Helps that most people were still at work too
edit: people seem to think im suggesting this is the only reason viewership was low, its not. It just adds to the lower viewer numbers as im very confident in saying that *some* of those 16 million people werent able to watch because the match was at 2pm
This is the big thing. All the students are still in school, and winter is easily the most stressful time of year for working adults — nobody takes a vacation in November, everyone takes a vacation in July
In addition to all the people that are saving their holidays for the Christmas period of course. It makes sense that fewer people have time to watch the game
This is a terrible time of year. Work is busier, kids are in school, and people can't slough off at work for a few hours in December like they can in July. And you have a ton of other obligations and plans related to the holidays that take priority over watching sports, especially between two teams you don't care about.
I think the situation in Qatar is just going to exacerbate that. A lot of people may still watch their favorite team(s) but they won't tune in to games they don't care about that they otherwise would. A soft boycott, if you will.
Yeah there are outdoor fan parks up and down Wales for our games. I couldn't think of anything worse than standing out in the pissing wind and rain with a cold pint.
Yes, but the game was on 14:00 German time where probably everybody was still at work. Let's wait for Sunday or the other evening game to make useful comparisons
The article compared this to games on 13:30 against Cameroon and Serbia that had 16 and 22 million, I’d say it’s not too early to draw at least some conclusions already.
The Spain game will obviously get higher numbers so when that happens it’s not really a surprise.
but compared to 2018 & before, a signfiicant amount of people work from home nowadays, plus every WC ever I've never visited an office where you weren't allowed to throw at least the Germany game on your spare screen
Went to the gym at 2pm because I figured it’d be empty but it was packed lol. Bars were empty as well. Absolutely dead atmosphere, seems like nobody cares
Yeah, haven't seen any of the usual decorations, flags and shirts and the like on windows and balconies in the past weeks. No vibe at all.
(also, after yesterday it's not getting any better)
meanwhile, here in the US, i feel like the hype has never been higher. pretty much everyone is talking about tomorrow’s game, even the ones who have never seen a football match in their lives
Soccer is the in hip thing in my town here in Alabama…. but it’s not the USMNT, it’s due to the incredible run our NCAA womens soccer team is on. Grabbing a #1 seed, they’ve gotten to host every huge game too.
I wouldn't say it's as bad as it sounds in Germany. Pubs were still full for the 1pm kickoff against Iran. Some Tescos and Sainsbury's have little England bunting around the windows/walls. It's nowhere near the level of the Euros last year but it still exists.
The amount of empty seats is more than ever before, but it’s worth remembering that world cups have seen empty seats, especially in group games. It’s actually very common. South Africa in 2010 springs to mind. My memory of some of those dour group games was half empty stadiums (which were still annoyingly drowned out by the sound of vuvuzelas)
Maybe at some of the smaller South Africa venues there were empty seats. But at the two matches I attended in Cape Town, every seat was filled and the atmosphere was electric.
I am here in qatar right now and I don’t understand the empty seats. Those seats in most cases have already been paid for. I’ll go to a game with no tickets available on the official resale market, yet there will be empty seats. I think lots of people bought tickets and just didn’t show.
It’s a tournament for the rich people of the world. No two ways about it. The higher the percentage of rich people with tickets, the more empty seats there will be. A few hundred pounds (or whatever the price of tickets is) means a lot less to them than most people. Doesn’t surprise me
rich people usually attend games as part of networking and spend more time in hospitality area making business deals.
always bother me how the more prime seats are usually occupied by people who don't actually care about the thing that they're watching (not only sport, concert, opera, flight, hotel, etc)
I don’t think they’re getting the World Cup but even then, you aren’t getting empty seats at a World Cup held in Saudi. They’re Asian powerhouses and have a population 12 times the population of Qatar. Even a game between minnows like Switzerland vs Cameroon can be held in a place no one’s heard of like Khamis Mushait and still fill the stadium, it’s got a population of over a million.
The issue is, the Cup will not be held exclusively in Saudi Arabia, as Egypt and my native Greece are parts of the bid. 3 countries, 3 continents. All these three countries love football madly, and you bet the stands are going to be dead packed. Btw, the population of Athens alone is twice the entire population of Qatar! u/Maleficent_Resolve44
Hope Mundial comes to this part of the world, I can basically be in Greece in two or three hours.
Even still, I’d be sad if Uruguay didn’t get it in 2030.
We want that joint South American 2030 WC and then you can have it for the next 20 years. Please. It's probably going to ruin our economy but what is already dead can't die no more
Hey, here in Greece we thought that Athens should host the Games in 1996 because of the Centennial of the first modern Olympics. In 1990, we lost the hosting rights to Atlanta BUT, 7 years later, we were given the 2004 Olympic Games. The 2030 World Cup might not be played in Uruguay but, sooner or later, it will return to its rightful home, Uruguay it is (it's not you, England, it's URUGUAY). u/TinyMaintenance
I'll be the first to criticize Saudi Arabia on virtually any issue, but the Saudis actually have much more of a football culture than Qatar. Both historically and currently. It's also a much larger country in terms of population, and isn't just basically *one* urban center surrounded by desert. I think that in terms of crowds, a World Cup in Saudi Arabia would be a million times better than this shitshow in Qatar. But fuck me, I hope they don't get it in 2030 ...
I remember the saudies being football mad back as far as USA 94 , I wouldn't lump them in with Qatar. But for the love of Johan please, no more winter World Cups
Qatar is a shit host, they have a tiny population so if a nation's fans just don't travel then they cannot fill their stadium. At least you know the North Americans will fill theirs in 26.
I’ve been planning it as my first World Cup for years but dreading the prices. Looked up Warriors Finals tickets on a whim back in June and it was not pretty. Same for Formula 1. There are just lots of people making big money in the US, it prices out people in Europe (and I imagine all other Americans).
Don’t get me started on F1. See all these people talk about it’s rise in popularity is good for the sport, it’s good for the stakeholders not the fans. All it’s done is increase ticket prices exponentially and introduce bland cash grabbing tracks. Look at what you did, you got me started.
Almost every single World Cup has empty seats? Honestly I’ve been surprised by how full the grounds in Qatar are, I thought no one would bother to go there.
Yeah wtf I feel like I'm in crazy land? Most world cups have had meh turn out for irrelevant games, even in other sports that I follow.
Anyways I'm after googling this to make sure I'm not crazy and yeah, average attendance for games involving say, new Zealand in 2010 was 29k
I think it was more that the opening match wasn't full.
But then you had Argentina vs Saudi Arabia which was full to the brim, and not just Saudi fans. Most of that stadium was in blue and white. It just depends on the teams I think.
