Americans and World Cup

[napolisoccer]

Is it true that for the first time in USA there is a very great interest about World Cup and USA's national and that will there be a great ratings for ESPN ?
If the USA will be in the final, how many Americans will see the match? Will be they more than the SUPERBOWL?

[MasterShake29]

I think there was great interest in 1994 when we hosted. 2006 is helped by being in Germany, so the games will air at reasonable times here.

Even were USA to make the final, the ratings will be nowhere near the Super Bowl, though nothing is. They'd surely be quite respectable though.

[DAGSports]

I think there was great interest in 1994 when we hosted. 2006 is helped by being in Germany, so the games will air at reasonable times here.

Even were USA to make the final, the ratings will be nowhere near the Super Bowl, though nothing is. They'd surely be quite respectable though.
Yep.

I think SUM and ESPN would be expecting an audience of between 500,000 and 1 million for the main games (mid-afternoon in the US, plus the USNT). Good ABC numbers figure to be between 1.5-2 million. Basically, numbers that could be compared with the French Open and Wimbledon, which ESPN and NBC carry at the same time of year.

Univision will do huge numbers (easily 4-5 million or more) for Mexico and other popular Latin American countries, less so for everybody else.

[KCWiz]

Yep.

I think SUM and ESPN would be expecting an audience of between 500,000 and 1 million for the main games (mid-afternoon in the US, plus the USNT). Good ABC numbers figure to be between 1.5-2 million. Basically, numbers that could be compared with the French Open and Wimbledon, which ESPN and NBC carry at the same time of year.

Univision will do huge numbers (easily 4-5 million or more) for Mexico and other popular Latin American countries, less so for everybody else.

Yeah, there is definitaely a buzz going around in my area. Many of my friends who have never mentioned soccer have come up to me and wondered why certain games were not live, ha ha. With the US in a time-friendly area of the world next year and a great team, people will certainly be tuning into all of their games. In turn, all other countries will receive a boost in ratings as well.

[ChaChaFut]

Is it true that for the first time in USA there is a very great interest about World Cup and USA's national and that will there be a great ratings for ESPN ?
If the USA will be in the final, how many Americans will see the match? Will be they more than the SUPERBOWL?nothing gets more people in front of the TV in the States than the Superbowl.

[ChaChaFut]

Sure there is probably more hype than ever about the WC in the US, but remember this: they're probably the only country in the WC that won't feature world cup games in national TV. To me, that is just too sad (for instance, I was born and raised in a Latin American country, then moved to the US in April 2002 (just before the world cup), so you can imagine the impact on my sanity :eek: )

[Davids26]

Sure there is probably more hype than ever about the WC in the US, but remember this: they're probably the only country in the WC that won't feature world cup games in national TV. To me, that is just too sad (for instance, I was born and raised in a Latin American country, then moved to the US in April 2002 (just before the world cup), so you can imagine the impact on my sanity :eek: )

Last I checked all 64 games were being shown live in HI-Def on ESPN, ESPN2, and ABC.

Do you mean over the air, non-pay TV? Because a lot of people these days have cable and satellite.

[billf]

ESPN and ESPN2 in in just about every home in the US with a TV. I realize that not everyone has these channels but its about as close as you can get to a traditional network channel on cable TV.

[rangers00]

Sure there is probably more hype than ever about the WC in the US, but remember this: they're probably the only country in the WC that won't feature world cup games in national TV. To me, that is just too sad (for instance, I was born and raised in a Latin American country, then moved to the US in April 2002 (just before the world cup), so you can imagine the impact on my sanity :eek: )

You probably should have gone back to your Latin American country and checked out their coverage on the 2002 World Cup.

FIFA mandates that every country has to televise the opening game, the final, the semi-finals (?), and the games of that country live on terrestrial TV. Beyond that, all the other games were fair game.

DirecTV Latin America snatched the rights of the 2002 World Cup and put the games other than mentioned above exclusively on their platform. They probably also sublicensed the games to cable. In other words, if you have Sky Latin America, you are screwed.

