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Press release
Over Half of Americans Unaware of Where 2006 Soccer World Cup is Held
GMI Poll confirms world’s most popular sports competition still unable to pull in U.S. fans
View the Australian Release | View the United Kingdom Release
Seattle , Wash. - May 30, 2006 - Despite an estimated combined $420 million invested in official partnerships by U.S.-based corporations to gain worldwide visibility, the facts don’t lie: the U.S. lags significantly behind other countries when it comes to being passionate about “the beautiful game” of soccer. The latest GMI Poll, powered by market intelligence solutions provider GMI (Global Market Insite, Inc.), reveals that 56% of American World Cup fans do not know that the 2006 Soccer World Cup will take place in Germany, and only 1 in 10 plans to follow the game.
In addition, over 50% of declared U.S. fans either said they ‘didn’t know’ the companies that were official partners of the games, or incorrectly identified them. Out of a list of international brands, U.S. fans selected Adidas the most frequently (27%), followed by Nike (25%), and Coca-Cola (16%). Although Nike is not an official partner, it seems to have received a boost from its advertising flurry both in the U.S. and globally, where 31% of fans chose it. In Brazil, more fans selected Nike (59%) than Adidas (44%).
The survey, which asked 11,352 respondents in 12 countries (Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Italy, Russia, Turkey, the UK, and the United States,) reveals that only 11% of 1,000 respondents in the U.S. said they were ‘definitely’ going to watch the World Cup. An additional 23% said they were only ‘somewhat likely’ to do so. Despite these low numbers, ABC and ESPN expect more Americans to be glued to their television for this year’s tournament due to better viewing time zones and high expectations for the U.S. national team, which FIFA currently ranks as high as #4 internationally . In fact, ABC, ESPN, and Spanish-language broadcaster Univisión recently paid $450 million to FIFA for the exclusive television rights to soccer in the U.S., showing faith in the potential of the sport on the home turf. In the 2002 games, only about 3.9 million Americans watched the World Cup final out of 1.1 billion viewers worldwide, according to an estimate from Nielsen Media Research. Despite the U.S. team’ s high ranking, however, the GMI Poll revealed that American soccer fans selected Europe (39%) and South America (34%) over North America (6%) as regions that excel at soccer.
What the poll discovered is that the media blitz for the games could pay big dividends for U.S. companies that are seeking large exposure in global markets, but less so within the U.S. itself. The survey data showed that over 95% of all global fans will follow the cup via their television, with a similar majority (93%) choosing to watch the games at home, over their local pub (32%). In Britain however, “football” fans also choose their home as their preferred viewing spot (94%), but over half also selected the pub as a great place to watch the games. Of the Americans who are definitely going to follow the World Cup, 78% said they would view it on TV while 40% will track team progress over the Internet. For ad buyers and marketers that might not be able to afford sponsorship or high TV ad rates, these stats point to outside marketing opportunities during the month-long tournament. The matches will be televised in 189 countries around the world.Graphs and charts
About GMI Poll
GMI Poll quickly and accurately gathers international opinions about topical issues and critical global events, with real-time results available in as little as 24 hours. GMI Poll is the only survey that polls global opinions in real time, online, and with statistically accurate results.
About GMI
GMI (Global Market Insite, Inc.) is the only company that provides comprehensive integrated solutions for global market intelligence for both market research firms and corporate market research departments at Global 2000 companies. Solutions include Net-MR®, a suite of software tools to manage and automate research throughout the project lifecycle, desktop analysis tools, 24x7x365 service bureau capabilities, and one of the world's largest, highly profiled, double opt-in managed panels, spanning across 200 countries. In addition, GMI offers high-value, real-time enterprise feedback solutions for customer, partner and employee programs. Founded in 1999 with world headquarters in Seattle, Wash., GMI has operations on five continents. For more information, please visit www.gmi-mr.com or email us.
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