Mobile tech increasing the World Cup hype
The FIFA World Cup 2014 is the topic on everyone’s lips this month and mobile technology is providing more ways than ever to watch the games unravel. Dual screen viewing via TV and smartphone ensures avid supporters can keep their eye on the goal at all times. Aussies are proving to be a tech savvy bunch this time around, with 46% of football fans reaching for their mobile phones before, during and after matches.
According to "2014 World Cup: A Global Mobile Perspective," a breakthrough international study from the Interactive Advertising Bureau, 29% of Australian respondents named smartphones, tablets or desktops as their primary source for following the World Cup. The twenty question survey was put forth to 11 global markets including Australia, Brazil, China, and France to explore interactive trends surrounding the sporting event. Statistics proved that 90% of participants intend to share World Cup content, with 38% of Australians choosing to do so by SMS and MMS.
Social networking websites and smartphone applications are also caught in a football frenzy. The Twitter mobile app is proving a popular way of showing support, where a hashtag in front of a country’s three letter country code will subsequently automate a flag icon alongside tweets e.g. “#AUS”. Facebook has created a dedicated page to keep users updated on what’s trending via their handy interactive map, whilst media giant Google stepped up to provide a hub of World Cup information about teams, points, games and players.
The official FIFA tournament mobile app is now the biggest sports event application and can be downloaded on smartphones for news updates, game schedules, and details on the 32 competing teams. The record-breaking program saw 18million downloads between 1st June to 23rd June alone, with fans spending an average 54 minutes each consuming live, editorial and social content within the app.
Matt Stone, FIFA Head of Digital commented: “The official FIFA World Cup app has proved to be the most engaging personal technology of the tournament. FIFA's live and social hub, the Global Stadium, has struck a chord with football fans worldwide to #joining and we are well on course to pass our 2010 FIFA World Cup audience record of 150 million people consuming FIFA content.”
The FIFA app is no.1 in over 100 countries in the overall download charts and has so far been downloaded more than 22 million times since its launch in December 2013.