How will a WC affect Sydney ?

[cos789]

More oval?? Only possible by shortening the field. The width is limited by the angle of the upper stands.

That seemed strange to me too .

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[chammond]

I still think its an abolute wank that its called the biggest sporting event on earth - what rot - its only one sport played, in the end, by a handfull of countries who were lucky (see France) to qualify, I mean even New Zealand got in!!! and then they take a month to play it? boy they really need a time and motion study.

It's called the biggest sporting event because it is alleged that it has a bigger TV audience than the Olympics. The World Cup 2010 involved 208 countries,the 2008 Olympics involved 205 countries. Soccer is by any definition the most popular sport in the world. There are around 1.5 million soccer participants in Australia . . . among boys, the participation rate is 20% for soccer and 16% for AFL.

I would suspect that the "?rrogance" of FIFA is no different to that of the IOC?

More than 3 billion people will tune-in to watch the World Cup in 2018 and 2022 . . . what will that be worth to the host nation?

[Bas]

The former Fun Controller was in Vietnam during the last world cup and there were people on the streets sitting there watching the games on telly.

Although Vietnam also gets a very healthy coverage of AFL as well during the season.

If they don't regard the SCG as a suitable venue, they are having themselves on.

They should play the bloody thing at night in October.

[Cheer Squad]

If they don't regard the SCG as a suitable venue, they are having themselves on.

The SCG is not fit to be included in our bid. There are too many problems with restricted viewing areas. Imagine if one of FIFA's representatives got into Bays 310 or 311 in the Victor Trumper stand! Bay 310 in particular is just a joke.

In any case, it would cost too much to turn the SCG into a FIFA-approved venue.

[Wardy]

It's called the biggest sporting event because it is alleged that it has a bigger TV audience than the Olympics. The World Cup 2010 involved 208 countries,the 2008 Olympics involved 205 countries. Soccer is by any definition the most popular sport in the world. There are around 1.5 million soccer participants in Australia . . . among boys, the participation rate is 20% for soccer and 16% for AFL.

I would suspect that the "?rrogance" of FIFA is no different to that of the IOC?

More than 3 billion people will tune-in to watch the World Cup in 2018 and 2022 . . . what will that be worth to the host nation?

yeah - but the Olympics was so well organised that they were able to hold competition for numerous sports in just 2 weeks - seems old Seth Blata (?) and his poncy mates cant take the pace! But they do like to stay out on the turps all night (hence the demand that our liquor licensing laws be changed to suit them) so I guess they need one day on two days off for hangover and womanising purposes and on it goes for the month.

3 billion people may consider watching - until they see the TV guide to find that their team plays at 2am on a school night, then the numbers may be down somewhat.

Agreee the IOC are a bunch of poncy pratts too - but their time management and fixture skills leaves FIFA's for dead.

[cos789]

More than 3 billion people will tune-in to watch the World Cup in 2018 and 2022 . . . what will that be worth to the host nation?

Since FIFA get all TV rights - the host nation doesn't get much .

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[j s]

yeah - but the Olympics was so well organised that they were able to hold competition for numerous sports in just 2 weeks - seems old Seth Blata (?) and his poncy mates cant take the pace!

Even at the Olympics the Soccer takes 4 weeks. It starts two weeks before the opening ceremony

[dimelb]

... Seth Blata (?) ...

It's actually Septic Bladder.
Glad to help.

[Cardinal]

I thought there would be a big need for parochial fans .

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Yes but not closed minded.

I was in Germany for the last world cup and in my opinion the atmosphere and event leaves the Olympics for dead. It's kind of like an afl grand final everyday but with markets, festivals, far greater levels of spontaneous dancing and singing plus deliberate partying that leads to a carnival atmosphere that envelopes the host/non host cities. It?s the overseas fans that make the event and the spectacle they create on game day is fantastic and the money they pump into the economy huge. Just imagine Collingwood went through the entire season unbeaten before being pipped by a point after the siren with a 60 metre goal by Carlton times 50 as some sort of indication of wc crowd buzz.

[Wardy]

Even at the Olympics the Soccer takes 4 weeks. It starts two weeks before the opening ceremony

I would have thought there were more teams in the Olympic comp than the WC and that would justify the length of time.

[Wardy]

It's actually Septic Bladder.
Glad to help.

thanks for that, cheers!

[Wardy]

Yes but not closed minded.

I was in Germany for the last world cup and in my opinion the atmosphere and event leaves the Olympics for dead. It's kind of like an afl grand final everyday but with markets, festivals, far greater levels of spontaneous dancing and singing plus deliberate partying that leads to a carnival atmosphere that envelopes the host/non host cities. It?s the overseas fans that make the event and the spectacle they create on game day is fantastic and the money they pump into the economy huge. Just imagine Collingwood went through the entire season unbeaten before being pipped by a point after the siren with a 60 metre goal by Carlton times 50 as some sort of indication of wc crowd buzz.

Congrats - still wouldnt make me like soccer though.

[Q...]

Asterix: "A recent poll on the Herald Sun found that a clear majority of its readers counted soccer as their favourite football code."

That's interesting but an actual survey seems to disagree.

[cos789]

Asterix: "A recent poll on the Herald Sun found that a clear majority of its readers counted soccer as their favourite football code."

That's interesting but an actual survey seems to disagree.

The popularity or unpopularity of soccer has little to do with it .
This tournament has to cost effective first , second and third .

Obviously the easiest way to gauge popularity is to compare attendances where people are prepared to pay to watch professional football .

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[chammond]

The popularity or unpopularity of soccer has little to do with it .
This tournament has to cost effective first , second and third .

Obviously the easiest way to gauge popularity is to compare attendances where people are prepared to pay to watch professional football .

.

Surely the popularity of soccer has everything to do with it!

The World Cup is the number one sporting event . . . it's "cost effectiveness" is subject to the same debate as any major event, just like the Olympics or a F1 Grand Prix.

Comparing attendances is one way of assessing "popularity", but it is no more valid than, for example, comparing participation rates, or perhaps some kind of aggregated support rates such as attendances + TV ratings + participation rates. I'm sure they can all be twisted to suit a point of view.

Probably more pertinent is that we are discussing something that may or may not happen in 9 or 13 years, and debating which will be the more "popular" sport at that time? There's a good chance that soccer will have out-stretched AFL by then, but given that it is the fastest growing sport in the world, perhaps basketball may be the number one choice in another decade?

Maybe we should be slotting in an inaugural World Cup of Basketball for 2022 instead??