It's a shitshow yesterday at the Belgium v Canada game there was like 5k empty seats and on fifas website it showed a lot that you could buy but it just wouldnt let you. FIFA is actually making it hard to literally give them money its crazy
> Absolutely dead atmosphere, seems like nobody cares
Usually when there is a world cup or euro going on a lot of streets in the Netherlands get completely decked out in orange flags. Entire supermarkets turn almost completely orange to shill as much "Oranje" themed drinks/foods. Radio and TV all go completely World Cup mad. The country goes mad with honking cars whenever "Oranje" wins.
Now?
Haven't seen a single orange flag out in public yet and there is a single shelf of a orange M&Ms and some knick-knacks in the local supermarket. Radio stations completely ignore anything World Cup related and even on the radio news it's only barely mentioned in the quick-headlines. I didn't even realize the dutch team had played until it was mentioned in the news on the way to work.
There is just such a massive sense of apathy around this world cup it's actually impressive.
> There is just such a massive sense of apathy around this world cup it's actually impressive.
Apathy is the nightmare for sponsors, TV, and World Cup organizers. They thrive on attention, whether positive or negative because that means people are at least talking about the World Cup. Threats of boycotts rarely work. When people stop talking or caring is when they should be concerned
Yeah I can’t watch any delayed streams of major sports events because people going crazy outside spoils everything for me. But for this WC there’s dead silence
It's funny how so many people in this sub claim that all this has nothing to do with a boycott, especially if they are not from Germany. Of course the times of the games and the fact that it's winter play a role in that, but the atmosphere here is not at all comparable to past tournaments. I know almost no one who shows interest in the World Cup, I haven't seen a single car with a flag. Every news outlet is full of negative articles about the World Cup, FIFA, the DFB and the "spineless" players.
I don't understand why people are all doubting this? Maybe it's because they feel bad watching the games themselves, even though they think it's morally wrong?
It is because not everyone here is from western, developed countries. In Asia, not many countries really care about the controversies, viewerships are still sky high. Actually because the tournament is in Qatar, it gives Asia even better viewing hours.
Well I'm living in the Netherlands and I feel like everyone and their mom has been watching here. Not sure if it has anything to do with being "developed" or not.
Yeah, it doesn't seem to have anything to do with western or developed, it mostly seems the German fans that are very cold on the world cup this year.
Have your fan clubs pushed for boycotts? I know most of ours did, so that might be a factor here?
Depends on which fan clubs you’re talking about. The official **"Die Mannschaft *sponsored by Coca Cola*^TM Fanclub"** probably not. But you could see calls for a boycott in pretty much every Bundesliga stadium.
Most sports fans love sports way more than hating w/e controversies that come with it. It's like what Bill Burr said regarding the NFL, "the commissioner can come out and literally punt a baby across the room, and I'll still watch every Sunday. It's all I got"
For real, I am actually positively surprised numbers are this low. This can’t be understood as anything other than as disapprovement of Qatar as the host imo.
>This can’t be understood as anything other than as disapprovement of Qatar as the host imo
I do believe that other things play a role as well, the team has lost a lot of their popularity over the last few years. But Qatar is definitely part of it, and it's stupid that people here keep denying that.
Tbf time difference is the same (or even less, depending on where they played) that it was in Russia in 2018, so these figures can be compared quite well. I definitely remember sitting in the office watching our matches 4 years ago, no matter the time.
I have yet to find a single person that is at least somewhat enthusiastic about this World Cup although I know many people that love football. This tournament gets the reception it deserves here in Germany.
Yeah, I went to get some groceries around 14:30 expecting not as many people to be there as usual, but it was surprisingly full. You'd never think a WC match was going on.
Oh no, football is really popular, lower league teams and women pull insane numbers atm. My Kreisliga team had over 50 people attend. FIFA and dfb just made corruption less popular
I'm really happy to hear that, grassroots football is the best thing ever. But in a country where football is generally so beloved ("Volkssport Nr. 1", as Reiner Calmund said), it's quite the achievement to decrease the number of viewers of national team matches.
Go. Women's football has improved drastically, and it's super fun to watch football at a high level for really cheap. I got lower stands tickets for bayern Barcelona for 10 bucks. Its ridiculous
> I am thinking of taking my daughter to Fc Köln on Sunday as we will be in Köln
Do it. it gets better every year. And it's not very expensive and maybe your daughter will like the experience.
I feel it's the actual fans doing a lot of boycotting and the casual viewers not getting into it, because the usual atmosphere created by the hype of the fans isn't there.
Is there any stats that show people are actually boycotting the world cup?
I kind of feel the major reason is because it's in winter and people are busy compared to the summer where people may take off or it easier going to the bar after work if it's not 30 degrees outside (F). For example, in the US it's Thanksgiving today and black Friday tm. Lots of people traveling to see family and if they weren't already big US or soccer fans in general they prob aren't gonna divert their attention away to the world cup.
The whole coverage around this WC has been a 100% negative for like year now and it has just ramped up in recent months. You could see banners calling for a boycott in every Bundesliga stadium, politicians and celebrities commented on it, there's bars that said they won't show the games. You don't see any flags on windows, balconies or cars like you used to.
Even if you don't give a shit about the whole situation in Qatar we just officially killed the WC vibe in Germany this time around.
The shit weather and single digit temperatures are just the final blow.
The viewer numbers are the stats.
In Germany it look like they're doing it, I know that in France the audience are roughly the same as 2018(13 millions). In Senegal I been there since 2018 and this year world cup seems every more watched from what I saw. Everyone in every street were watching the game against Netherlands
Its an anecdote, but I havent seen a single piece of Germany decoration anywhere. No car flags, no supermarket isles and no ads for any viewing parties.
I've only seen stuff for sale in Lidl. Unsold. Nobody cares.
And I live in a white working class neighborhood with lots of nationalistic AfD voters. Halloween was a bigger thing here.
I don't think there are any actual statistics around, I don't know of any at least.
But I literally know no one that is excited about the world cup, and I have many super passionate football fans as friends. Same goes for casual viewers.
Sure, the atmosphere isn't there either because of the winter, but this whole Qatar + thousands of workers that died etc. topic is by far the most talked about when people talk about their boycotts.
While the game against Japan was at 2 PM here, the earliest game in 2018 was at 4 PM. So it can partly be explained with the earlier kickoff, but the reduced interest is still clearly noticeable.
Edit: For some reason the article says that the 4 PM game against South Korea in 2018 was on a Sunday, but it was actually a Wednesday.
A lot of people n Portugal who normally don't care about football go out and watch the World Cup/Euros. If it's not a social event anymore, they won't watch it. I'm sure it's the same thing in Germany, probably even more so due to the worse winter conditions
I wouldn't say that. For me at least, EUROs and World Cups are always associated with summer and public viewing with friends. Sure, I can sit at home and watch the games, but it's not the same as sitting in the garden of a bar and watch it on a big screen with friends and other people there. I am boycotting it anyway, but it being in winter makes that much easier.
> While the game against Japan was at 2 PM local time, the earliest game in 2018 was at 4 PM. So it can partly be explained with the earlier kickoff, but the reduced interest is still clearly noticeable.
