World Cup Television Estimates Off the Mark

Details, details. It turns out those widely reported stories about the 2006 World Cup final attracting one billion television viewers might have been slightly off the mark.

From the Independent:

So how many people actually watch the World Cup final live, from start to finish? According to Initiative Sports Futures, independent analysts with no ties to Fifa, the figure for the 2006 final was 260 million in the 54 key markets it surveyed, accounting for 90 per cent of the world’s TV households. ISF sources figures only from markets where data is collated electronically by reputable monitors, such as Barb in the UK.

The Independent also contacted a range of similar bodies around the world during its investigation. Allowing for the 10 per cent of TV households not monitored, and viewers in public places, the live audience could be around 400 million. But the fact is that nobody knows, for sure, above 260 million.

Also worth noting that the company that compiles the numbers that FIFA so proudly proclaims every four years has a vested interest in making the organization look attractive to potential sponsors.

The company ultimately responsible for compiling World Cup TV data is Infront Sports and Media, based in Zug, Switzerland, and whose chief executive is Philippe Blatter, nephew of Fifa’s president, Sepp Blatter. Infront also handles the global sales of World Cup TV rights.

What an interesting way to run an organization. Hire your nephew to compile the numbers that are then used to sell the television rights. Brilliant.

The bottom line to me is that we’ll never know the exact number of people who tune into the World Cup, but it is still the world’s most watched sporting event. Better estimates in the future would be nice, but the precise reach of the tournament around the world will never be truly known.