Mobile Services Will Be Winner Of The World Cup

FIFA World Cup 2006 LogoThe mobile industry is going football mad in the lead-up to the FIFA World Cup 2006, the main reason being the potential $8.4 billion in content revenues. Of that figure, mobile messaging is expected to claim the lions share ($7.3 billion) with gambling and music taking most of the rest. Some points to remember though, based around the fact that the World Cup is a disruptive event so people act (and consume content) differently:

  • The World Cup is a social event. More important than the football itself, it’s a reason for people to get together and socialise.
  • Being able to watch the World Cup is all about getting around life’s constraints: work, other matches, even sleep if you live in Japan.
  • And interest in the World Cup is limited mainly to the success of one’s national team. The majority of people will switch off after their team is knocked out. (Personally, I’ll be glad if Australia even qualifies…)

It will be interesting to see what sort of mobile content comes out of the World Cup, especially if rights are sold off on a more or less exclusive basis. There’ll be some innovative ways around that…
Related stories:
Increasing Football Revenue In Asia
Olympics Mobile Rights Up For Grabs in Europe
Manchester United’s Mobile Division Going In Overdrive

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