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ITV and National Lottery's 'I Am Team GB' campaign encourages 68% of attendees into further exercise

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By John McCarthy, Opinion Editor

October 4, 2016 | 3 min read

The 'I Am Team GB' campaign, staged by The National Lottery and ITV, has encouraged almost one million people to participate in sports following the Olympic success of Team GB.

I am Team GB

I am Team GB

The stunt, which the companies dubbed 'The Nation’s Biggest Sports Day', holds the title of the UK's largest ever sports participation event according to fresh research from YouGov.

As part of the initiative, ITV switched off all of its channels to encourage would-be viewers to attend 14 flagship events including activities held on the sets of Coronation Street and Emmerdale.

A total of 2,600 free events were hosted by sports clubs across the UK saw around 970,000 people attend, across these the clubs were surveyed.

YouGov research claims that of all the attendees (sample size 11,566 adults), over half (52 per cent) were not keen on sport but more than two thirds (68 per cent) said they were more likely to exercise in the aftermath of the event.

Beyond the participants, a total of four million people claim they are more likely to take part in exercise.

Clare Phillips, head of brand planning at ITV, said: “We’re delighted that nearly a million people came out on bank holiday weekend to take part in I Am Team GB and try a new sport. ITV put everything into this initiative; talent, editorial, marketing, iconic locations like Coronation Street and Emmerdale and, of course, we switched off all our channels for the first time in our history. As the nation’s biggest commercial broadcaster, we’re proud to have helped mark Team GB’s incredible performance in Rio and brought people across the UK together for this unique moment.”

Sally Cowdry, consumer and retail director for The National Lottery, added: “National Lottery players have contributed over £80m a year to support over 1,300 athletes for sporting success in Rio and beyond – and we wanted to create a nationwide event that everyone could participate in as a way of truly thanking them for their backing. We’re delighted that nearly one million people took the opportunity to get active and hope that the sparks of a few future Olympic careers will have been ignited as a result.”

Olympics ITV National Lottery

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