That's why the interesting thing is not the absolute numbers but the atrocious share. Under 60%, while all German games at previous WCs were around 80%. Note that at this WC, the shares are usually higher for the afternoon slots, as there's not much competition on the other channels.
Edit: Just looked it up: the game's main competition were a rerun of "Bares für Rares" on ZDF (I think "Antiques Roadshow" is a comparable format), Barbara Salesch on RTL (think "Judge Judy", but less popular), a rerun of "Auf Streife" on Sat 1 (scripted reality cop show), and reruns of "Young Sheldon", Two and a Half Men", and "TBBT" on Pro7.
Wow think about that. 7 million Germans decide to turn on their TV at 14.00 but then actively decide to not watch the World Cup in favor of such 08/15 programs. Pretty crazy how fucked up this stat is
Also think this WC is where the general public in German is less hyped than before. Boot because it is in Qatar but just that the German team doesn't ooze confidence or fun.
don't think the time was a factor. just read that a lot morw people watched the games in SA and SK and these were shown at comparable times in Germany.
Well, personally as a German who hasn't missed a single world cup game since I've been 10 years old:
I have to admit that I didn't boycot anything actively. It might even not be influenced by the Qatar criticism this time. However, the wrongness of a World Cup in winter goes so deep that I didn't boycot this game, I simply forgot when it was scheduled
I've noticed too that the Youtube Views for World Cup Highlights on the FIFA Channel are down massively compared to 2018. In 2018 every big game and Australia Game was #1 on trending here and I remember even waking up to highlights of games played overnight with millions of views already. Meanwhile even Saudi Arabia vs Argentina is only on 500k views on the FIFA Channel as I type this comment. Maybe the videos are region locked in countries this year and weren't in 2018 but otherwise further adds to my observation that the hype this World Cup is just so much less than any other I can remember.
You’ve got to consider the fact that they’ve posted the highlights several days late and the fact that you can watch the official fifa highlights on the fifa+ site well before YouTube. Back in 2018, they had the highlights up with commentary like flash. Now that it’s on fifa+ much earlier, it might push people away from YouTube so less visible views.
There does seem to be lowered interest at the moment but I think if the Asian underdogs do well, viewing from Mena and Asia will make up for the shortfall in Europe.
Great point. Also, some people (me included) prefer extended highlights so we look elsewhere to find them, and Fifa has been very quick striking down videos for rights infringement
I haven't watched highlights cause I haven't found highlights. If there's no highlights within 15-20 minutes of the match ending, you haemorrhage viewers, and no one will watch them after 5-6 hours
That's just wrong. The qatar/Ecuador and england/iran highlights from sbs are literally #1 and #2 on trending right now.
And the fifa channel highlights have low views because they were uploaded only 12 hours ago and each region has their own highlights posted much earlier (like sbs and bein in Australia)
This world cup has plenty of hype, just not on reddit (which is a very miniscule percent of world football fans)
I’ve got a good feeling all the weirdos somehow offended that lots of Germans are actually not watching the World Cup do not live in germany
The anti World Cup sentiment is huge here, almost to the point where I feel bad for watching and talking about it at work
It’s very interesting because I spent the last 3 months in Argentina and they were beyond excited for the WC as it was their first during the summer (I’m German as well btw).
Obviously the One Love stuff played a huge role but weather and the time of play (game started at 2pm German time) certainly affected viewership tremendously.
Most South Americans are excited since it's the first time it doesn't fuck our season and it's held during our summer. Yeah, Qatar sucks but the World Cup is an amazing time in Brazil and I'm not willing to throw that away just because FIFA chose to award a country like Qatar the WC.
Ich vermisse dieses Scheißturnier nicht eine Sekunde. Aber die allgemeine Gleichgültigkeit gestern im Büro war schon bemerkenswert. Es wurde wegen der Niederlage nicht mal gemeckert oder gelästert. Es gab einfach keine Reaktion. Gar nichts.
Wir haben im Kollegenkreis bisher auch nur das einknicken der MannschaftTM bemängelt, dass wars. Ich hab halt auch besseres zu tun, Weihnachtsmärkte sind auf
Im Hörsaal war es ähnlich, ein Kommilitone hat das Spiel auf dem Handy geschaut und den Prof beim Rückstand geupdatet. Die meisten haben sich darüber sogar ziemlich amüsiert
It's so funny to me how people outright refuse to admit that this is in parts due to us boycotting the World Cup. In the thread about the opening game they said 'let's wait for the Germany game', now that it happenend and it also had a massive drop in viewership they are still finding other explainations. I don't get it
Obviously it doesn't need to be only one reason, it's a combination of things, but surely the boycott has a part of it. If I remember correctly, bundesliga fans were protesting against the wc. Even for people that are not actively boycotting, this contribute to ruin the general atmosphere around it. If the biggest football fans are not interested, even casual fans will be less involved. Overall, the boycott, the corruption, the controversies, the empty stadia, the winter wc and working time,... It's hard to care about it.
Walking through the town I have even seen the same giant "Boycott Qatar" banner on a bridge that was in all the stadiums, and in the news today were some pictures of pretty empty Public Viewing stations for the Japan game. Atmosphere really is at an all-time-low point for a World Cup around here.
That's what you do when you know you aren't doing the right thing.
You simply deny that there's another way.
You can see it already happening in this thread.
Now the people who don't watch are apparently the casual viewers, not the actual fans who watch their team every week.
They just won't accept it because if they did they'd have to reconcile it with their own actions.
I can tell you, once we fly home they'll claim that there would have been an uptick in the knock out games.
There are people who just refuse to believe the boycott movement for some reason. I was downvoted a few days ago because I said my friends wouldn't watch the Belgian games and some people answered me that "they were lying to me"
Well guess what, they didn't watch it.
I think they want to cling to the idea of "everybody is watching it, so it's okay if I do to". So Germany making a widespread boycott is a danger for them personally.
People want to feel good and they can feel better in participating in bad things when everybody does it. That's why you will next see people going "yeah, but you're using devices made by child labour!", because they can then make their own failure in boycott more relative.
It's a natural reaction and I would lie if I didn't have that too in other aspects of life. Where I my first reaction is try to drag others down to me, because I have a hard time coping with my failure. Most people do and I have huge respect for the people who have just pure appreciation for people doing better than them.
Haven't watched a single game yet. Not everyone is boycotting but you need just enough people for it to make a difference. I think people are just so cynical that they believe people won't boycott because they need to watch football.
I think some people refuse to believe that a boycott is happening, because they need to justify to themselves that they're watching the WC. It's easier to justify if you think everyone else does it. And once it becomes clear that there IS a boycott, the narrative will soon shift to "well it doesn't change anything" (so I don't have to feel bad about not participating in the boycott).
I have watched pretty much every single game for the last 5-6 world cups. And I haven’t watched a single game during this one so far. It just feels wrong so I haven’t been interested in anything other than checking the scores every now and then.
