Football is a very dangerous sport but fans may face an even bigger risk than the players. What’s this terrifying danger that each and every football fan will face this Sunday as Super Bowl XLVIII kicks off? According to the findings of a new study released on Thursday by SquareTrade, 23 million Americans have damaged their cell phone or tablet during a major sporting event.
The study polled more than 5,700 Americans this month to determine the horrifying stat. What’s more, it details the most common accidents so that sports fans know exactly what to avoid this Sunday.
According to SquareTrade, 33% of mobile device accidents that occur during sporting events involve the device simply slipping out of the owner’s hand and falling to the ground. 18% are liquid drops — a phone falls into a toilet or water spills on it — and 13% are specifically beer drops.
12% of incidents are what SquareTrade refers to as “passion drops,” which is when a device is thrown intentionally out of anger or excitement. Finally, 8% of accidents are classified as bar drops, where a device will fall off of a bar or a table in a bar.
“Our devices have become our must-have companion during sports events – from tweets and texts, to photographing those moments of victory and defeat. We think the more passionate the sports fan, the more likely an accident is to happen in the heat of the game,” said SquareTrade CMO Ty Shay. “And since extreme weather does not play nicely with electronics and cold hands are even more susceptible to phone fumbles, we are urging everyone (at least off the field) to play it safe.”
Also of note, the study found that Seahawks fans are much more clumsy than Broncos fans, with 26% of Bronocs backers having reported a cell phone accident in the past 12 months compared to just 16% of Broncos fans. Be safe out there, sports fans.
