As the biggest show on Earth reached its peak in New York, so did news brands’ football audiences
According to Ozone digital audience data, the final week of football stateside delivered the highest weekly readership of the entire tournament. 13 million football readers turning to digital news brands for their late-stage competition fix not only constituted a new peak, but also hit 50% higher than pre-tournament levels. Page views also reached new heights at 78.3 million over the week.
Of course, the week was quite the rollercoaster for England fans. On Thursday, the day after the all-important semi-final against Argentina, both readership and page views hit the second-highest daily figures of the tournament (after the magic in Mexico City): 4.2 million readers and 15.3 million page views respectively.
In the wake of the disappointing result, Argentina’s controversial post-match Falklands banner caught readers’ attention as one of the most read articles of the week.
On the day of the final (and the day after England’s crazy third-place win against France), readership was up 16% day-on-day at 3.5 million, while page view increased 27% day-on-day to 11.5 million.
With Spain clinching the trophy on Sunday night, tournament engagement increased even after the circus finally rolled out of town. 4.1 million football readers visited digital news brands on Monday, up 21% on the previous week’s seven-day average.
While the footballing action was a little underwhelming compared to the goalfest at the third-place playoff, it was the bizarre half-time show that captured readers’ attention. Among the most-read stories was a roundup of ‘everything but the football’, Wayne Rooney’s frank opinion on the entertainment and a cheeky moment from Roy Keane.
Particularly interesting was the share of voice over the week. England’s share stayed consistent over the week, while Spain’s more than doubled as it edged closer to global glory. Argentina’s also shot up by almost doubled, with 70% of the share made up of negative sentiment around the team’s conduct in both the semis and the final itself.
And so we’re at the end — trophy lifted, confetti blasted, glory grabbed. It’s been a month of football fever, unmistakeable momentum and unmissable moments. News brands were there through all of it, as were millions of readers. What a ride.
