Comments on: Arsenal Versus Man Utd: A Billion Viewers, Television and Football Today

By: Alex

Alex — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 00:06:14 +0000

One billion may have watched, but it doesn’t mean they all watched it on their own, with their own televisions.

Say 500 people watched it in a bar, that still means 500 people watched the game, even though the bar may have only had 2 or 3 televisions.

By: Thomas Dunmore

Thomas Dunmore — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 21:52:02 +0000

Exactly, Dave, I agree entirely on the NBA/NFL comparison. American Football requires a vastly more complex infrastructure to support it. Plus, there are so many competing football codes (as you would know best), whereas basketball has less competition. The only problem with hoops is that I’m crap at it — can’t stop fouling people and kicking the ball.

I’m also glad you mention Setanta, as it pertains to the points the article emphasised about mobile/broadband viewers. That technology is still a long way from maturing. I get Setanta via IPTV (broadband television, basically), but it’s been a disaster lately. The server keeps crashing and on Saturday I couldn’t connect at all — and I’m fairly technically savvy. I resorted, of course, to Sopcast.

By: Dave's Football Blog

Dave's Football Blog — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 21:08:59 +0000

I don’t buy that one billion figure, either, nor do I buy that the London Bowl was somehow a big step toward a “global foothold” for the NFL. The NBA is way ahead of the NFL for the same reason that soccer grew so much bigger than gridiron — anyone can play the game, but only a select few are the best at it.

Oh, and I wouldn’t have been able to watch Arsenal v. Man U without A.) a satellite TV service, B.) a Setanta Sports description, and C.) a DVR, because I was up a little late on Friday. Given the 8:45 AM ET start time, I doubt that many Americans were quite that dedicated.

By: ursus arctos

ursus arctos — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 06:50:36 +0000

These figures have always been dodgy in the extreme (see also the 2 billion often quoted for the World Cup final). I believe that they are based on a very optimistic estimate of essentially 100% share in the countries to which the rights for a particular match have been sold, but completely fail to take into account that in virtually all of those countries a match like this would only be available on satellite, cable, or other pay services. As the amount the Premier League gets in terms of rights fees is not in any way tied to actual viewing figures, their only interest is in hyping the numbers as much as possible.

By: Thomas Dunmore

Thomas Dunmore — Sun, 04 Nov 2007 23:03:52 +0000

I agree, Alex, I very much doubt that number is true.

By: alex

alex — Sun, 04 Nov 2007 23:01:54 +0000

There are, apparently, 1.5 billion TV sets worldwide.

1 billion for one game seems unlikley doesn’t it?