Streaming services see big surge in usage in the first week of the World Cup 2022

Despite a somewhat slow start in terms of viewership numbers compared with the previous World Cup, the first week of Qatar 2022 has seen a massive surge in usage amongst providers with streaming rights to the matches — yet one more piece of evidence for the massive engagement potential of live sports streaming.

We looked at engagement data for a selection of NPAW clients from around the world and identified a 290% increase in the average daily number of plays for the first week of the tournament compared with the daily average for the 15 days before, with some individual streaming services experiencing an increase of plays of up to 570% during peak days when their countries’ teams played.

The average daily playtime for the first week of the World Cup saw a similar boost (+294%) when compared with the average for the previous 15 days, with individual services seeing an increase of up to 718% in daily playtime during peak days coinciding with matches of their national teams.

Both the average daily number of plays and the average playtime increased significantly throughout the week after a lukewarm first day, with the average daily number of plays for Sunday, November 27 being 166% higher than that of the opening day and the average daily playtime registering a 207% increase for the same period.

These figures clearly show a growing interest among fans as the focus shifts away from the off-field controversies that marked the beginning of the tournament.

Hungry for more insights? We will be closely monitoring how the streaming audience’s response to the World Cup evolves. Stay tuned for more analysis blogs in the coming weeks. NPAW