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Month: June 2006

The World Cup and the Internet

Joga Players
I’ve never understood why NBA or NFL players call themselves world champions. To be world champions, don’t you have to compete against the rest of the world? No matter – that’s why we have the 2006 FIFA World Cup. It is a sport that resonates across all cultures, classes, religions and countries. The Internet also resonates across all the aforementioned. Put the two of them together and you have one powerful combination.
Yes, television is required to watch the games in their entirety (for now) but if you want to listen to games or check live updates, you can do so online. The Official Site of the “2006 FIFA World Cup hosted by Yahoo”:http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com allows you view game highlights online as well.
This is critical for football fans (I refuse to use the word ‘soccer’) in North America. We are in the middle of the working day while matches are being played live a few time zones ahead in Europe. Unfortunately, calling in sick during the World Cup is not as socially acceptable here as it is in other parts of the world.
The numbers of people checking out the World Cup on the Internet is staggering. According to “eMarketer”:http://www.emarketer.com/Article.aspx?1004004 5.7 Million unique visitors visited the offical 2006 FIFA World Cup site in April and 4.2 Million unique visitors in March. This is before the tournament started!

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