[PVTree]

The biggest sporting event in the world starts today. It is the eagerly awaited every four years by us soccer-loving fans.

I don't like that the field was increased to 48 (from 32) as there will be some teams that don't belong, but it is still a month+ of watching the best soccer players represent their countries to raise the trophy and give their fans 4 years of bragging rights.

[PVTree]

The biggest sporting event in the world starts today. It is the eagerly awaited every four years by us soccer-loving fans.

I don't like that the field was increased to 48 (from 32) as there will be some teams that don't belong, but it is still a month+ of watching the best soccer players represent their countries to raise the trophy and give their fans 4 years of bragging rights.

[SkiBum80]

The biggest sporting event in the world starts today. It is the eagerly awaited every four years by us soccer-loving fans.

I don't like that the field was increased to 48 (from 32) as there will be some teams that don't belong, but it is still a month+ of watching the best soccer players represent their countries to raise the trophy and give their fans 4 years of bragging rights.

When they had the draw and set the groups, I first thought the USA got really lucky, not getting a really hard group. But looking into it more, the drawback (pun intended) was that the USA did not get any of those "teams that don't belong" in their group. There is no pushover. So now I'm thinking USA could win their group. Also could lose their group entirely and not make knockout round.

[SkiBum80]

The biggest sporting event in the world starts today. It is the eagerly awaited every four years by us soccer-loving fans.

I don't like that the field was increased to 48 (from 32) as there will be some teams that don't belong, but it is still a month+ of watching the best soccer players represent their countries to raise the trophy and give their fans 4 years of bragging rights.

When they had the draw and set the groups, I first thought the USA got really lucky, not getting a really hard group. But looking into it more, the drawback (pun intended) was that the USA did not get any of those "teams that don't belong" in their group. There is no pushover. So now I'm thinking USA could win their group. Also could lose their group entirely and not make knockout round.

[M T]

Hmmm… I thought the Olympics involved more countries and more athletes.

[M T]

Hmmm… I thought the Olympics involved more countries and more athletes.

[BobK]

No 16 in 2024 however the 16 survived qualifying tournaments

[BobK]

No 16 in 2024 however the 16 survived qualifying tournaments

[newguy]

i'm recording every game.

[newguy]

i'm recording every game.

[dabigv13]

Also think the 48 teams really sucks a lot of life out of the group stage, especially with all the 3rd place qualifiers.

More teams, more games, more money, where have we seen that before. And the worst part is, my kid's will think this is just normal. Bah humbug!

[dabigv13]

Also think the 48 teams really sucks a lot of life out of the group stage, especially with all the 3rd place qualifiers.

More teams, more games, more money, where have we seen that before. And the worst part is, my kid's will think this is just normal. Bah humbug!

[PVTree]

Hmmm… I thought the Olympics involved more countries and more athletes.

The Olympics, consisting of many sports, do have more countries and athletes that qualified in their respective sports overall than the World Cup. However, here are some other numbers to consider...

The Olympics feature 206 countries competing in all sports, while FIFA has 211 member associations in the sport of soccer.

-The FIFA World Cup: This soccer tournament engages about 5 billion people (nearly 63% of the world's population). Because soccer is universally popular, the tournament attracts brobdingnagian, dedicated viewerships in almost every country on the planet.

-The Olympic Games: This multi-sport event reaches about 3 billion people. Because the Olympics feature dozens of different sports and last for about two and a half weeks, the audience is spread out rather than concentrated on one single event. Most fans tune in to watch specific events or the opening and closing ceremonies.

[PVTree]

Hmmm… I thought the Olympics involved more countries and more athletes.

The Olympics, consisting of many sports, do have more countries and athletes that qualified in their respective sports overall than the World Cup. However, here are some other numbers to consider...

The Olympics feature 206 countries competing in all sports, while FIFA has 211 member associations in the sport of soccer.

-The FIFA World Cup: This soccer tournament engages about 5 billion people (nearly 63% of the world's population). Because soccer is universally popular, the tournament attracts brobdingnagian, dedicated viewerships in almost every country on the planet.

-The Olympic Games: This multi-sport event reaches about 3 billion people. Because the Olympics feature dozens of different sports and last for about two and a half weeks, the audience is spread out rather than concentrated on one single event. Most fans tune in to watch specific events or the opening and closing ceremonies.

[M T]

-The FIFA World Cup: This soccer tournament engages about 5 billion people (nearly 63% of the world's population). Because soccer is universally popular, the tournament attracts brobdingnagian, dedicated viewerships in almost every country on the planet.

-The Olympic Games: This multi-sport event reaches about 3 billion people. Because the Olympics feature dozens of different sports and last for about two and a half weeks, the audience is spread out rather than concentrated on one single event. Most fans tune in to watch specific events or the opening and closing ceremonies.

