EA and research firm TNS have announced the results of a joint survey to identify the marketing opportunity for ads placed in sports videogames.  The pair surveyed an unspecified number of people identified as sports fans.  They found that 69 percent of those who called themselves avid sports fans own at least one sports videogame.  They also found 38 percent of sports fans who play videogames spend as much or more time playing a game based on a sport as they do watching it on TV.  The survey showed sports gamers represent a lucrative demographic for marketers, with the segment identified as three-quarters male, more than half aged between 18-34 years old, and likely single with disposable income.  They also tend to lead more active lives, with 60 percent of sports gamers surveyed saying they had exercised in the last week compared to 44 percent for all sports fans.  The survey s holy grail could be finding that ads placed in sports games are viewed favorably by most, with three out of four respondents saying they viewed in-game ads as reinforcing a brand’s sponsorship of a sport in real life.  Read more in the press release.