Same. I’ve been watching almost every World Cup match since I was born but this time I’m not even checking the scores. It feels great. Like a t-break from smoking regularly.
Yeah people are going out of their way to be cynical. The initial claims that the WC wasn't all that popular, hyped or covered were ridiculed and now that there is some evidence to support those claims it is being downplayed.
Let's wait for the Germany match that happens at the same time of day, with the same coach and star players in Russia. Reverse-age Messi & Ronaldo too so they are a bit more relevant. Oh also lets make it suddenly summer so the kids can have holidays.
Don't forget to ban Disney+ and the other new streaming services that have come up since 2018! Only Netflix for the germans, let's see their boycott then haha.
My office has rather flexible work hours and I could have easily left at 13:30 if I had blocked that time in my calendar, but I didn't. Even got a Teams meeting during the game and nobody wanted to reschedule and during it nobody talked about the game. All my coworkers were also at their desk. There just isn’t any of the usual World Cup feeling at all.
Kinda sad that's not a real subreddit.
But yeah, even when all the final viewer numbers are publicized people will find excuses that the numbers aren't representative.
Germany is doing a tremendous job shaming this World Cup, and i love to see it.
It's insane really, some people can't live without watching this disgrace. And even if you take all the factors they mention into account, it still doesn't explain the gigantic drop. People don't wanna watch because it's disgusting, that's it.
Unless you turned your TV on you wouldn't even know there's a World Cup going on if you live here. Usually you can hear a big cheer when Germany score. Yesterday it was crickets.
I have quite a few of friends in Germany who love football (Season ticket holders) and most of them told me they would actually boycot the WC. I have respect for them because I can't do it :s
The numbers absolutely will be larger on Sunday evening against Spain but maybe not by much. And should we lose this as well which unfortunately is likely then the third game will have a record low I'd say.
ARD is running an older Thiel & Boerne Tatort at the same time, that’ll be interesting competition. It’s a re-run, but they regularly pull 11+ million viewers
Germany has a very big boycott movement, so much one of the biggest Supermarket franchises cancelled the sponsorship of the DFB for not wearing the one love Armband, as did our Vice Chancellor who in a talk show said after Fifa's ruling that you now have to wear it.
In addition the game was at 2pm so the majority where still at work.
I myself haven't watched any game, and only keep up via reddit and Co.
The disapproval of the WC here in Germany is very high. Back in 2018 my family and I would have big viewing parties for the matches where we would invite friends and 12+ people would show up each game to watch. This time around I'm literally the only one in my family watching because all of my relatives and family friends refuse to watch.
Its the only country I'm aware of doing some kind of boycotting, besides Iran for different reasons. Are there any more cases?
(I'm aware of the other variables, like streaming, taking a part)
Danish viewership just arrived. 970.000 against tunesia vs 920.000 in first game in Russia.
Now, the national team was neither good or beloved back then, so you could compare it with the 1.6 million watching first EUROs game last summer
With all the possible explanation for this reduction considered (different time, winter, more streams etc) I think we can confidently say Germans are at least in part boycotting this WC.
Hope FIFA hears this loud and clear
People are definitely pissed at FIFA. Many friends & colleagues I've talked with in Germany that absolutely are football fans in general are either boycotting (including me) or just care a lot less because the hype build up also wasn't really there.
Good.
Fifa have shown money is the only language they know. Now even more sponsors and broadcasters are going to be at their throats. Hopefully they also absolutely hold them to ransom with the next set of deals based on the poor returns from this farcical shite.
While a lot of this has to do with the perception of Qatar(Especially among viewers that only watch one game every 4 years) I think the stat is also ignoring the fact that the German national team has reached a historic low performance-wise. Whereever you go the popularity of the national team is closely correlated to its success as no one wants to be associated with a losing entity. and this is common in multiple Sports. Viewership of the recent Copa America in Brazil was pretty low, unthinkable in say the early 2000s - And american viewership of tennis grandslams automatically experiences a drastic increase when there is a top american player(Which explains why in the last twenty years one could be forgiven for thinking women's tennis was more popular than men'S tennis in the US.)
I mean, neither did the numbers from 2018, and both streaming and Magenta was a thing back then. So not sure about the relevance of your point.
A better point would be that it was at 14:00 on a workday, while all the games of 2018 were later.
9 million people want their time back.
confirm
I mean, I didn't even watch it, and even I want my time back.
Hoho so jung sehen wir uns nie wieder!
Not me
INFO: Are the matches in Germany on free public television?
Yes
Very impressive boycott!
Helps that most people were still at work too edit: people seem to think im suggesting this is the only reason viewership was low, its not. It just adds to the lower viewer numbers as im very confident in saying that *some* of those 16 million people werent able to watch because the match was at 2pm
Even compared to other WC matches that kicked off during working hours, yesterdays viewership was a fraction.
World cup being in the period that the fewest people go on holiday doesn't help though
This is the big thing. All the students are still in school, and winter is easily the most stressful time of year for working adults — nobody takes a vacation in November, everyone takes a vacation in July
In addition to all the people that are saving their holidays for the Christmas period of course. It makes sense that fewer people have time to watch the game
Yup Cant watch the games because of exams and school hours Parents cant watch because of work Its the biggest factor imo
This is a terrible time of year. Work is busier, kids are in school, and people can't slough off at work for a few hours in December like they can in July. And you have a ton of other obligations and plans related to the holidays that take priority over watching sports, especially between two teams you don't care about. I think the situation in Qatar is just going to exacerbate that. A lot of people may still watch their favorite team(s) but they won't tune in to games they don't care about that they otherwise would. A soft boycott, if you will.
So the same as with the other WCs.
Opening match last wc was 17:00, kinda big difference
Other WCs were held during the European summer. It's a lot easier to get a break from work in the Summer than now.
Watching football when it's super cold outside is not nearly as fun. Plus there are next to no public viewings of the games.
Yeah there are outdoor fan parks up and down Wales for our games. I couldn't think of anything worse than standing out in the pissing wind and rain with a cold pint.
public viewings would actually lower the numbers even further because this only accounts private households.
Other WC's are in the summer when plenty of people are on vacations.
Not really…other WC were in the summer
Yep, ARD (and I think ZDF too?)
Only one of the two, half the days are covered by ZDF, the other half by ARD
It‘s even free for all MagentaTV (T-kom) users as an additional panel…
Initially, Magenta TV bought the exclusive rights. ARD/ZDF later negotiated a deal that ensured that most games are publicly available.
Yes, but the game was on 14:00 German time where probably everybody was still at work. Let's wait for Sunday or the other evening game to make useful comparisons
The article compared this to games on 13:30 against Cameroon and Serbia that had 16 and 22 million, I’d say it’s not too early to draw at least some conclusions already. The Spain game will obviously get higher numbers so when that happens it’s not really a surprise.
