Di antara banyak hal lainnya, kedatangan Piala Dunia tahun ini memvalidasi daya tarik yang luar biasa dari siaran langsung olahraga di TV tradisional. Meskipun daya tarik siaran langsung olahraga sudah diketahui secara luas, namun jumlah pemirsa di AS tahun ini menggambarkan bahwa daya tarik tersebut cukup kuat untuk memikat banyak orang Amerika untuk menunda hidup mereka demi menonton aksi tersebut.
Dibandingkan dengan sebagian besar siaran langsung olahraga di AS, yang ditayangkan di luar jam kerja dan sekolah, sebagian besar pertandingan Piala Dunia diselenggarakan pada waktu-waktu yang tidak tepat bagi kebanyakan warga AS. Terlepas dari fakta tersebut, pertandingan Piala Dunia tahun ini, terutama yang melibatkan tim AS, menarik banyak penonton TV di AS. Faktanya, tiga pertandingan yang diikuti oleh tim AS tahun ini termasuk dalam 10 besar pertandingan Piala Dunia yang disiarkan dalam bahasa Inggris dan paling banyak ditonton di AS sejak tahun 1994. Dan pertandingan AS-Inggris tahun ini menarik hampir 15,5 juta penonton di AS untuk menonton siaran bahasa Inggris-penonton tertinggi di AS untuk pertandingan Piala Dunia pria hingga saat ini.
For context, consider the viewership associated with new fall TV programming—the primary driver of the annual advertising upfronts. This year, the four primary English broadcast networks1 attracted an average of 3.9 million viewers for primetime programming airing in the first month of the new fall TV season2. The audience grows to 5.5 million when we factor in time-shifted viewing over one week, but the aggregate viewership still pales in comparison to that of the World Cup matches featuring the U.S. Those four matches engaged an average of 12.2 million viewers across English telecasts.
The viewership of this year’s tournament is perhaps more notable when Wawasan Penggemar Nielsen indicates that just 28% of U.S. respondents are interested in soccer. Overall, Americans remain most interested in the NFL, the Olympics, the NBA and MLB.
The appeal and interest in this year’s tournament has also withstood some intense competition. From an audience perspective, fall is when linear TV programming gets a boost, and this year was no exception, as sports viewing increased 222% in September as the new American football season kicked off. In October, sports viewing volume increased another 19%, just ahead of the start of the year’s World Cup, which is typically held in the summer.
By the time the tournament started, the matches that were broadcast on traditional cable began challenging other sports events for slots in Nielsen’s weekly top 10 listings. And over Thanksgiving weekend, possibly the biggest sports viewing period of the fall, survey respondents claimed the World Cup was their third choice for sports viewing, coming in behind NFL and college football. Yet perhaps more noteworthy is that the two matches listed in the top 10 cable listing for the week of Nov. 21-27, 2022, didn’t feature the U.S. men’s team:
- 4,1 juta orang menyaksikan pertandingan Argentina-Meksiko
- 3,6 juta orang menyaksikan pertandingan Spanyol-Jerman
Given the 90-minute matches, tuning in—especially midday—is a commitment. Most Americans acknowledge the need to balance their interest in the games with other aspects of their daily lives. While the majority of fans are keeping track of the action by watching highlights on TV, many are following on social media and hearing from others via word of mouth, including texting. And with 47% texting and 43%3 scrolling on social media, big moments in individual matches have attracted audiences who might not have already been tuned in.
Take the Group State match between Brazil and Serbia for example. Nielsen Gracenote had given Serbia a 32% chance of advancing, possibly limiting audience engagement for the Thanksgiving Day matchup with tournament-favorite Brazil. But when Brazil’s Richarlison de Andrade, known mononymously as Richarlison, made a dynamic scissor kick goal just before the 73-minute mark, viewership jumped 7% during the five minutes following the goal.
Mengingat daya tarik yang luas dari olahraga secara langsung, aktivasi sponsorship tetap menjadi cara utama bagi merek untuk berinteraksi dengan penggemar baru dan yang sudah ada. Dan meskipun kesuksesan jangka panjang akan bergantung pada menjembatani kesenjangan antara kesadaran dan konversi, aktivasi sponsorship dalam industri olahraga telah meningkat dalam hal kemampuannya untuk mengonversi penggemar.
For example, our 2022 annual sports report noted that during the pandemic, when we controlled for the impact of changing levels of brand awareness and sponsorship maturity, levels of purchase intent among exposed fans were higher than levels of brand familiarity. In addition, a recent Nielsen analysis of 100 sponsorships between 2020 and 2021 in seven markets across 20 industries found that the sponsorships drove an average 10% lift in purchase intent among the exposed fanbase.
Selama Piala Dunia tahun ini, hampir dua pertiga dari mereka yang menonton atau berniat untuk menonton pertandingan Piala Dunia secara langsung dalam Survei Kebiasaan Menonton Piala Dunia kami mengatakan bahwa mereka mengingat iklan yang mereka lihat selama pertandingan yang mereka tonton. Dan tidak mengherankan, merek-merek makanan, makanan ringan, dan minuman beralkohol paling diuntungkan dengan mendapatkan ingatan terbaik di antara para penonton.
The World Cup, like the Olympics, presents a unique opportunity for brands and agencies to attract audiences who might not otherwise be inspired to watch. With an average 4.7 million4 people watching the 2022 men’s World Cup live on cable and broadcast—higher than the average primetime programming we saw this year—advertisers would be wise to consider global tentpole sporting events in their marketing mix.
Dari sudut pandang sepak bola, mereka tidak perlu menunggu lama untuk mencetak gol emas, karena Piala Dunia Wanita FIFA 2023 akan segera tiba. Kesempatan di dalamnya berbicara dengan sendirinya; final 2015 antara AS dan Jepang adalah pertandingan Piala Dunia yang paling banyak ditonton (pria dan wanita) sepanjang masa.
Catatan
- ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX
- 20 September-17 Oktober 2022
- Survei Kebiasaan Menonton Piala Dunia Nielsen, 27 November-1 Desember 2022
- Panel TV Nasional Nielsen
