Re: The unpopular opinion thread

[Great Leader Sprucenuce]

Unpopular opinion:  NT football has a lot more suspense and overall fan interest because every team is flawed (you have to make due with what your country produces only) and, thus, the games are unpredictable often.  WC and Euro viewing audiences absolutely destroy the CL.

For example, the 2015 CL final had 180 million viewers worldwide.  the 2014 WC final had 1.1 billion viewers.  The 2016 Euro final was expected to reach at least 300 million viewers (final numbers haven't been released yet).

I'm sure that those tournaments happening over a very short period of time, during a time when most are on holidays and involving players that most will at least show an interest in have nothing to do with those numbers lol.

Although i personally don't care tbh, i hardly watched the Euros because the quality of football was absolutely trash.

Unpredictability isn't interesting to me unless it's entertaining as well which it very rarely is.

[sportsczy]

To me, it was entertaining.  Wales making their run into the semis was fun.  Iceland fighting its way to the quarters moved me a bit.  

The crap defensive style in big games is preponderant now.  Doesn't matter if it's club or NT.  Players have gotten bigger and more athletic so they can park the bus more effectively... that's life.  The fear of screwing up as opposed to looking at the big stage as the opportunity of a lifetime to shine has also taken the ascendant.  

But the fact that you always get surprise teams and giants falling in NT tournaments is fun.  CL... i don't really even care until the QFs because I generally already know who's going to be there.  With NT tournaments, pool play and early elimination games are actually worth watching because the results aren't predestined.

[Art Morte]

Unpopular opinion:  NT football has a lot more suspense and overall fan interest because every team is flawed (you have to make due with what your country produces only) and, thus, the games are unpredictable often.  WC and Euro viewing audiences absolutely destroy the CL.

For example, the 2015 CL final had 180 million viewers worldwide.  the 2014 WC final had 1.1 billion viewers.  The 2016 Euro final was expected to reach at least 300 million viewers (final numbers haven't been released yet).

I somewhat agree with you. The WC and the Euro feel a lot more special to me than your regular league season. The reason is perhaps not quite what you say, about the NTs being flawed, I just find something deeply satisfactory and exciting about nations competing against each other in football. Like, my main excitement about Liverpool this season is that can we get into the top-4, i.e. the CL. And it feels like half of that excitement is because of the money it would mean for the club and how it would help us against our competition. With the WC and the Euro, it just feels purer to me. And even the outsider excitement and feel-good factor of watching something like the whole nation of Iceland or Wales get behind their team when they're doing something special, it just kinda feels bigger to me than fans of any club getting behind their team in an important match. NT football touches people in a different way than club football and when that magic is at its best, I prefer NT footy.

[McAgger]

lol wtf does El Vitriol mean? And why would they name Liverpool-United rivalry that.

Never heard it before.

[The Vanquisher]

I like international breaks. Let's us see possible and future superstars for football play for the NT.

[RealGunner]

That's one of the few reasons I like international breaks tbh. Just read in the barcelona section how a 16 year old was called up for Kosovo

[Hapless_Hans]

I am sure United-Liverpool had over 700m viewers last year and the recent Manchester Derby had over 800m worldwide viewership.

Those number are not right at all

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-3004202/Manchester-United-vs-Liverpool-Real-Madrid-vs-Barcelona-biggest-fixture-world-football.html

800m viewers

yeah right

That would mean more than every tenth human being watches it.
What absolute nonsense

[RealGunner]

Not impossible considering it's the EPL


Can see views go past 1b soon tbh

[rwo power]

Dunno. There are many people who only have a passing interest in football who only watch the NT while clubs are of no real interest to them.

E.g. my mom or dad would watch Germany play even in meaningless friendlies, while clubs (particularly those from other leagues) wouldn't get them in front of the TV, neither in the CL and EL nor stuff like El Clasico or whatever.

If you look at the masses that can be drawn onto the streets to watch Euro or World Cup matches in public, you will not really find that for any club matches, at least in Germany. It's probably because the NT more or less unites all club fans in many countries plus adds a lot of event fans who would probably watch other international sports events, too, just for the sake to see countries competing.

[Hapless_Hans]

Not impossible considering it's the EPL


Can see views go past 1b soon tbh

How would that be possible? Every tenth person? Including toddlers, old people, people in USA, Greenland, Bolivia, Indonesia, Mongolia? Not to mention, women? Watching United - City?

No way. Unless we can find more detailed and persuading data than a Daily Mail article I'd consider that flat out wrong and hyperbolic.

[Lucifer]

2014 world cup India Pakistan cricket match was watched by 1.1 billion viewers.

[rwo power]

@Lucifer

But this was an international match between big rivals in a population-rich country where cricket is the Nr.1 sport.

Will as many Chinese and/or Indians (for whom football is probably less important than other sports) watch a match between clubs from foreign countries?

