[eMarketer] Advertisers aren’t as interested in this year’s World Cup

The 2022 FIFA World Cup kicks off this Sunday, but what was supposed to be a bright spot for brands during the advertising downturn is turning out to be a fraught event. Several factors are contributing to the soccer (or is it football?) event having less of an impact on the year’s advertising spending:

Industries are spending less money on advertising overall. Inflation and interest rate hikes combined with addressability issues in digital ads and a record number of cord-cutters have made advertisers pull back and seek other ways to connect with consumers.

This year’s World Cup has been mired in controversy for years about host country Qatar’s human rights abuses, including allegations of slave labor used to build stadiums. Those concerns have caused athletes and consumers to protest and boycott the event—and brands don’t want to be associated with the negativity.

According to eMarketer, The World Cup has historically been a major advertising event, and recent ad industry troubles have proven the resiliency of sports broadcasting as a safe bet. But the combination of factors has weakened the World Cup’s influence this year.

Read the full eMarketer article here

www.emarketer.com