Imagine a Super Bowl Sunday that parties on for four weeks.
Where late-to-work is forgiven with a smile and productivity slows to a crawl and not a single soul gives a hoot.
Thats the World Cup. And thats the power soccers grandest tournament has just about everywhere else on the planet but the United States.
About 80 percent of the world's population will watch the 2010 World Cup.
And its all happening now. Its wrap-yourself-in-the-flag, go-nuts-with-the-body-paint, noisy-horns-so-loud-you-can-taste-it time right now.
When South Africa and Mexico played to a tie in the opening 2010 World Cup match in Johannesburg Friday, an estimated 400 million people were watching. Four hundred million people -- and that wasnt the final, it was just the first match.
"Kind of puts the Super Bowl in perspective, doesnt it? said P.J. Crowley, a U.S. State Department spokesman.
Crowley told Sunshine State News, OK, soccer may not be the game in the States that it is in the rest of the world, but were catching up. Ive seen huge excitement for this years World Cup even more than in 2006, which was more than in 2002.
A lot of Americans dont realize what a great World Cup team they have, Crowley said. A win-it-all team? Maybe not yet. But the U.S. has qualified for the World Cup six times in a row. Even mighty England and France havent done that.
In a telephone interview with Sunshine State News, Alex Estavao of Miami, a U.S. World Cup team assistant coach in 2002, predicted this World Cup would be special for America.
What a great month this is going to be for growing soccer in this country, he said. In our first game, we get to play England a first-class team with names millions of Americans know. And we play them on a Saturday afternoon, when people are out of work and they can relax and watch.
Estavao expects that when Saturdays 2 p.m. EST match begins, large, enthusiastic crowds will gather in sports bars and at parties and wherever big-screen TVs are mounted. Whenever you get a lot of people together watching a sport, any sport, theres a sense of excitement that ripples through the crowd. Its infectious, he said. A lot of people are going to get hooked on soccer from being part of this.
The U.S. ambassador to South Africa, site of all the games in this years World Cup, said in a Johannesburg newspaper that soccer-crazed Americans are booked into hotels at all nine cities where the games are being played, from Rustenburg to Cape Town.
Last I heard, 40,000 Americans have tickets to these matches, he told the newspaper.
American soccer fans who cant get to South Africa are luckier than many in the world. They dont have to miss a game. All 64 matches will be aired live and in high definition on ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC, and extensive coverage on ESPN360.com and ESPN Mobile TV.
Miamis Estavao said the United States isnt far away from catching the rest of the worlds football fever. Look at the phenomenal rise in the number of U.S. Youth Soccer League registered players: virtually zero in 1974; 2 million in 1995 and more than 3 million in 2010.
Kids who play grow up, said Estavao. They see great football on TV the English Premier League, for example and they see the beautiful game the game as it should be played and they get their own kids involved.
According to ESPN/Nielsen Media Research, international soccer has 75 million fans in the U.S. And with a 52 percent growth rate, its the fastest growing avid fan base in America.
Think about it: The 2006 World Cup had 18 million U.S. viewers, numbers that outstripped both the World Series and the Bowl Championship Series.
This World Cup now under way has something even better going for it. The Web. Fans can follow the action from an array of mobile and Web applications granted, not the optimum way to view but they can join in the thrill and heartbreak of every goal no matter where in the world they are.
And in the U.S., Univision Communications has the Spanish-language broadcasting rights with matches available on Univision.com and Univision Movil.
There is no truer test of success for any sport or any event than counting the money it brings in from a stable of big-name sponsors. The World Cup has the horses and then some:
- Hyundai, McDonalds, Sony , VISA and Coca Cola the top sponsors are reportedly paying $305 million to be FIFA Partners which includes rights to two World Cups over seven years. That means theyre forking out $40 million a year to pitch to soccer fans.
- $1.061 billion was FIFAs revenue in 2009 so imagine how the sport is smacking its lips at the thought of the World Cup proceeds a year later.
- Soccer made $649 million in television rights in 2009. Look for that figure to double in this World Cup year.
How deep into the World Cup are Floridians? If they live in Tampa, theyre up to their necks.
Tampa is one of 18 host cities included in the USA Bid Committees submission to host the 2018 or 2022 World Cup. The economic impact is estimated at $100 million per game, and if the city is selected, Raymond James Stadium could host as many as six games.
We were out there getting petitions signed on Friday, first day of the World Cup, Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio told Sunshine State News. Well match any city in America for competitiveness.
Reach Nancy Smith at nsmith@sunshinestatenews.com, or at (850) 583-1823.
