Any Opinions on World Cup Viewership?

[tested]

Let me answer the main premise of this thread: Fox is very pleased with the ratings it got for the World Cup. Obviously it would have been far higher with the US involved, but the ratings were solid regardless. The group round was way off from 2014, but the knockout round was pretty much on par or slightly higher than 2014. The whole thing had better ratings than 2010. The final was lower than 2014 for a variety of reasons including an early morning start and a lopsided score early in the match. However, the 11+million viewers Fox got for the final was the most-watched show the network has had since the NFC championship game in January.

What I think most people miss in the discussion of Fox's FIFA deal is that it also includes the women's world cup. In 2015, that included a huge 25 million viewers for the final involving the USWNT. Fox is extremely happy to have next year's women's world cup. They just hope the USMNT qualifies for 2022.

But an even broader view: Fox is transitioning itself in a way the other broadcast networks are not. Fox is selling its movie and TV studios to Disney and focusing much more on live sports. That's why it paid such a huge fortune for Thursday Night Football and is bringing WWE to Friday nights in 2019. The FIFA deal fits into this plan very well.

 

[CTListener]

What I think most people miss in the discussion of Fox's FIFA deal is that it also includes the women's world cup. In 2015, that included a huge 25 million viewers for the final involving the USWNT. Fox is extremely happy to have next year's women's world cup. They just hope the USMNT qualifies for 2022. .

In Qatar. With even earlier start times for US viewers, pre-dawn on the West Coast.

 

[landtuna]

Fox is selling its movie and TV studios to Disney and focusing much more on live sports. That's why it paid such a huge fortune for Thursday Night Football and is bringing WWE to Friday nights in 2019.

That makes some sense as the regular Fox lineup is fraught with junk shows at the moment.

One important thing though.....no way is the WWE any sort of "sport".

 

[tested]

That makes some sense as the regular Fox lineup is fraught with junk shows at the moment.

One important thing though.....no way is the WWE any sort of "sport".

Ha! Absolutely. I can't argue with that at all.. but it is live and a known quantity with solid ratings.

 

[CTListener]

Ha! Absolutely. I can't argue with that at all.. but it is live and a known quantity with solid ratings.

Pro wrestling fans are usually sports fans as well, and WWE attracts young males in numbers that any of the pro sports leagues -- except, maybe, the ultra-trendy NBA -- would love to show off to their advertisers.

"Sports entertainment" describes it perfectly: It's athletic, just as much as "real" sports are, and presented in the trappings of a competition, but it's a show. There really is no easy comparison to make other than to Roller Derby/Roller Games back in the '60s and early '70s. Performers in circus acts and ice shows are certainly athletic, but there's no attempt to present what they're doing as a competition.

 

[Prescott Joe]

I watched parts of a few games. I was completely turned off when opposing
team members would slightly bump into their opposition and that opposing
player would feign injury to draw a penalty. It was well beyond laughable,
it was disgusting.

 

[BMR]

I watched parts of a few games. I was completely turned off when opposing
team members would slightly bump into their opposition and that opposing
player would feign injury to draw a penalty. It was well beyond laughable,
it was disgusting.

I agree but sadly that seems to be the way with soccer and all the national teams do it to some extent

If anyone cares, the Fox ratings for the final,11.8 million,were actually slightly higher than the 11.4 million it got across two channels in the UK. Obviously much lower as a percentage but still.....

The England semi final got a staggering 26.6 million on one channel, ITV, which must be a record for them because the BBC is normally top dog for major national events.

 

[CTListener]

I watched parts of a few games. I was completely turned off when opposing
team members would slightly bump into their opposition and that opposing
player would feign injury to draw a penalty. It was well beyond laughable,
it was disgusting.

I agree, but fans in places where the sport matters seem to accept it as part of the game. I've seen defenders of this athletic fakery claim that contact is actually being made at such a high speed that the pain is real, but I don't buy it any more than I buy hysterical WWE announcers going "Oh my God! He's out cold!" In many replays, you can clearly see air between the supposedly colliding limbs or between elbow and head, and still the player who's looking for a foul hams it up. Other defenders bring up flopping in basketball and, which that is certainly a reality, the fact that most NBA games have more than 200 points scored in them while the average soccer match has 1 to 3 goals makes the advantage gained by sham contact in soccer much more significant to the outcome. A penalty kick, free kick from a dangerous area, or player ejection as the result of simulation frequently costs the wronged team a goal and, sometimes, the game.

The only time a single NBA flop can decide a contest is if it's called on the final play of the game with the outcome still in doubt -- and even then, the suspicion often falls on the integrity of the referee in a league that is consumed with ratings and entertainment value. Basketball also is the easiest team sport to fix (Soccer being a close second. Individual sports? I'd go with boxing and tennis), so what's a flop or two when many fans take the legitimacy of the final score with a grain of salt?

 

[landtuna]

I agree, but fans in places where the sport matters seem to accept it as part of the game.

Apparently you haven't noticed the flashback directed at Neymar this year as a result of his flopping in World Cup games.

 

[CTListener]

Apparently you haven't noticed the flashback directed at Neymar this year as a result of his flopping in World Cup games.

Wasn't that more from the media than the fans? Games in the European leagues are full of that crap and nothing is ever done about it. The fans keep filling the stadiums and watching on TV, don't they?

 

[landtuna]

Wasn't that more from the media than the fans? Games in the European leagues are full of that crap and nothing is ever done about it. The fans keep filling the stadiums and watching on TV, don't they?

The soccer media have certainly been vocal about the flopping issue - perhaps the #1 criticism of the game to date (well, other than the endless corruption of FIFA). After having witnessed soccer in Europe I can tell you their fans don't appear to care so long as their side wins. Flopping has been a problem in both soccer and hockey for decades now but hockey did something about it and soccer will need to do the same before the referees lose every bit of their integrity.

Virtually every knowledgeable soccer fan knows about the problems with flopping and many people, including myself, don't watch the big clubs for that very reason. It's like juicing the bat in baseball, headhunting in football or intentionally putting a competitor into the wall in racing. (Forget about the NBA as it is already to the level of WWE.) Nobody, in any sport, wants to see their favorite players injured and removed from the game. Nor do we want to see games won or lost by illegal means. It is simply unnecessary and demeans the sport.

I have refereed youth soccer games and it is a difficult chore to isolate intentional from accidental contact even at the minor levels. As a coach I have taught my players what is permitted by the laws of the game and what is considered foul play - then the kids watch a big club match and see nothing but thuggery out on the pitch. Pretty soon that type of play is ingrained as the players get older and you have an NBA style of play.

Any long time hockey fan can tell you how this sort of play by teams like the Boston Bruins and Philadelphia Flyers both controlled and ruined the game back in the 70's. It's up to FIFA and the respective leagues to implement proper refereeing to remove flopping from the sport.