Last week, ESPN said the Wednesday morning FIFA World Cup match between
the United States and Algeria — in which the Americans scored a dramatic goal in stoppage time to earn a 1-0 win and a spot in the Round of 16 — was the highest-rated and most-watched soccer game in the history of ESPN networks, delivering a 4.6 rating (4.0 household U.S. rating), 4,582,000 households and 6,161,000 viewers for the two-hour contest (10 a.m. ET – noon).
ESPN also said that June 23 was the most-trafficked day to-date for World Cup content across all of ESPN’s mobile platforms.
- ESPN’s FIFA World Cup 2010 iPhone app delivered 3.2 million visits and 19.9 million page views for the day.
- World Cup content on the ESPN mobile Web site also added another 2.4 million visits and 13.7 million page views to the mobile tally. To date, the mobile Web has generated 20.2 million visits and 90.7 million page views.
The Round of 16 just started. On Saturday, I found myself far from my big screen TV when the USA match with Ghana began. So I fired up my Palm Pre and went to the ESPN Mobile website. When I tapped the LIVE button, another webOS card opened and Sprint TV loaded. Within seconds (it didn’t take long at all!), I was watching the match.
Because I had some headphones with me, it was easy for me to carry the Pre in my palm, listen with one ear, and shop at Costco without missing a beat from either activity. I was impressed with the picture quality too.
A re-enactment appears below.
The 2010 FIFA World Cup runs until July 11. I highly recommend that you find a way to watch. This is the knockout round and the level of action has ratcheted up considerably.
If you are a Sprint customer with an unlimited data plan, you definitely will be able to hold your own against the iPhone folks.
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If you find the constant buzz of the vuvuzella annoying, then click on this link (http://tinyurl.com/28qpct6). It offers a number of ways to filter out the sounds.
Found this post that talks about World Cup music.
http://www.billboard.com/features/top-10-worthy-world-cup-songs-from-waka-1004097147.story
Give it a listen!