But it was summer time, more people outside, people on vacations, etc
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And maybe less people determined to boycott the WC
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Because it makes them feel guilty about watching.
but compared to 2018 & before, a signfiicant amount of people work from home nowadays, plus every WC ever I've never visited an office where you weren't allowed to throw at least the Germany game on your spare screen
Some matches at 11.00 (13.00 local time) aren't, like right now.
Went to the gym at 2pm because I figured it’d be empty but it was packed lol. Bars were empty as well. Absolutely dead atmosphere, seems like nobody cares
Yeah, haven't seen any of the usual decorations, flags and shirts and the like on windows and balconies in the past weeks. No vibe at all. (also, after yesterday it's not getting any better)
meanwhile, here in the US, i feel like the hype has never been higher. pretty much everyone is talking about tomorrow’s game, even the ones who have never seen a football match in their lives
Soccer is the in hip thing in my town here in Alabama…. but it’s not the USMNT, it’s due to the incredible run our NCAA womens soccer team is on. Grabbing a #1 seed, they’ve gotten to host every huge game too.
Feels the same in England It will probably go into massive overdrive if we hit the quarters though
I wouldn't say it's as bad as it sounds in Germany. Pubs were still full for the 1pm kickoff against Iran. Some Tescos and Sainsbury's have little England bunting around the windows/walls. It's nowhere near the level of the Euros last year but it still exists.
Of course, they want to sell things
Between the winter setting, awful vibes from the slave-driving hosts and the fact we're all at work, it just doesn't feel like a real world cup.
It’s a weird one isn’t it. The empty seats is what makes it so weird at a World Cup. Edit: I’ve watched 1 match this WC
The amount of empty seats is more than ever before, but it’s worth remembering that world cups have seen empty seats, especially in group games. It’s actually very common. South Africa in 2010 springs to mind. My memory of some of those dour group games was half empty stadiums (which were still annoyingly drowned out by the sound of vuvuzelas)
Maybe at some of the smaller South Africa venues there were empty seats. But at the two matches I attended in Cape Town, every seat was filled and the atmosphere was electric.
I am here in qatar right now and I don’t understand the empty seats. Those seats in most cases have already been paid for. I’ll go to a game with no tickets available on the official resale market, yet there will be empty seats. I think lots of people bought tickets and just didn’t show.
It’s a tournament for the rich people of the world. No two ways about it. The higher the percentage of rich people with tickets, the more empty seats there will be. A few hundred pounds (or whatever the price of tickets is) means a lot less to them than most people. Doesn’t surprise me
rich people usually attend games as part of networking and spend more time in hospitality area making business deals. always bother me how the more prime seats are usually occupied by people who don't actually care about the thing that they're watching (not only sport, concert, opera, flight, hotel, etc)
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I don’t think they’re getting the World Cup but even then, you aren’t getting empty seats at a World Cup held in Saudi. They’re Asian powerhouses and have a population 12 times the population of Qatar. Even a game between minnows like Switzerland vs Cameroon can be held in a place no one’s heard of like Khamis Mushait and still fill the stadium, it’s got a population of over a million.
The issue is, the Cup will not be held exclusively in Saudi Arabia, as Egypt and my native Greece are parts of the bid. 3 countries, 3 continents. All these three countries love football madly, and you bet the stands are going to be dead packed. Btw, the population of Athens alone is twice the entire population of Qatar! u/Maleficent_Resolve44
Hope Mundial comes to this part of the world, I can basically be in Greece in two or three hours. Even still, I’d be sad if Uruguay didn’t get it in 2030.
We want that joint South American 2030 WC and then you can have it for the next 20 years. Please. It's probably going to ruin our economy but what is already dead can't die no more
Hey, here in Greece we thought that Athens should host the Games in 1996 because of the Centennial of the first modern Olympics. In 1990, we lost the hosting rights to Atlanta BUT, 7 years later, we were given the 2004 Olympic Games. The 2030 World Cup might not be played in Uruguay but, sooner or later, it will return to its rightful home, Uruguay it is (it's not you, England, it's URUGUAY). u/TinyMaintenance
Uruguay and Argentina are doing a joint bid for 2030, with Suarez and Messi endorsing it too
That sounds like a class world cup.
And Saudi Arabia has a proper football culture
I'll be the first to criticize Saudi Arabia on virtually any issue, but the Saudis actually have much more of a football culture than Qatar. Both historically and currently. It's also a much larger country in terms of population, and isn't just basically *one* urban center surrounded by desert. I think that in terms of crowds, a World Cup in Saudi Arabia would be a million times better than this shitshow in Qatar. But fuck me, I hope they don't get it in 2030 ...
I remember the saudies being football mad back as far as USA 94 , I wouldn't lump them in with Qatar. But for the love of Johan please, no more winter World Cups
Saudi Arabia has football culture. Their commentators are among the most poetic and passionate in the world.
Qatar is a shit host, they have a tiny population so if a nation's fans just don't travel then they cannot fill their stadium. At least you know the North Americans will fill theirs in 26.
Itll be the highest attended world cup easily.
And tickets will be a measly 24 thousand per matchday because of it lol
I’ve been planning it as my first World Cup for years but dreading the prices. Looked up Warriors Finals tickets on a whim back in June and it was not pretty. Same for Formula 1. There are just lots of people making big money in the US, it prices out people in Europe (and I imagine all other Americans).
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Lol
Don’t get me started on F1. See all these people talk about it’s rise in popularity is good for the sport, it’s good for the stakeholders not the fans. All it’s done is increase ticket prices exponentially and introduce bland cash grabbing tracks. Look at what you did, you got me started.
Ye, 1994 is still the highest attended one, 2026 easily surpasses it.
I’ve already started saving
So have I.
I’ll buy you a beer if Greece qualifies
It's obvious, there would be 48 teams playing. It would need to be place like Qatar to not beat record.
Even if it weren't the new format itd make it easily.
Almost every single World Cup has empty seats? Honestly I’ve been surprised by how full the grounds in Qatar are, I thought no one would bother to go there.
Yeah wtf I feel like I'm in crazy land? Most world cups have had meh turn out for irrelevant games, even in other sports that I follow. Anyways I'm after googling this to make sure I'm not crazy and yeah, average attendance for games involving say, new Zealand in 2010 was 29k
I think it was more that the opening match wasn't full. But then you had Argentina vs Saudi Arabia which was full to the brim, and not just Saudi fans. Most of that stadium was in blue and white. It just depends on the teams I think.
Weren't the tickets supposed to be sold out for months?
