Il Guardian, in a very interesting analysis on the relationship between the proliferation of sporting events and real interest on the part of the public, defines it as “oversaturation”. We could say supersaturation: something that even exceeds the saturated solution, in itself no longer capable of receiving and diluting other material. Here we are one step further, that is, to saturation squared: the excess that multiplies itself.
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The British newspaper asked: is bigger always better? And he asked the question to a group of experts in television, marketing, obviously sport and event organisation. The answer, surprisingly enough, is no. Extremely multiplying matches, tournaments and championships (national, European, world) in theory produces an increase in turnover, but also in public tiredness. The television ratings of the last World Cup in Qatar, thanks to the unusual season (autumn, almost winter) and the times of the matches, recorded television ratings lower than expected. But the 2022 edition also set the profit record for FIFA: 6 billion dollars.
More events, more habit, less attention on the part of the viewer. Yet, sport continues to be an infallible machine of contacts and money: last year, 94 of the top 100 television ratings in the United States involved sporting events. And in Great Britain, the World Cup (football) match between England and France was seen on TV by 16.1 million people, more than those who followed the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II. It is therefore logical that FIFA has decided to increase the number of teams participating in the next World Cup in the USA, Canada and Mexico (the gigantism is also geographical): from 32 to 48, while the scheduled matches will go from 64 to 104 With what ratings, it remains to be verified.
But be careful: the number of viewers, says the Guardian, does not decrease when the gap between athletes is very large. As if people were not attracted by the balance of the result, but by the number of goals to see and feats to applaud. In this digital time, dominated by social media and platforms that broadcast and replicate everything non-stop, the great enemy is boredom. Especially the younger ones, who are used to jumping from one online content to another, can’t handle it. Short attention demands equally short objects: summaries, goals, spectacular actions. Ninety minutes have become an infinite amount of time, and in fact the number of kids between 14 and 22 who say they follow football matches in full is in sharp decline.
“Oversaturation” is something very ambiguous: on the one hand it promises, and often maintains, an extra turnover, on the other it exhausts what the English call “the captive public”: in the cage of calendars and schedules, the the only real freedom seems to be that of changing the channel, perhaps looking for emerging sports (in ratings) such as boxing, and fighting disciplines in general, in addition to motorsports. Olympic ratings are still holding up well, but only because the event happens every four years and hasn’t changed its format too much. However, the progressive inclusion of new disciplines and the possible lengthening of the program beyond the traditional two weeks could also inflate the Games. But with a few exceptions, such as the longer races and the soccer tournament, nearly all Olympic finals events are fairly short and fast. That is, the secret to not getting bored, and not to “oversaturate”. Because even the best cake in the world, after the second slice, nausea.
2023-11-28 10:59:27
#inflated #ball #Football
