The World Cup is a hit this year in the American market, despite the country’s poor performance and early exit from the tournament.
The average World Cup Soccer matched aired on ABC in 2002 scored less than 1 million viewers. According to Reuters, this year, the average is 2.6 million, representing a 65 percent increase from the previous tournament.
Univision, the popular Spanish-language broadcaster said its ratings tripled from the previous World Cup, with the Mexico/Iran match was watched by 5.4 million households, making it the most watched sporting event in Spanish-language television history.
Is America on the verge of an athletic revolution? Probably not in so many words, but one magazine is reporting that many more schoolchildren are starting to play soccer than previously. The 2006 FIFA World Cup has also been a very exciting one, with many matches going into 15 or 30-minute overtimes and penalty kick shootouts.
One major factor in the success of soccer broadcasts this year is that the games are being broadcast live with little commercial interruption during play. Yesterday afternoon’s Italy vs. Germany match featured no commercial interruption during actual game play and only paused during half-time and the end of regulation and the first overtime period. The 2002 tournament featured previously taped games due to their being played in Asia.
Media Life Magazine also reported that younger demographics represented a sizeable portion of the ratings increase this year. On Univision, the two-to-11 demographic was up 223 percent and 365 more teenagers tuned up for World Cup matches this year than in 2002.
Advertisers have also been cashing in, despite low expectations initially, the British daily, Guardian Unlimited reported advertising revenues peaking $1 billion for the first time in World Cup history.
One popular advertising campaign by Adidas features soccer stars from multiple countries playing in a pickup game alongside kids on a dirt field. It’s part of the Adidas +10 campaign.
So, games are broadcast live with few interruptions at more ideal times for untapped demographics, and they are exciting! If you watched the Italy/Germany game yesterday or the England/Portugal game Saturday, you’d know. And if you haven’t, there are two more games left that will leave you wondering, like this American, how these guys can run back and forth at full sprint, over 100 yards at a time, for nearly two hours.