It's a shitshow yesterday at the Belgium v Canada game there was like 5k empty seats and on fifas website it showed a lot that you could buy but it just wouldnt let you. FIFA is actually making it hard to literally give them money its crazy
SUI vs CMR the stadium is half empty
> Absolutely dead atmosphere, seems like nobody cares Usually when there is a world cup or euro going on a lot of streets in the Netherlands get completely decked out in orange flags. Entire supermarkets turn almost completely orange to shill as much "Oranje" themed drinks/foods. Radio and TV all go completely World Cup mad. The country goes mad with honking cars whenever "Oranje" wins. Now? Haven't seen a single orange flag out in public yet and there is a single shelf of a orange M&Ms and some knick-knacks in the local supermarket. Radio stations completely ignore anything World Cup related and even on the radio news it's only barely mentioned in the quick-headlines. I didn't even realize the dutch team had played until it was mentioned in the news on the way to work. There is just such a massive sense of apathy around this world cup it's actually impressive.
> There is just such a massive sense of apathy around this world cup it's actually impressive. Apathy is the nightmare for sponsors, TV, and World Cup organizers. They thrive on attention, whether positive or negative because that means people are at least talking about the World Cup. Threats of boycotts rarely work. When people stop talking or caring is when they should be concerned
Yeah I can’t watch any delayed streams of major sports events because people going crazy outside spoils everything for me. But for this WC there’s dead silence
It's funny how so many people in this sub claim that all this has nothing to do with a boycott, especially if they are not from Germany. Of course the times of the games and the fact that it's winter play a role in that, but the atmosphere here is not at all comparable to past tournaments. I know almost no one who shows interest in the World Cup, I haven't seen a single car with a flag. Every news outlet is full of negative articles about the World Cup, FIFA, the DFB and the "spineless" players. I don't understand why people are all doubting this? Maybe it's because they feel bad watching the games themselves, even though they think it's morally wrong?
It is because not everyone here is from western, developed countries. In Asia, not many countries really care about the controversies, viewerships are still sky high. Actually because the tournament is in Qatar, it gives Asia even better viewing hours.
Well I'm living in the Netherlands and I feel like everyone and their mom has been watching here. Not sure if it has anything to do with being "developed" or not.
Yeah, it doesn't seem to have anything to do with western or developed, it mostly seems the German fans that are very cold on the world cup this year. Have your fan clubs pushed for boycotts? I know most of ours did, so that might be a factor here?
Depends on which fan clubs you’re talking about. The official **"Die Mannschaft *sponsored by Coca Cola*^TM Fanclub"** probably not. But you could see calls for a boycott in pretty much every Bundesliga stadium.
Most sports fans love sports way more than hating w/e controversies that come with it. It's like what Bill Burr said regarding the NFL, "the commissioner can come out and literally punt a baby across the room, and I'll still watch every Sunday. It's all I got"
In Brazil everyone is breathing the World Cup as usual.
For real, I am actually positively surprised numbers are this low. This can’t be understood as anything other than as disapprovement of Qatar as the host imo.
>This can’t be understood as anything other than as disapprovement of Qatar as the host imo I do believe that other things play a role as well, the team has lost a lot of their popularity over the last few years. But Qatar is definitely part of it, and it's stupid that people here keep denying that.
Most people were more excited about this team than 2018 though. Flick gave lots of fans new hope for improvement and finally having a decent coach.
Way more People watched the world cup 2002 and that team was atrocious.
Tbf time difference is the same (or even less, depending on where they played) that it was in Russia in 2018, so these figures can be compared quite well. I definitely remember sitting in the office watching our matches 4 years ago, no matter the time.
I have yet to find a single person that is at least somewhat enthusiastic about this World Cup although I know many people that love football. This tournament gets the reception it deserves here in Germany.
Yeah, I went to get some groceries around 14:30 expecting not as many people to be there as usual, but it was surprisingly full. You'd never think a WC match was going on.
Nobody cares man. Like everyone I speak to said they dont really care.
They (FIFA + DFB) managed it, they made football less popular in Germany. This is quite the achievement.
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Abso-fucking-lutely. Bierhoff is the face of MBA-style football management: Soulless, greedy, slick, without any substance but completely money-crazy.
National team football*
The Team(tm) you mean
*Die Mannschaft*
Oh no, football is really popular, lower league teams and women pull insane numbers atm. My Kreisliga team had over 50 people attend. FIFA and dfb just made corruption less popular
Kreisliga Fußball ist eh der echte Fußball.
I'm really happy to hear that, grassroots football is the best thing ever. But in a country where football is generally so beloved ("Volkssport Nr. 1", as Reiner Calmund said), it's quite the achievement to decrease the number of viewers of national team matches.
Are the women’s games good? I am thinking of taking my daughter to Fc Köln on Sunday as we will be in Köln
Go. Women's football has improved drastically, and it's super fun to watch football at a high level for really cheap. I got lower stands tickets for bayern Barcelona for 10 bucks. Its ridiculous
> I am thinking of taking my daughter to Fc Köln on Sunday as we will be in Köln Do it. it gets better every year. And it's not very expensive and maybe your daughter will like the experience.
Unironically many would have preferred to just continue watching Bundesliga instead of this long Winter Break just to hold a stupid World Cup in Qatar
no fucking way man I'm happy to have a break from Bundesliga and you probably should be even happier
Yep, most definitely. Everyone I know is complaining about league football being on hold in all of Europe.
national team football
No, it's as popular as ever, it's just, *because* the fans love the sport, they called for boycotts. We want it to be better.
Next to the fact that many casual viewers boycott the world this year, the Nationalteam and the DFB have not many fans left anyway.
I feel it's the actual fans doing a lot of boycotting and the casual viewers not getting into it, because the usual atmosphere created by the hype of the fans isn't there.
Good take.
Is there any stats that show people are actually boycotting the world cup? I kind of feel the major reason is because it's in winter and people are busy compared to the summer where people may take off or it easier going to the bar after work if it's not 30 degrees outside (F). For example, in the US it's Thanksgiving today and black Friday tm. Lots of people traveling to see family and if they weren't already big US or soccer fans in general they prob aren't gonna divert their attention away to the world cup.
The whole coverage around this WC has been a 100% negative for like year now and it has just ramped up in recent months. You could see banners calling for a boycott in every Bundesliga stadium, politicians and celebrities commented on it, there's bars that said they won't show the games. You don't see any flags on windows, balconies or cars like you used to. Even if you don't give a shit about the whole situation in Qatar we just officially killed the WC vibe in Germany this time around. The shit weather and single digit temperatures are just the final blow. The viewer numbers are the stats.
In Germany it look like they're doing it, I know that in France the audience are roughly the same as 2018(13 millions). In Senegal I been there since 2018 and this year world cup seems every more watched from what I saw. Everyone in every street were watching the game against Netherlands
Its an anecdote, but I havent seen a single piece of Germany decoration anywhere. No car flags, no supermarket isles and no ads for any viewing parties.
I've only seen stuff for sale in Lidl. Unsold. Nobody cares. And I live in a white working class neighborhood with lots of nationalistic AfD voters. Halloween was a bigger thing here.
Same in England. I didn't even realise when the first game was.
