Fair Dinkum's World Cup Article

[JamesW]

www.fan590.com/columnists/columnist4article.jsp?content=20061220_094807_3508

December 20th

2006 FIFA World Cup Final Most Watched

The 2006 FIFA World Cup final was TV’s “most-watched sports event, drawing more than twice as many viewers as any other program,” according to a report by Initiative Worldwide.

An average of 260 million viewers watched the game, and over 600 million tuned in for at least a part of it.

Super Bowl XL, which was the second-most watched sports event, “drew a global average audience of 98 million, an increase of 5 million” over ’05, while the Opening Ceremony of the Turin Games placed third.

The next FIFA World Cup will be held in South Africa in 2010.

One of the good things about the Soccer World Cup in South Africa, it is set to be the most commercially successful since the first tournament was held 76 years ago.

The event has already attracted more marketing and television attention than the 2006 event, according to Fifa President Sepp Blatter.

Concerns that construction work was not going to be done in time were raised by FIFA President Blatter and in September a delegation went to South African to urge lawmakers to speed up building work.

The United States and Australia were reported to be potential hosts should organizers decide a change of venue was needed if South Africa can’t meet it targets.

South African President Mbeki pledged last month that South Africa would confound international skeptics by meeting its deadlines and staging a well-oiled World Cup.

Let’s hope South Africa can make the deadlines for FIFA and that’s “Fair Dinkum”