Ok, let's be honest here, up until a few weeks ago, how many of you were familiar with a vuvuzela? Undoubtedly, even we were surprised to see how World Cup fever has gripped this country's youth audience especially in between proms, graduation parties and the start of summer break. The bulk of the audience's TV sports consumption is dominated by football, basketball and baseball, so to see an event like the World Cup rate so highly in this month's Insights Immersion is significant. At least part of the excitement can be linked directly to two factors: coverage and technology and clearly there are synergies between the two factors.
June is kind of a funny month for sports coverage as the NBA wraps up its season, while baseball approaches the mid-season mark. That said, it's fair to say there is a bit of a void so the timing of this year's World Cup is super strategic. The coverage on-air, online and even via mobile devices is reminiscent of an Olympic Games: thoroughly comprehensive and seemingly never ending. If you're a sports fan, it's almost as if you have to tune-in at some point. And that's exactly what the audience has been doing as noted by this month's findings.
World Cup Viewer and Fan Statistics:
- watched at least one game: 27% (37% of males/16% of females)
- watched more than one game: 20% (28% of males/12% of females)
- watched the U.S. team play: 26% (35% of males/16% of females)
- streamed a game online: 16% (24% of males/8% of females)
- streamed game highlights or interviews online: 23% (34% of males/11% of females)
- watched a game on a mobile device: 3% (6% of males/1% of females)
- watched game highlights or interviews on a mobile device: 5% (10% of males/1% of females)
- visited websites like ESPN Soccernet or Yahoo! Sports for World Cup info: 29% (41% of males/17% of females)
- Used Facebook or Twitter to follow World Cup-related activities: 16% (22% of males/10% of females)