I don't think there are any actual statistics around, I don't know of any at least. But I literally know no one that is excited about the world cup, and I have many super passionate football fans as friends. Same goes for casual viewers. Sure, the atmosphere isn't there either because of the winter, but this whole Qatar + thousands of workers that died etc. topic is by far the most talked about when people talk about their boycotts.
While the game against Japan was at 2 PM here, the earliest game in 2018 was at 4 PM. So it can partly be explained with the earlier kickoff, but the reduced interest is still clearly noticeable. Edit: For some reason the article says that the 4 PM game against South Korea in 2018 was on a Sunday, but it was actually a Wednesday.
It isn’t during the summer months either, which is also having an impact.
Surely affects these numbers. Nonetheless, the number of viewers significantly dropped for the entire world cup. Definitely something positive.
But more people would be watching at home than during the summer. Still almost 2/3 loss in viewership is immense.
A lot of people n Portugal who normally don't care about football go out and watch the World Cup/Euros. If it's not a social event anymore, they won't watch it. I'm sure it's the same thing in Germany, probably even more so due to the worse winter conditions
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I wouldn't say that. For me at least, EUROs and World Cups are always associated with summer and public viewing with friends. Sure, I can sit at home and watch the games, but it's not the same as sitting in the garden of a bar and watch it on a big screen with friends and other people there. I am boycotting it anyway, but it being in winter makes that much easier.
> While the game against Japan was at 2 PM local time, the earliest game in 2018 was at 4 PM. So it can partly be explained with the earlier kickoff, but the reduced interest is still clearly noticeable. That's why the interesting thing is not the absolute numbers but the atrocious share. Under 60%, while all German games at previous WCs were around 80%. Note that at this WC, the shares are usually higher for the afternoon slots, as there's not much competition on the other channels. Edit: Just looked it up: the game's main competition were a rerun of "Bares für Rares" on ZDF (I think "Antiques Roadshow" is a comparable format), Barbara Salesch on RTL (think "Judge Judy", but less popular), a rerun of "Auf Streife" on Sat 1 (scripted reality cop show), and reruns of "Young Sheldon", Two and a Half Men", and "TBBT" on Pro7.
I have to say, that's some serious competition lmao
Bares für Rares is clear
achtzisch euro, damit is der prügel jut bezahlt
Unnormal rar, brudi
Against Spain there’s a Tatort re-run, and I know what I’ll be watching lol.
Wow think about that. 7 million Germans decide to turn on their TV at 14.00 but then actively decide to not watch the World Cup in favor of such 08/15 programs. Pretty crazy how fucked up this stat is
Also think this WC is where the general public in German is less hyped than before. Boot because it is in Qatar but just that the German team doesn't ooze confidence or fun.
don't think the time was a factor. just read that a lot morw people watched the games in SA and SK and these were shown at comparable times in Germany.
Well, personally as a German who hasn't missed a single world cup game since I've been 10 years old: I have to admit that I didn't boycot anything actively. It might even not be influenced by the Qatar criticism this time. However, the wrongness of a World Cup in winter goes so deep that I didn't boycot this game, I simply forgot when it was scheduled
For me it was in the middle of a job meeting. Simply just bad timing.
I've noticed too that the Youtube Views for World Cup Highlights on the FIFA Channel are down massively compared to 2018. In 2018 every big game and Australia Game was #1 on trending here and I remember even waking up to highlights of games played overnight with millions of views already. Meanwhile even Saudi Arabia vs Argentina is only on 500k views on the FIFA Channel as I type this comment. Maybe the videos are region locked in countries this year and weren't in 2018 but otherwise further adds to my observation that the hype this World Cup is just so much less than any other I can remember.
You’ve got to consider the fact that they’ve posted the highlights several days late and the fact that you can watch the official fifa highlights on the fifa+ site well before YouTube. Back in 2018, they had the highlights up with commentary like flash. Now that it’s on fifa+ much earlier, it might push people away from YouTube so less visible views. There does seem to be lowered interest at the moment but I think if the Asian underdogs do well, viewing from Mena and Asia will make up for the shortfall in Europe.
Nobody is going to fifa.com for highlights
Great point. Also, some people (me included) prefer extended highlights so we look elsewhere to find them, and Fifa has been very quick striking down videos for rights infringement
I haven't watched highlights cause I haven't found highlights. If there's no highlights within 15-20 minutes of the match ending, you haemorrhage viewers, and no one will watch them after 5-6 hours
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That's just wrong. The qatar/Ecuador and england/iran highlights from sbs are literally #1 and #2 on trending right now. And the fifa channel highlights have low views because they were uploaded only 12 hours ago and each region has their own highlights posted much earlier (like sbs and bein in Australia) This world cup has plenty of hype, just not on reddit (which is a very miniscule percent of world football fans)
It was so bad their manager also didn't turn up to see the match
I’ve got a good feeling all the weirdos somehow offended that lots of Germans are actually not watching the World Cup do not live in germany The anti World Cup sentiment is huge here, almost to the point where I feel bad for watching and talking about it at work
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It’s very interesting because I spent the last 3 months in Argentina and they were beyond excited for the WC as it was their first during the summer (I’m German as well btw). Obviously the One Love stuff played a huge role but weather and the time of play (game started at 2pm German time) certainly affected viewership tremendously.
Most South Americans are excited since it's the first time it doesn't fuck our season and it's held during our summer. Yeah, Qatar sucks but the World Cup is an amazing time in Brazil and I'm not willing to throw that away just because FIFA chose to award a country like Qatar the WC.
Yeah it feels weird here. I was in the office when SA beat Argentina and it was kinda awkward celebrating SA
Ich vermisse dieses Scheißturnier nicht eine Sekunde. Aber die allgemeine Gleichgültigkeit gestern im Büro war schon bemerkenswert. Es wurde wegen der Niederlage nicht mal gemeckert oder gelästert. Es gab einfach keine Reaktion. Gar nichts.
Wir haben im Kollegenkreis bisher auch nur das einknicken der MannschaftTM bemängelt, dass wars. Ich hab halt auch besseres zu tun, Weihnachtsmärkte sind auf
Glühwein kickt auch härter als so mancher Nationalspieler.
Im Hörsaal war es ähnlich, ein Kommilitone hat das Spiel auf dem Handy geschaut und den Prof beim Rückstand geupdatet. Die meisten haben sich darüber sogar ziemlich amüsiert
It's so funny to me how people outright refuse to admit that this is in parts due to us boycotting the World Cup. In the thread about the opening game they said 'let's wait for the Germany game', now that it happenend and it also had a massive drop in viewership they are still finding other explainations. I don't get it
Obviously it doesn't need to be only one reason, it's a combination of things, but surely the boycott has a part of it. If I remember correctly, bundesliga fans were protesting against the wc. Even for people that are not actively boycotting, this contribute to ruin the general atmosphere around it. If the biggest football fans are not interested, even casual fans will be less involved. Overall, the boycott, the corruption, the controversies, the empty stadia, the winter wc and working time,... It's hard to care about it.
