjoy watching though... Having said that, we DO have a very big fan base and deserve to see some nice football to watch! Get in Gary Monk!! ;-)
2

rgp1 added 12:28 - Mar 2 Do the cameramen have dual roles. Filming the game and plane spotting at the same time.
3

TimmyH added 12:32 - Mar 2 Must be the badge and maybe what the club DID stand for, good football, out in the sticks rather than these big city clubs that chuck pound after pound to get where they want (probably talking more about the Premiership). Certainly can't be the quality of football on offer over the last couple of seasons or so.
3

warktheline added 12:39 - Mar 2 @timmy , spot on! Maybe many have sky bet accounts! How many times have we lost on Sky?
0

ThatMuhrenCross added 12:58 - Mar 2 I wonder if there's a direct correlation between that and our dwindling attendances. More and more fans happy to just follow the game at home these days.
1

muccletonjoe added 13:07 - Mar 2 I can vouch for the fact that many people follow the town in Norfolk, which upsets scummers even more now they are in premier lg. Albeit temporarily
3

JewellintheTown added 13:32 - Mar 2 I assume it's because everyone likes to watch a good horror story.
1

Seasider added 14:56 - Mar 2 Despite Mick M and Mr Milne (also probably Evans)keep telling everybody that we are a small club punching above our weight,statistics don't confirm this.One only has to look at attendances in most Championship matches,and even some Premier ones,to see that. If Ipswich start to play good footballand get into top 6 then attendances will naturally go up and more people will watch them. In playoff game against Norwich there was a capacity crowd,which would have been more no doubt,had our owner(presumably)in his wisdom decided to reduce the capacity of the ground by over 1000.This was still over 2000 more than saw the return leg at Carrow Rd however. COYB

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cats_whiskers added 16:14 - Mar 2 More like watching a Comedy series Rising Damp or Are you being served
-1

harmitfc added 17:49 - Mar 2 "Many people expected Leeds, in particular, to win a considerably higher number of regions.” I think you'll find that the "many people" was indeed only the Head of Scheduling at Sky Sports. That is why they have been featured so many times over the more "popular" clubs. On a more serious note, some people would rather spend the £30-odd quid for one months subscription to SS than the vastly inflated prices to see one dire Championship match. At least with Sky Sports you can fast forward through the boring bits - a feature some fans at PR would love to do...

1

harmitfc added 17:53 - Mar 2 "What a stupid thing to say. That would only make sense if they were promoted from the third level in 1992." I think Crock that these are the figures because that was when the leagues were restructured due to the formation of the Premier League.
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Steelmonkey added 20:00 - Mar 2 tractorlowrie - you must be bored, I sometimes think when I am at PR on a match day that watching grass grow or counting sheep poo would be more entertaining these days. In Mick we trust........
2

BrettenhamBlue added 02:56 - Mar 3 Must be like watching the Sharknado films. You know its bad but something compels you to watch til the end.
1

Bert added 13:08 - Mar 3 Throughout the last 50 years, Ipswich has been many fans' favourite other than their own team. Not brash, big and corporate like many PL clubs but decent, well run and well mannered. Most supporters appreciate that so not surprising we attract people. Bournemouth are another club that will attract people. The difference now is that we are playing rough and ready championship football and they are playing pacy, passing stuff so let's hope we return to that soon. Also, as a town not much bigger than Colchester and certainly smaller than Southend, we do dame well to get the gates we do.

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