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The 2010 World Cup

Lord Blackadder said:
So, the word is that the World Cup earned FIFA a cool $2 billion. :eek: Most of that was earned by having Pakistanis make Jabulanis for next to nothing and shutting local African businessmen out of any sort of WC advertising. Yay FIFA. :rolleyes:



Columbus are my "local" team, being about 2.5 hours away from my ancestral Blackadder manor. The USA national squad is my top team to support, followed by Columbus. Liverpool is the team I follow in Europe. So I am a bit of football polygamist. :D
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cool. and you've got nothing on me when it comes to football and polygamy. ;)

shame about fifa/WC and cheating the locals out of revenue... :mad:
 
Fuzzy14 said:
There, fixed that for you. Taking my boys to St Andrews tomorrow.:) 60 GBP for me to get in but the boys get in for free. They are pestering me to take them to a football match but I think it'll cost me a bit more than that for a mere 90 minutes.

I think the R&A have really got their juvenile policy right, take note football associations. 6 British Players in the worlds top 11 (or 5/10)?
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That's great you got to take your kids to Teh Open™.;) Where was everybody? It didn't look there were hardly any spectators. I know it wasn't the most competitive Major, but still, it's a Major...

BTW, that is a great policy, letting the kids in for free. Wish more sporting events would be more flexible with pricing for children. Ticketing is limited, sure, but a family atmosphere is much better in the long run for a team's or venue's financial interests.
 
Tilpots said:
That's great you got to take your kids to Teh Open™.;) Where was everybody? It didn't look there were hardly any spectators. I know it wasn't the most competitive Major, but still, it's a Major...

BTW, that is a great policy, letting the kids in for free. Wish more sporting events would be more flexible with pricing for children. Ticketing is limited, sure, but a family atmosphere is much better in the long run for a team's or venue's financial interests.
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I'm sorry, I'll stop hijacking this thread in just a minute, but I did notice the attendance was visibly down on the last time I was at StA, probably the weather. However although the main stand was empty, the 'loop' (holes 8-12) was really busy which I found odd.

I do remember Scotland once ran a policy of free entry for kids without adults if they applied in advance (but only at matches they didn't expect to sell out), however the atmosphere at the matches just sounded wrong, more like a school playground. There's probably a balance to struck somewhere.
 
I just had to add something here just so that the WC thread would not end with a discussion of golf. :D

The 2010 World Cup netted FIFA a sackload of cash, and left opinions on vuvuzelas as divided afterwards as they were before the tournament.

But the most important thing I learned from this World Cup: Spain have proved that a slick passing game can also be boring. In other words, possession football is not inherently fun to watch.
 
Totally agree your Lordship. Incidentally, the reason teh openship is held at StA every 5 years is because the R&A make more profit there than anywhere else.

Now that FIFA have got their token African cup out of the way, what's the chances the next World Cup will be in more profitable domains for the next two decades? (I'm pretty sure $2b won't cut it in their eyes) I'm betting the next world cups will be in South America (odds on really :rolleyes:), Europe (probably England), USA then either China or Australia.

Please explain in which way opinions on vuvuzelas were divided? I thought it was unanimous?
 
I think the USA bid is a strong contender. Infrastructure is not a problem, and it would be profitable. If it happens I will put my life on hold for a month....

I wonder what FIFA thinks of the joint bids...UEFA certainly doesn't like them.

Fuzzy14 said:
Please explain in which way opinions on vuvuzelas were divided? I thought it was unanimous?
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Well, the media seem to nearly unanimously dislike them, but most of the real human beings I've talked to who have experienced them in person don't mind them that much.

I will admit it is very annoying when they get blown in your ear. But in a stadium with a few hundred going off I find it adds to the atmosphere if anything, and a few pundits have expressed the same opinion.

They don't sound as good over TV though.
 
My main vuvuzela-based complaint is that they create a wall of sound – unlike singing or chanting there's no real indication of which team they're being blown in support of.

With singing there's an exchange between the two sets of supporters going back and forth throughout the match – but this can be very easily drowned out by enough vuvuzelas being blown hard enough, as we saw during the World Cup when all you could hear during many games were the horns.

I think talk of a ban on vuvuzelas for the World Cup was silly – although they're a relatively new introduction, they're none the less part of the football culture in South Africa so if everyone's going to harp on about the colourful local support you have to take the vuvuzelas as part of that. But as much as the vuvuzela is part of the game in South Africa (and certain other regions) chants and songs are an equally strong part of European football culture. If we're going to (quite rightly) defend the rights of South Africans to enjoy the game as they see fit then I think it's only right and proper that what makes the atmosphere of a European match unique be preserved and respected too. For this reason I'm not keen on the idea of them becoming popular here.

There's also the fact that I can guarantee the first person to start blowing one would be the bloody kid who sits behind me. :p
 
Good point - but I have an easy solution. Each different team gets a vuvuzela of a different length, tuned to a different note. :D

No confusion, that way. ;)
 
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