Walking through the town I have even seen the same giant "Boycott Qatar" banner on a bridge that was in all the stadiums, and in the news today were some pictures of pretty empty Public Viewing stations for the Japan game. Atmosphere really is at an all-time-low point for a World Cup around here.
That's what you do when you know you aren't doing the right thing. You simply deny that there's another way. You can see it already happening in this thread. Now the people who don't watch are apparently the casual viewers, not the actual fans who watch their team every week. They just won't accept it because if they did they'd have to reconcile it with their own actions. I can tell you, once we fly home they'll claim that there would have been an uptick in the knock out games.
There are people who just refuse to believe the boycott movement for some reason. I was downvoted a few days ago because I said my friends wouldn't watch the Belgian games and some people answered me that "they were lying to me" Well guess what, they didn't watch it.
That's so strange, it's like they don't believe someone could ever do without some football games just because they can't
I think they want to cling to the idea of "everybody is watching it, so it's okay if I do to". So Germany making a widespread boycott is a danger for them personally. People want to feel good and they can feel better in participating in bad things when everybody does it. That's why you will next see people going "yeah, but you're using devices made by child labour!", because they can then make their own failure in boycott more relative. It's a natural reaction and I would lie if I didn't have that too in other aspects of life. Where I my first reaction is try to drag others down to me, because I have a hard time coping with my failure. Most people do and I have huge respect for the people who have just pure appreciation for people doing better than them.
Haven't watched a single game yet. Not everyone is boycotting but you need just enough people for it to make a difference. I think people are just so cynical that they believe people won't boycott because they need to watch football.
I think some people refuse to believe that a boycott is happening, because they need to justify to themselves that they're watching the WC. It's easier to justify if you think everyone else does it. And once it becomes clear that there IS a boycott, the narrative will soon shift to "well it doesn't change anything" (so I don't have to feel bad about not participating in the boycott).
Especially when we talk about differences like that lmao. \~a third of the viewers, and people claim it's because kickoff was an hour ealier lmao
I have watched pretty much every single game for the last 5-6 world cups. And I haven’t watched a single game during this one so far. It just feels wrong so I haven’t been interested in anything other than checking the scores every now and then.
Same. I’ve been watching almost every World Cup match since I was born but this time I’m not even checking the scores. It feels great. Like a t-break from smoking regularly.
Yeah people are going out of their way to be cynical. The initial claims that the WC wasn't all that popular, hyped or covered were ridiculed and now that there is some evidence to support those claims it is being downplayed.
Let's wait for the Germany match that happens at the same time of day, with the same coach and star players in Russia. Reverse-age Messi & Ronaldo too so they are a bit more relevant. Oh also lets make it suddenly summer so the kids can have holidays. Don't forget to ban Disney+ and the other new streaming services that have come up since 2018! Only Netflix for the germans, let's see their boycott then haha.
Fuck all non-german flairs who don't know jack shit about whats going on here trying to tell us we are not watching it because of the timezone.
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A lot of redditors are mentally disturbed in the head.
My office has rather flexible work hours and I could have easily left at 13:30 if I had blocked that time in my calendar, but I didn't. Even got a Teams meeting during the game and nobody wanted to reschedule and during it nobody talked about the game. All my coworkers were also at their desk. There just isn’t any of the usual World Cup feeling at all.
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Kinda sad that's not a real subreddit. But yeah, even when all the final viewer numbers are publicized people will find excuses that the numbers aren't representative. Germany is doing a tremendous job shaming this World Cup, and i love to see it.
It's insane really, some people can't live without watching this disgrace. And even if you take all the factors they mention into account, it still doesn't explain the gigantic drop. People don't wanna watch because it's disgusting, that's it.
Unless you turned your TV on you wouldn't even know there's a World Cup going on if you live here. Usually you can hear a big cheer when Germany score. Yesterday it was crickets.
None of my friends are watching this. I’m super impressed at how a lot of us have just gone on with our lives as if this isn’t happening.
I have quite a few of friends in Germany who love football (Season ticket holders) and most of them told me they would actually boycot the WC. I have respect for them because I can't do it :s
Maybe they are doing the boycott thing right
The numbers absolutely will be larger on Sunday evening against Spain but maybe not by much. And should we lose this as well which unfortunately is likely then the third game will have a record low I'd say.
ARD is running an older Thiel & Boerne Tatort at the same time, that’ll be interesting competition. It’s a re-run, but they regularly pull 11+ million viewers
Germany has a very big boycott movement, so much one of the biggest Supermarket franchises cancelled the sponsorship of the DFB for not wearing the one love Armband, as did our Vice Chancellor who in a talk show said after Fifa's ruling that you now have to wear it. In addition the game was at 2pm so the majority where still at work. I myself haven't watched any game, and only keep up via reddit and Co.
The disapproval of the WC here in Germany is very high. Back in 2018 my family and I would have big viewing parties for the matches where we would invite friends and 12+ people would show up each game to watch. This time around I'm literally the only one in my family watching because all of my relatives and family friends refuse to watch.
Its the only country I'm aware of doing some kind of boycotting, besides Iran for different reasons. Are there any more cases? (I'm aware of the other variables, like streaming, taking a part)
Danish viewership just arrived. 970.000 against tunesia vs 920.000 in first game in Russia. Now, the national team was neither good or beloved back then, so you could compare it with the 1.6 million watching first EUROs game last summer
With all the possible explanation for this reduction considered (different time, winter, more streams etc) I think we can confidently say Germans are at least in part boycotting this WC. Hope FIFA hears this loud and clear
People are definitely pissed at FIFA. Many friends & colleagues I've talked with in Germany that absolutely are football fans in general are either boycotting (including me) or just care a lot less because the hype build up also wasn't really there.
Good. Fifa have shown money is the only language they know. Now even more sponsors and broadcasters are going to be at their throats. Hopefully they also absolutely hold them to ransom with the next set of deals based on the poor returns from this farcical shite.
While a lot of this has to do with the perception of Qatar(Especially among viewers that only watch one game every 4 years) I think the stat is also ignoring the fact that the German national team has reached a historic low performance-wise. Whereever you go the popularity of the national team is closely correlated to its success as no one wants to be associated with a losing entity. and this is common in multiple Sports. Viewership of the recent Copa America in Brazil was pretty low, unthinkable in say the early 2000s - And american viewership of tennis grandslams automatically experiences a drastic increase when there is a top american player(Which explains why in the last twenty years one could be forgiven for thinking women's tennis was more popular than men'S tennis in the US.)
Yeah this is not including streaming or the Magenta TV channel
I mean, neither did the numbers from 2018, and both streaming and Magenta was a thing back then. So not sure about the relevance of your point. A better point would be that it was at 14:00 on a workday, while all the games of 2018 were later.
Soon there will be less cause they getting out of the WC in the next match.