Thursday, June 12, 2014

ESPN sets its own stage for success with World Cup

After years of planning and preparation, ESPN's coverage of the World Cup kicks off from Brazil this week and the network and its personnel are ready for the challenges that range from incomplete infrastructure to whatever news might break during the tournament.

No matter what happens -- and the tournament should provide some level of interest for casual and hard-core fans alike -- ESPN has played a big role in making the event more relevant to U.S. viewers. That's good for business, and good for the sport.

Without being self congratulatory, Jed Drake, ESPN's executive producer and senior vice president, pointed to the network as a reason for soccer's growth, specifically award-winning, critically acclaimed and well-watched coverage of the World Cup four years ago.

"By and large as a country, I think there was -- I've not used this term before -- but I think it was appropriate that there was some indifference to the World Cup. We changed that," Drake said.  "We fundamentally changed that in 2010. We did so through, I think, a production approach and marketing approach that made people understand how important this event is on the rest of the planet. This is a global event that people, I believe now, even in the United States, will tune into because of the sheer scope and magnitude of it."

The 31-day event begins Thursday, and ESPN's coverage of every match -- with East Coast-friendly start times of noon, 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. on most days -- includes 43 games on ESPN, 11 on ESPN2 and 10 on ABC.


In 2010, the 64 matches averaged just under 3.3 million viewers -- up 41 percent from 2006. The final between Spain and the Netherlands drew 15.5 million viewers, second only to the 1999 Women’s World Cup final as the most-watched soccer game in the United States. That women’s game famously featured the U.S. vs. China in what was eventually a shootout victory for the United States. It drew 17.9 million viewers.

The U.S. team begins play vs. Ghana at 6 p.m. Monday, and the team's other group matches are vs. Portugal (6 p.m., June 22) and Germany (Noon, June 26) -- both of which will air on ESPN.

Along with more viewers -- thanks to everything from changing U.S. demographics to heightened awareness -- ESPN's approach has changed and improved because of its comfort level with the sport.

"I remember covering the World Cup for ESPN way back i 1994, which was my first involvement with the company. Back then it was different," said Ian Darke, the World Cup's lead play-by-play voice. "Producers were asking me to explain what the offside law was, and I understood that at the time. But I think the sophistication of the American audience has grown, and I would almost regard it as an insult, really, to their intelligence now to be asked to explain the basics of the game."

With all those potential hurdles cleared, ESPN has done a better job of treating soccer more often than not as another major sport, as opposed on a once-every-four-year happening. The emergence of MLS has helped, as has many other factors. In the end, without the slightly educational approach, the result has been better sports on TV. Viewers get more stories and more reporting.

Also, ESPN added former U.S. team standout Landon Donovan to its already deep roster of analysts this week. Donovan was cut from the team, a move some experts have questioned and a storyline that will be part of whatever success the U.S. team does or does not enjoy in Brazil.

Along with that, and of more importance to the tournament overall if ESPN meets its commitment of covering things as a major sporting event, will be information about construction delays and protests because of Brazil's investment in the tournament as opposed to things such as infrastructure and social programs in the country. Protests of different size and levels of energy have been ongoing in the country for months.

"Inevitably and importantly we will also cover the news of the day as it warrants," Drake said. "We made that commitment to ourselves, we'll make it to our viewers. By extension, we'll be working even more closely this time around with ABC News."

Plus, the network knows its ratings and viewership success are not tied exclusively to how far the U.S. team progresses. A red, white and blue run to the knock-out round would help, but ESPN has elevated the tournament and the sport enough that viewers will follow the entire event regardless.

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