Play-by-play: Why you should live blog the 2022 FIFA World Cup
The countdown is on for the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Football fans over the world rejoice, uniting in the excitement of competition and appreciation of the Beautiful Game, and sports journalists and media companies get a golden opportunity to engage readers in new ways.
From 20 November – 18 December, the world’s football teams will convene in Qatar – the first time the event will be held in the Middle East – vying for the World Cup title. As one of the most popular sporting events in the world, the World Cup offers unprecedented potential for reaching more people across the globe on more devices and mediums.
According to FIFA, the 2022 World Cup is expected to be watched by five billion people around the world, far surpassing the record 3.5 billion who tuned in to see Russia host the 2018 World Cup. And with the marked increase in viewership, the thirst for information and analysis in other formats follows. Media companies, whether they are sports-focused or not, will want to capitalize on the action. One way to break through the noise and reach users is through live blogging.
Make your World Cup coverage unmissable: Live blogging for instant coverage
Watching a match is one thing, but being able to follow along with live multimedia updates – to augment the viewing experience, to recap the experience, or to provide play-by-play insight for fans who can’t watch the match, live blogging is the next best thing to being there.
With live online coverage, journalists can post about changes in the score, player injuries, important statistics, and more – in seconds. Live blogs can easily be enriched with images and videos as well as updates from social media.
A live blog can be much more than just an account of what happens – a source of further information, an interactive component to game viewing, and a tool for driving more interest, engagement and stickiness. After all, not every moment of a football match is action-packed, and half-time is a chance to keep fans hooked with valuable content.
The hat-trick opportunity: Score with live blogging as your star player
- Monetize – Ads and subscriptions, new streams of revenue (premium liveblogs, ads, sponsorship)
- Engagement – Deepen existing, build new relationships
- Traffic – Reach new audiences
If you are ready to reap the benefits of live blogging not just for the World Cup but for all the major sporting events year-round, get in touch with us or download our new e-book to learn more.