One has to be careful about the distinction of "engagements" ("followed") and "views".  Consider 1 person that watches all 104 World Cup matches versus 104 people that watch only 1 game, or some number of people that tune in for 1 minute or for 20 minutes.  It appears to me that "engagements" includes people that post or even just read social media messages related to the sporting events.

Both IOC and FIFA report 5 billion engagements (including social media) in their last completed event.  Both indicate extensive overlap in TV and digital viewers. (IOC: "Some 70 per cent of the global audience watched on both television and digital platforms.")  Then there is the confounding of linear TV (ie, live or delayed broadcast) views versus replayed streamed views (think YouTube).  At one point, FIFA lists "video views" but it wasn't clear to me if those were, say, single goals or full games.  There are lots of apples and oranges here.

The IOC reports

A record 84 per cent of the potential global audience* followed the Olympic Games Paris 2024 according to independent research conducted on behalf of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). This equals around five billion people ...

There were an estimated 412 billion engagements from 270 million posts on social media platforms.

There was ... 28.7 billion hours of footage viewed around the world on [Media Rights Holders] platforms. This meant every viewer watched on average nine hours of coverage....

*Potential global audience with access to follow the Olympic Games and over the age of 4 years old.

[in details] 18% TV only, 12% Digital only

Note that 28.7 billion hours / 9 hours = 3.19 billion viewers.
I suspect the 28.7 billion hours includes both linear TV and (non-linear) streaming.

FIFA reports  (details here)

The FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ engaged 5 billion fans across all media (Linear TV, Digital, Social Media and FIFA Platforms).

5bn - Total media engagement
2.9bn - Linear TV
2.7bn - Digital/Streaming
2.2bn - Social Media
211.8m - FIFA Platforms*

Average global live audience of FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 was 175 million viewers.
Total reach of Final between France v Argentina was the highest ever with 1.42 billion viewers.

The details report indicates 36.22 billion hours of linear TV was consumed.
IIUC, there was an additional 2.97 billion viewer hours of digital viewing from 24.41 billion views, for an average of 7.3 minutes each.

[M T]

-The FIFA World Cup: This soccer tournament engages about 5 billion people (nearly 63% of the world's population). Because soccer is universally popular, the tournament attracts brobdingnagian, dedicated viewerships in almost every country on the planet.

-The Olympic Games: This multi-sport event reaches about 3 billion people. Because the Olympics feature dozens of different sports and last for about two and a half weeks, the audience is spread out rather than concentrated on one single event. Most fans tune in to watch specific events or the opening and closing ceremonies.

One has to be careful about the distinction of "engagements" ("followed") and "views".  Consider 1 person that watches all 104 World Cup matches versus 104 people that watch only 1 game, or some number of people that tune in for 1 minute or for 20 minutes.  It appears to me that "engagements" includes people that post or even just read social media messages related to the sporting events.

Both IOC and FIFA report 5 billion engagements (including social media) in their last completed event.  Both indicate extensive overlap in TV and digital viewers. (IOC: "Some 70 per cent of the global audience watched on both television and digital platforms.")  Then there is the confounding of linear TV (ie, live or delayed broadcast) views versus replayed streamed views (think YouTube).  At one point, FIFA lists "video views" but it wasn't clear to me if those were, say, single goals or full games.  There are lots of apples and oranges here.

The IOC reports

A record 84 per cent of the potential global audience* followed the Olympic Games Paris 2024 according to independent research conducted on behalf of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). This equals around five billion people ...

There were an estimated 412 billion engagements from 270 million posts on social media platforms.

There was ... 28.7 billion hours of footage viewed around the world on [Media Rights Holders] platforms. This meant every viewer watched on average nine hours of coverage....

*Potential global audience with access to follow the Olympic Games and over the age of 4 years old.

[in details] 18% TV only, 12% Digital only

Note that 28.7 billion hours / 9 hours = 3.19 billion viewers.
I suspect the 28.7 billion hours includes both linear TV and (non-linear) streaming.

FIFA reports  (details here)

The FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ engaged 5 billion fans across all media (Linear TV, Digital, Social Media and FIFA Platforms).

5bn - Total media engagement
2.9bn - Linear TV
2.7bn - Digital/Streaming
2.2bn - Social Media
211.8m - FIFA Platforms*

Average global live audience of FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 was 175 million viewers.
Total reach of Final between France v Argentina was the highest ever with 1.42 billion viewers.

The details report indicates 36.22 billion hours of linear TV was consumed.
IIUC, there was an additional 2.97 billion viewer hours of digital viewing from 24.41 billion views, for an average of 7.3 minutes each.

