With the United States and World Cup host Brazil out of the contest, FIFA’s big-spending corporate partners may be relieved by the outcome of the nail-biting semi-finals match between Argentina and the Netherlands on Wednesday, July 9.
After remaining in a scoreless stalemate through 120 minutes of play, the match was settled in a penalty kick shootout. Argentina’s goalkeeper Sergio Romero made two saves in the shootout that put Argentina on top, 4-2, and sent them to the World Cup final where they will face Germany for the cup.
Argentina has had an average of 3.63 million U.S. viewers, which nearly edges out the Netherlands’s 3.61 million. Even though that may seem like a small margin, some analysts speculate that Americans are more likely to tune in for Argentina than the Netherlands.
Forbes provided a chart that illustrates why Argentina has shown more support from American viewers than the Netherlands. The Netherlands’s average viewership was largely inflated by their match against Mexico, a team that has a strong following in the U.S. That game also skewed the comparison because it was played on a Sunday, while Argentina’s comparative Round-of-16 game against Switzerland was held on a Tuesday.
via Forbes
According to a Forbes article on June 2, FIFA gathered $404 million from marketing rights in 2013. FIFA’s major corporate partners, which include Adidas, Coca-Cola, Emirates, Hyundai Motor Group, Sony and Visa, spend $25-50 million per year, while second-tier sponsors pay $10-25 million annually. According to a July 9 article, ESPN pays $50 million for TV rights.
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Although the growing trend in soccer viewership has shown major growth in this year’s World Cup for ESPN, and many viewers would have tuned in for Sunday’s final match regardless of who was in it, big spenders like ESPN and FIFA’s other corporate partners should be happy to have the extra boost that Argentina can offer.
Adidas, in particular, can rejoice over Argentina’s victory because they put out an ad that features Argentine superstar, Lionel Messi, who has cultivated a U.S. fan base.
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