I have noticed that , interest in the world cup is at fever pitch during the group stage. This fever pitch continues on as long as your team is in the running. People tend to lose interest once their team is eliminated. Also During the group stage, there is a match every single day. World cup fever is very high because you are constantly watching games. Once the tournament reaches the knockout stage, you may go several days without watching a game and the world cup fever dissipates. What if : Instead of 8 groups of 4, FIFA introduced 4 groups of 8 Benefits 1. Each team would be guaranteed to play at least 7 matches 2. FIFA would generate twice as much money in ticket sales (more games) 3. Advertising revenue would double (due to more games plus higher attention) 4. Each player would likely play in at least one game instead of warming the bench and leaving without ever playing as happens to many now. 5. FIFA would be guaranteed that everyone would remain tuned into the world cup for a long time instead of the current system where many tune out after their team is eliminated in round 1 At the end of the group stage, only the group winners go to the semi-finals. The runners up play classification matches to determine positions 5 to 8 Thoughts?
That would take 2 more matchdays. Currently, the World Cup requires at most 7 games and lasts 31 days. Your proposal would required at most 9 games. Calculating 9/7*31 = about 39.9, so your proposal could add 40-31 = 9 additional days. I don't think a team would like to do well and finish in third but not play any more games than a team that finished last.
Thats good feedback The two extra match days should not be a problem. Currently there are too many dead days during the knockout phase in which no one is playing. For example, in 2014, Brazil played their round of 16 game on June 28th and then their quarter-final match on July 4. That means there are six days between matches. That’s too many empty days. You can squeeze at least two more matches I don’t think the 3rd place team would have issues with playing the same number of games as the last place team. This happens in every league be it EPL or MLS or Bundesliga. I think the players would like the guarantee of having at least 7 matches.
I don't think players would want to play 9 times in 31 days (or fewer than that if their team didn't play on the first day). The tournament would have to last longer. As for your "this happens in every league" sentence, the World Cup should be compared to a tournament like the FA Cup, not to a domestic league. As for the question in the topic title, keep in mind that some people watch the World Cup despite their favorite country not even qualifying.
I think the hardcore nationalistic people do. Though if you love soccer you still watch. I think it would be hard to get clubs to release players to a mandatory 7 games though. They don't want extra wear and tear on their investments.
Bizarre idea. You might have somewhat of a point that interest drops off a bit just after the group stage, but it picks up and intensifies as the big games start coming in the latter stages of the tournament. And the biggest reason interest is high in the group stage is that all games matter. With four mini leagues of eight teams each and only winners qualify for semis most teams would be out after 3-4 games and the tournament would have a plethora of dead rubber games.