Today sees the kick-off of the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.
The World Cup is a premium property for free-to-air broadcasters in
particular, due to its ability to generate high audiences in many
territories.
For example, in major European markets, tournament matches
typically generate the highest sports audiences in that particular
year. The German audience for the 2010 World Cup semi-final between
Germany and Spain exceeded 30 million viewers, the first time a
single German broadcaster had exceeded an audience of this
size.
The World Cup's kick-off times are conducive to driving
strong audiences in areas such as North and South America, Europe,
Africa and the Middle East. As a result, the tournament in Brazil
could generate a record global television audience. The 2010 final
(Spain vs. Netherlands) was watched by a cumulative global audience
of 910 million in-home viewers (measured as people watching at
least one minute of coverage), according to FIFA research
