Online Media Ready for Some Futbol
— reported by Click Z
With the 2006 World Cup kick-off only one day away, online media players and their sponsors have unveiled their bids to attract U.S. soccer fans. Online and mobile media are especially important for the World Cup, because most matches will take place during business hours, when most fans will be at work.
One of the most prominent online players is Yahoo, which is an official sponsor of the World Cup and also host of the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA)’s official Web site. The U.S.-focused version of the site features the standard fare: news, photo galleries and team descriptions. When the tournament begins, users will be able to access video highlights from the matches themselves.
Many of the World Cup’s official sponsors get prominent placement on the site. Footwear sponsor adidas presents a countdown clock to the beginning of the tournament, while Budweiser gets a button highlighting its “Man of the Match” sponsorship. Yahoo, for its part, is linking to World Cup-related content on its new Yahoo Answers property. Small rotating banners link to other official FIFA sponsors.
Content-wise, the most innovative of Yahoo’s offerings is its array of mobile services. The company is offering a mobile portal, live mobile commentary on games, and SMS alerts along with phone personalization content like ringtones, wallpapers, games and video content. The mobile capabilities are highlighted prominently on the Web property.
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