The Value Of The World Cup

As the countdown to this year’s World Cup inches towards single figures, Leigh Yoxall, TV Group Director at Starcom MediaVest, examines the competition’s impact on ITV and the nation…

There is a palpable buzz around the country at present, as the ball gets rolling for the World Cup 2006 (apologies!). Questions such as “Will Rooney play?”, “Is Beckham good enough?” and “Who have you got in your Fantasy League?” have begun. Certainly there has been a notable difference in the quality and flavour of TV programmes on ITV: SoccerAid, Beckham, A Footballer’s Story and World Cup Heaven And Hell replacing the standard menu of dramas and light entertainment, in a bid to whet our appetites for the main event.

Much has been discussed about how the World Cup has fared in terms of attracting advertising revenue. ITV originally stated that the event would add an extra £26 million to June, increasing their revenue from £109 million to £135 million. This now looks highly unlikely. The broadcaster (in conjunction with the BBC) has reportedly signed up for the next two World Cups in 2010 and 2014, at a cost of around £60 million to Infront. This is looking as bad a business decision as the horrendous OnDigital Sport fiasco four years ago. Current market estimates suggest that ITV is even looking at a revenue decline in June this year. Estimates suggest that their total revenue for June will be just over £100 million, which is a massive disappointment. Also given the City’s murmurs of an ITV takeover, Charles Allen et al must be feeling a degree of heat at present.

But is this good for television overall and therefore good for advertising in general? I suggest that it isn’t. Whilst most people like to see the “big man” with a bloody nose, it isn’t good when this goes for the market as a whole. C4 for instance have revenues down 15% and Five down 10%, with only multi-channel showing any form of growth (possibly taking advantage of female brands).

Often advertisers discuss the requirement to have their brands communicated to a lot of people in key one-off event programming. The World Cup holds the imagination, emotion and interest of a large percentage of the UK. As such, the numbers stack up and to a large extent so does the environment. So what better way to deliver the much-craved-for mass audiences that advertisers demand?

The annoyance that ITV could feel surrounding the lack of support for this event is justifiable. Other mediums by and large are not as tied to the World Cup as TV. In the press, weekly men’s magazines may see some effect, and radio does not see any major changes due to the event being on or not. Outdoor is looking fairly flat but as yet no major sponsor has “owned” the month.

Tactically, most advertisers have planned around the World Cup rather than actively supported it. This year will deliver fantastic value to those who will be on-air in the tournament, regardless of Rooney playing or not. Impacts across upmarket audiences are predicted to be up on ITV, with the majority of FMCG audiences migrating to other channels to take full advantage of the Big Brother series and other “Housewife”-oriented programming.

Let’s hope that this year will be a blip for the support of such a prestigious event; certainly ITV will be hoping so.