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After it was revealed in a made-for-TV event last Sunday. 2026 World Cup Match ScheduleFIFA president Gianni Infantino took a subtle shot at the NFL’s Super Bowl.
The next Men’s World Cup will be held in the United States, Mexico and Canada, with the number of participating teams expanding to 48 and a total of 104 matches.
“This will be the 104th Super Bowl held in North America,” Infantino said on Instagram. It was no coincidence that Infantino’s assertion came at the beginning of Super Bowl week in Las Vegas. It was also a reminder that both the soccer and American football worlds are looking to each other to grow their respective businesses.
While the World Cup enjoys far greater popularity around the world, the Super Bowl has cornered the U.S. market. This market has been a particular area of focus for the world’s soccer powers over the past few decades. This may be why some of soccer’s most influential officials are bristling at the idea that the Super Bowl could be perceived as a bigger event than the World Cup.
Three years ago, CONCACAF president and FIFA vice president Victor Montagliani was asked by a local television reporter in Atlanta why the city that hosted the Summer Olympics would be interested in an “international event.” Montagliani recalled an anecdote about an anonymous NFL owner who said 100 million people around the world watched the Super Bowl.
“I think if there was a World Cup draw and there were ping-pong balls in a glass bowl and a legend of the game pulled out a ball and said, ‘U.S. vs. Poland in Group A,’ it’s 2-3. , I said, ‘That’s twice as many viewers as the Super Bowl,” Montagliani said. “It doesn’t even apply to a World Cup match because it’s just taking the ball out of a glass bowl…I don’t know how else to answer that question, but I think that in itself is an answer.”
The number of viewers for the Super Bowl will surpass the number of viewers for the World Cup final in the United States. But when you expand that to global numbers for both, it flips in exactly the opposite direction. The World Cup Final is an unstoppable global giant, and that’s the question when comparing the Men’s World Cup Final to the Super Bowl. You can’t ignore the numbers.
Consider last year’s Super Bowl vs. the 2022 World Cup final in Qatar. The 2023 Super Bowl between the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles set a national viewership record with 115.1 million viewers watching on FOX, Fox Deportes and other digital streams. An additional 56 million people outside the United States watched the game.
While these numbers are impressive, they are mere specifications compared to the $1.5 billion “global reach” that FIFA has given Lionel Messi and Argentina for defeating defending champion France in the 2022 World Cup final. . Whether this is a gross exaggeration by FIFA or an accurate viewership figure is up for debate. something The Athletic It is explained in more detail here.
A record 18,000 media certificates were issued for the Qatar World Cup, FIFA said. This weekend’s Super Bowl in Las Vegas will draw more than 6,000 credentialed members of the press. This is Super Bowl 57, and the first time it will be held in Las Vegas, so it feels like one of his biggest NFL title games in recent memory.
In this piece, we look at two of the league’s best teams, Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, a potential GOAT candidate, and the last player taken in the 2022 draft (a position known as “Mr. Irrelevant”). An unlikely hero will face off against San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy. ). No matter who wins the game, it will be a story that ends in Sin City. Still, most of the world’s population won’t watch it.
That’s why comparing the Super Bowl, an annual title game between club teams, to the World Cup finals, played every four years by national teams, is beside the point.
The World Cup is a month-long tournament that has been held since 1998 and involves 32 countries from around the world. The 2026 North American World Cup will be the largest World Cup in history to be held in the most commercialized country on earth. Despite the Infantino dig and Montagliani ping-pong ball anecdote, FIFA could take some cues from the NFL, which has mastered the art of blending sports and entertainment.
Consider why so many Americans and NFL fans around the world watch the Super Bowl.This is a scene to be celebrated by those involved, who are calling for it to be made official. holiday. Even if the game itself ends in failure, millions of people watching from home (at least in the US) will debate whether the commercials were funny or innovative, and watch the halftime show broadcast. be able to. The regular Super Bowl halftime break lasts up to 30 minutes (as compared to other NFL halftime breaks) to allow organizers to set up and take down an elaborate concert stage for the superstar performers on the field. (2 times the amount).
It’s unlikely that FIFA would extend halftime at the World Cup final for the same reason, but the opening and closing ceremonies of the tournament appear to be a compromise. Super Bowl halftime is also a prime advertising space. That’s why advertising agencies and corporate sponsors are once again putting all their eggs in one basket this Sunday. spend $7 million It’s your 30-second chance to become a part of American pop culture. Messi will appear in a Super Bowl commercial for the first time this year, cementing his place in the American consciousness.
Clearly, FIFA has heard the noise regarding the Super Bowl and World Cup comparisons. While the World Cup is a monster in its own right, the Super Bowl has a cool factor that makes any sporting event the envy. It’s a blend of the Rockies’ blue-collar mentality and a multi-billion dollar NFL machine. Countless celebrities attend the national anthem before Super Bowl kickoff. It’s simply unique. Apple pie and heavy metal. That is American exceptionalism. The Super Bowl is Americana at its finest. Key decision-makers in world football can only hope to emulate that charm.
Instead of the World Cup final, it would be fairer to compare the Super Bowl and the UEFA Champions League final. This is by far the biggest game on the club soccer calendar. The Super Bowl and Champions League finals are both held annually, and both pit professional organizations against each other rather than national teams.
But again, the comparison ends with viewership numbers. UEFA estimates that 450 million spectators worldwide will watch at least part of the Champions League final between Manchester City and Inter Milan in 2023. This still beats the Super Bowl viewership record. However, in this case, the numbers don’t tell the whole story.
A spectacular atmosphere has traditionally characterized the Super Bowl. The lead-up to Sunday’s Super Bowl is a week-long circus of content. Nearly 24,000 fans attended a media day event earlier this week at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, site of Sunday’s Super Bowl. Athletes from both teams stepped onto the stadium’s artificial turf like prize fighters before the heavyweight bout and sat on podiums to answer questions, with a particular emphasis on pop star Taylor Swift.
“The (Champions League) final should be much bigger.” Paris Saint-Germain president Nasser Al-Khelaifi said in 2022:. “I don’t understand why the Super Bowl feels bigger than the Champions League final. The Super Bowl, and the United States as a whole, has this mindset, this creativity, this entertainment. That’s what I proposed, opening the Champions League. Have a ceremony and have one game on opening night where the winner plays the big team. It may not be a good idea, but let’s at least challenge the status quo. Each game is an event, an entertainment. There has to be.”
In 2015, Pepsi saw an opportunity to change the atmosphere of the UEFA Champions League Final by sponsoring the kick-off show entertainment. Since then, international artists such as Dua Lipa, the Black Eyed Peas and Camila Cabello have been featured at the launch of worldwide broadcasts. But does anyone remember those performances?
Comparing the Super Bowl and football’s two biggest games is an endless debate. But the priority is that FIFA, UEFA and the NFL are moving closer to each other in different ways. The three organizations are also gradually moving into each other’s territory. As the NFL continues to expand its brand globally, the possibility of hosting the Super Bowl in London is becoming a reality.
“It’s not impossible, it’s something that’s been talked about for a while,” NFL Commissioner Roger Godell said in 2023.
On the other hand, European football governing body discussed Showpiece event held in the United States.
So while the numbers tell quite a bit of the story when it comes to popularity and appeal, the Super Bowl, World Cup and Champions League finals all have elements that are envied and imitated by each other.
(Top image: Martin Rickett/PA Images via Getty Images; Kohjima Kinno/Sports Illustrated via Getty Images; Marvin Ibo Guengoer – GES; Sportfoto/Getty Images; Design: Eamonn Dalton)
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