FIFA’s big experiment may have made the World Cup too big for its own good
MANCHESTER, England (AP) — A supersized World Cup with more teams, more games and even more host nations than ever before leaves a big question hanging over the biggest sporting show on earth: How much is too much? The latest edition of the World Cup — co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico — will push the boundaries of how far the most popular sport on the planet can go before it reaches breaking point. Be it the limits of physical endurance as top players threaten strike action over an ever-congested calendar, the attention span of fans in an age of seemingly wall-to-wall televised soccer or the exorbitant prices people are prepared to pay for tickets — or even parking — the pressure points are numerous going into the June-July tournament.
With an expanded 48-team format — up from 32 — played out over nearly six weeks, some say this year's tournament risks a dilution of FIFA's most prized product. “I personally think it’s kind of taken a little bit of the excitement and quality away from the tournament and it’s almost like it doesn’t start until the round of 32,” former U. S.
forward Clint Dempsey told The Associated Press. The expanded format has effectively removed the chance of several top teams being drawn in the same group — known as a “group of death” in soccer vernacular. Much of the jeopardy traditionally seen in the early stages of the tournament has been removed until the round of 16 because the eight best third place teams also advance from the groups the round of 32.
“I think the biggest danger is dilution of spectacle," said Jonathan Wilson, author of The Power and the Glory: A New History of the World Cup. "Maybe FIFA gets away with it this time because it’s the first expanded tournament and because ticket prices are enormous. But eventually broadcasters and fans may stop caring if the tournament doesn’t become interesting until the last 16,” Wilson said.
“A World Cup game should feel almost must-watch... Nobody is watching 90 out of 104 games. It’s just too much.
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