[Hapless_Hans]

2014 world cup India Pakistan cricket match was watched by 1.1 billion viewers.

Yeah. That's surely not true either. You are seriously telling me every seventh human on the planet watched it?

India and Pakistan together have about 1.4 billion people. Given that interest elsewhere is unlikely to shore up more than a coule of hundreds of million people, are you saying practically EVERY, or three quarter, Indian watched the game? That's absolutely impossible.

[rwo power]

@Hans

I think it is possible. India has a population of 1.3 billion people and Pakistan has around 200 million people. They are big rivals, and 1.1 billion would be 73% of the population, which very well could be drawn before the TV for such a match.

Edit. I missed that in Germany it was the TV market share of 86.3% given for Germany-Brazil in the World Cup 2014, but in the above case, there are likely some other countries who are big in cricket who added to the number.

[Lucifer]

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/gallery/2015/feb/15/cricket-world-cup-india-v-pakistan-watched-by-a-billion-people-in-pictures

[Hapless_Hans]

I'm not doubting that you guys quote the numbers correctly.

I am doubting that 'estimations' by TV ratings companies or however the *bleep* they arrive at such numbers do get it anywhere near right.
Just use your common sense.

[rwo power]

It depends on which countries are involved. If you have half of Germany watching a football match, you get 41 mio people. If you have half of India and Pakistan watching a cricket match, you are already at 750 mio people.

[iftikhar]

@Lucifer

But this was an international match between big rivals in a population-rich country where cricket is the Nr.1 sport.

Will as many Chinese and/or Indians (for whom football is probably less important than other sports) watch a match between clubs from foreign countries?

Affection for football is great in this part as well, and it's been fueled by the club competition/Leagues. WC is a different matter though.

[Nivash]

NT tournaments attract casuals, CL, being a club tournament, is only watched by people who actually watch the sport on a regular basis. The numbers mean nothing in terms of quality of tournament.

As with any tournament, there are big and small teams where you can generally predict the result. The reason it only gets interesting toward the latter stages is that's when the 'best' teams are left and it's an actual matchup. That doesn't change whether it's international or domestic tournaments.

[RealGunner]

Heard Khune was immense yesterday nivash

[rincon]

Not impossible considering it's the EPL


Can see views go past 1b soon tbh

How would that be possible? Every tenth person? Including toddlers, old people, people in USA, Greenland, Bolivia, Indonesia, Mongolia? Not to mention, women? Watching United - City?

No way. Unless we can find more detailed and persuading data than a Daily Mail article I'd consider that flat out wrong and hyperbolic.

Hans is right. This is not possible at all. Since I'm bored I'll do the work. Some quick math, 7.4 billion people live in roughly. Less than 6 bn of those have access to TV, NOT internet, which is only had in about half of the world (3.5 bn people).

So, if a EPL game is to be watched by 1 billion people, you need 1 out of every 6 humans with a TV to watch it. The overwhelming majority of those 6 bn don't have channels that play the EPL. For example, in South America you need cable/satellite to be able to watch english games, which most people don't have. Now imagine that for Africa and a lot of Asia.

Then you deal with time zones, If the game is at night (GMT) then its unwatchable for most Asians unless they stay up until the morning. And if its early than its unwatchable for most Americans.

On top of that, a big part of that 6 bn are either really young or really old, so they can't/won't be watching it. Half of that, so 3 bn, are women. Club football is overwhelmingly followed by men.

So if the viewership is 70-30 men-women, and 15% of the population are either too young or old. You have 2.5 bn men and 2.5 bn women of the right age and with a tv. ~1 in 3 (28%) of these men and 1 in 5 (12%) of these women in the whole world, regardless of time zones, media availability, or interest in football or the EPL, has to be watching a game about Manchester.

Not happening.

[titosantill]

viewership numbers are usually inflated to some degree. a lot of times they are 'guestimates'. it is not uncommon for them to use rough logistics of cable providers to reach certain conclusions. the 'guestimates' also involves a bit of double counting e.g. groups of people at local pubs or open areas with a tv that may catch a game....however you hardly hear "x reporters where at y pub to calculate how many people caught today's game"

they just 'guestimate' based on already altered logistics from various cable companies around the world, population and reach some conclusion. not to mention, its also a form of marketing the games; its like how you go to a concert and promoters or whoever say something like over 50,000 people in this crowd, but you know the stadium barely holds 30,000 people....and someone's might get arrested if there r actually 50,000 people in there

but they say things like that for those viewing on tv to gain some sort of interest whether presently or future purposes

[Nivash]

Heard Khune was immense yesterday nivash

I heard so too. Apparently the guy had a bad case of diarrhea on the day. Guy got sick of taking pills that weren't helping, drank coke instead.

[Kaladin]

Wes Morgan is better than Diego Godin

[rincon]

ES pls

[rincon]

I'll give one of mine.

Nainggolan is the best player in the world in his role (B2B).

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