[newguy]

natural grass is mandatory for all world cup games.  some football players have questioned why the nfl doesn't do that.  it's not like they can't afford it.
https://www.nbcnews.com/sports/soccer/tu...rcna347990

[newguy]

natural grass is mandatory for all world cup games.  some football players have questioned why the nfl doesn't do that.  it's not like they can't afford it.
https://www.nbcnews.com/sports/soccer/tu...rcna347990

[82lsju]

natural grass is mandatory for all world cup games.  some football players have questioned why the nfl doesn't do that.  it's not like they can't afford it.
https://www.nbcnews.com/sports/soccer/tu...rcna347990

and if they can have natural grass in Green Bay you should be able to have it pretty much anywhere else

[82lsju]

natural grass is mandatory for all world cup games.  some football players have questioned why the nfl doesn't do that.  it's not like they can't afford it.
https://www.nbcnews.com/sports/soccer/tu...rcna347990

and if they can have natural grass in Green Bay you should be able to have it pretty much anywhere else

[Nobadeer]

Nice first half for Team USA. The USA goalie is from Stanford-of-the-East.

[Nobadeer]

Nice first half for Team USA. The USA goalie is from Stanford-of-the-East.

[Mick]

Nice first half for Team USA. The USA goalie is from Stanford-of-the-East.

Despite that, the USA pulled off a nice 4-1 win. USA closes out group D play with matches this Friday, 6/19 vs. Australia and Thursday, June 25 against Turkey.

[Mick]

Nice first half for Team USA. The USA goalie is from Stanford-of-the-East.

Despite that, the USA pulled off a nice 4-1 win. USA closes out group D play with matches this Friday, 6/19 vs. Australia and Thursday, June 25 against Turkey.

[Bruce Wang]

Yesterday's 4 games all ended in a tie.  This is one of the many things that make soccer difficult to watch.  They should settle ties via a braveheart.

I hated the World Cup because it ruined our plans to attend the NCAA lacrosse championship and participate in the Heritage Cup (youth tournament for kids of overseas heritage).  But then I scored tickets to the quarter finals in the lottery and now I am enjoying the memes and posts on Twitter related to the event.  Much better this time than 4 years ago and better than the Olympics.

[Bruce Wang]

Yesterday's 4 games all ended in a tie.  This is one of the many things that make soccer difficult to watch.  They should settle ties via a braveheart.

I hated the World Cup because it ruined our plans to attend the NCAA lacrosse championship and participate in the Heritage Cup (youth tournament for kids of overseas heritage).  But then I scored tickets to the quarter finals in the lottery and now I am enjoying the memes and posts on Twitter related to the event.  Much better this time than 4 years ago and better than the Olympics.

[Canalejas]

It seems like maybe the ties will be more important this year now that some but not all 3rd place teams will advance to the knockout stages.

[Canalejas]

It seems like maybe the ties will be more important this year now that some but not all 3rd place teams will advance to the knockout stages.

[Nobadeer]

Mbappe, Haaland, Messi. 7 goals among the three of them today. Are we not entertained!

Harry Kane tomorrow.

[Nobadeer]

Mbappe, Haaland, Messi. 7 goals among the three of them today. Are we not entertained!

Harry Kane tomorrow.

[dabigv13]

Messi hat trick at 38....incredible. The greatest ever.

[dabigv13]

Messi hat trick at 38....incredible. The greatest ever.

[PVTree]

Mbappe, Haaland, Messi. 7 goals among the three of them today. Are we not entertained!

Harry Kane tomorrow.

Ronaldo also tomorrow. I get a feeling he's going to be a vacuum... No passing once he gets the ball. He'll do his best to get into the scoring party.

[PVTree]

Mbappe, Haaland, Messi. 7 goals among the three of them today. Are we not entertained!

Harry Kane tomorrow.

Ronaldo also tomorrow. I get a feeling he's going to be a vacuum... No passing once he gets the ball. He'll do his best to get into the scoring party.

[jacket3ree]

Messi was a shoulder away from a poker (4).

[jacket3ree]

Messi was a shoulder away from a poker (4).

[Canalejas]

Something like 99% of my sports fandom is devoted to cheering on El Tree. But every once in a while I get to revisit my very first team and cheer for El Tri. Despite not looking very dangerous, México has won its group and advanced to the knockout rounds. ¡Viva México!

[Canalejas]

Something like 99% of my sports fandom is devoted to cheering on El Tree. But every once in a while I get to revisit my very first team and cheer for El Tri. Despite not looking very dangerous, México has won its group and advanced to the knockout rounds. ¡Viva México!

[Mick]

Something like 99% of my sports fandom is devoted to cheering on El Tree. But every once in a while I get to revisit my very first team and cheer for El Tri. Despite not looking very dangerous, México has won its group and advanced to the knockout rounds. ¡Viva México!

México is #11 in the world. They feel pretty dangerous to me...

[Mick]

Something like 99% of my sports fandom is devoted to cheering on El Tree. But every once in a while I get to revisit my very first team and cheer for El Tri. Despite not looking very dangerous, México has won its group and advanced to the knockout rounds. ¡Viva México!

México is #11 in the world. They feel pretty dangerous to me...