World Cup viewers look towards metaverse

With the FIFA World Cup just days away, expectations are changing around major broadcast events, reveals research from Amdocs with a shift to not just streaming but watching on social, a willingness to pay for guaranteed connectivity and access and interest in new experiences like the metaverse.

The Amdocs’ World Cup 2022 Viewing Report revealed that while most (73%) viewers plan to watch the World Cup on live public TV, 44% of millennials and 38% of Gen-Z plan to stream games. Notably, viewers under 40 plan to watch the games on social media channels, with millennials leading this trend (28%) followed by Gen-Z (27%). Almost half of millennials plan to watch the World Cup via streaming.

Yet while there is a rush to online services, and as many as 78% of fans were confident in their home connectivity to support their World Cup viewing, confidence dropped to 57% when it comes to their mobile network. Just over two-fifths of consumers regarded their mobile network as not reliable enough to stream games on-the-go. Accessibility was also a concern, with 18% of total respondents stating they did not have access to all games from their provider.

When asked if they would be willing to pay for an unlimited World Cup mobile data package to stream matches at 5G speeds with no delays or loss of connectivity, 48% were interested. As 5G continues to grow, Amdocs said that we should expect to see more service providers having unique “experience packages” beyond a simple blanket of 5G speeds for all offerings for instance, a connection specifically for special events like the World Cup.

Dedicated and novel experiences came to the fore in the World Cup 2022 Viewing Report report.  Viewers expressed a growing desire for more interactive experiences like 360-degree live video of the game (30%), interactive in-game challenges (24%) and AR/VR experiences (24%). Just over three-fifths (62%) of viewers expressed interest in using the metaverse to be part of a virtual stadium where they could watch sporting events with other fans as if they were there. Gen-Z (42%) and millennials (39%) were the most interested, while a quarter (25%) of GenX respondents were.