This is a move EXCLUSIVELY to lure DBS subscribers. You want to watch the World Cup? dump Sky.

National TV? what's that? There is no such thing of "all 64 games on free TV" in most of the countries anymore.

[DieFX]

in mexico the two largest tv broadcaster only get to show 32 games like 4 years ago which is not bad but still dbs exclusivity sucks

[ChaChaFut]

You probably should have gone back to your Latin American country and checked out their coverage on the 2002 World Cup.

FIFA mandates that every country has to televise the opening game, the final, the semi-finals (?), and the games of that country live on terrestrial TV. Beyond that, all the other games were fair game.

DirecTV Latin America snatched the rights of the 2002 World Cup and put the games other than mentioned above exclusively on their platform. They probably also sublicensed the games to cable. In other words, if you have Sky Latin America, you are screwed.

This is a move EXCLUSIVELY to lure DBS subscribers. You want to watch the World Cup? dump Sky.

National TV? what's that? There is no such thing of "all 64 games on free TV" in most of the countries anymore.That's interesting info. BTW I checked about my hometown, and not only it was in 2002 and it will be in 2006, free for all, all games, live. It's just a service they have for the people, and they are supported by lots of sponsors.

And yes, by national TV I meant a TV and a VHF antenna. Sorry if it sounds prehistoric. :rolleyes:

[ChaChaFut]

Last I checked all 64 games were being shown live in HI-Def on ESPN, ESPN2, and ABC.ABC? in 2002? I don't remember that.

[OldFanatic]

ABC? in 2002? I don't remember that.

The final.

Also, England vs. Sweden and Eire vs. Spain on tape delay, I believe.

[Supersuperman99]

OK peeps for us folks here in the US if you want the game live and in english go with espn,espn2 & ABC. Over the air they will also be free if you dont have cable they will all most be on univision and they telefutura which can be seen practically everywhere in the USA. even when you only uinivision you still got to see all the games live. So i guess for a country that "doesnt" embrace the beautiful game. We sure do get to see the world cup. As for ABC they usually only carry the US games and the final live maybe they will have a second round game which usually involves a top 10 team like in FRance 98 they showed the Brazil-Paraguay round 0f 16 game.

[ChaChaFut]

While we're at it (and I apologize if this is been answered already), can somebody tell me where to watch the December draw, live?

[WarrenWallace]

OK peeps for us folks here in the US if you want the game live and in english go with espn,espn2 & ABC. Over the air they will also be free if you dont have cable they will all most be on univision and they telefutura which can be seen practically everywhere in the USA. even when you only uinivision you still got to see all the games live. So i guess for a country that "doesnt" embrace the beautiful game. We sure do get to see the world cup. As for ABC they usually only carry the US games and the final live maybe they will have a second round game which usually involves a top 10 team like in FRance 98 they showed the Brazil-Paraguay round 0f 16 game.

Unless you are in a big city with a major hispanic presence, Univision is only available on cable television. And I don't know what those other hispanic channels are cause I have never seen them before.

[OldFanatic]

And I don't know what those other hispanic channels are cause I have never seen them before.

Here are various ones which are available as network channels, as well as on basic cable throughout the US. But they are not in 100% of the US like Fox, NBC, CBS or ABC. I'm pretty sure all of them are available on DirecTV and DISH combined. Although, it's quite possible not all are available on a single DBS system. I haven't bothered researching that specifically.

Univision
Galavision
Telefutura
Telemundo
TV Azteca America

[MasterShake29]

While we're at it (and I apologize if this is been answered already), can somebody tell me where to watch the December draw, live?

It hasn't been determined yet.

[Spartak]

It hasn't been determined yet.
Ollie is stating it will be on ESPNEWS and Univision:

FIFA World Cup 2006 Draw
ESPNEWS
Univision (channel to be confirmed)
Fr Dec 9 2:30pm ET/11:30am PT LIVE (time to be confirmed)
www.SoccerTV.com

[BocaFan]

I wish all the World cup matches could be on PPV like they were for Euro 2004. Then we can get proper coverage of the event (from England TV).