December 28th, 2022, YouGov
YouGov SportsIndex, which captures data on a variety of sports properties across several metrics, allows us to examine the brand perception and consumer performance of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar against its previous edition, which was held in Russia.
Our data reveals that while the Qatar edition had a slightly negative brand perception, that might not have kept fans away from the world’s most popular single-sport event.
The below line chart captures Buzz score data starting from a month before the commencement of each World Cup to the end date of each tournament.
FIFA World Cup’s Buzz score is a net measure based on responses to two questions: “Over the past two weeks, which of the following sports properties have you heard something positive about?” and “Now which of the following sports properties have you heard something negative about?”. By calculating the difference between these two scores, we create our Buzz metric.
The analysis shows that the FIFA World Cup in Russia was generating a greater proportion of positive headlines and talking points both in the leadup to and during the World Cup. Buzz scores for the 2018 edition, 30 days out from the start date, stood at -0.9 but rose sharply and continuously thereon to reach 39.5 on the final date of the tournament – 15th July 2018. Qatar actually went the other way during the lead up to the tournament. Scores slipped from -4.6 a month before the start date to -22.2 on the twelfth day of the event, amid headlines about Qatar’s human rights record. But from there, scores began to rise sharply, resting at -4.7 on the day of the final on December 18.
In the US, Buzz scores did not decline at all from October 20 this year to the end of the World Cup, but growth was much slower compared to 2018. Scores rose only to a modest 10.2 on the final day of the 2022 World Cup vs 20.2 at the end of the 2018 Russia edition.
Impression scores among UK adults logged a similar trajectory to the Buzz metric. It plunged from 1.4 on October 20 this year to -22.9 on December 2, before bouncing back somewhat to -12.3 on December 18. A month out from the 2018 edition in Russia, scores stood at 4.8 rising steadily to 29.8 as of the France-Croatia final on July 15.
Did this hit to brand perception scores also impact viewership of the tournament? Not one bit, our Current Customer data shows. Current Customer scores reveal the share of consumers who say they have watched a sporting event in the past year. The Current Customer scores for the two FIFA World Cups capture responses of UK adults from the start date to the end date of the respective editions.
Over two-fifths of UK adults (43%) watched Russia 2018, and that share rose marginally for the Qatar event, with an average of 45% indicating so between kick-off (November 20) to the final (December 18).
What makes this more impressive is the fact that Premier League fans were upset about the World Cup interrupting the Premier League season.
In the US, the growth in Current Customer scores was more pronounced. Where 16% of US adults said they followed the FIFA World Cup during the course of the 2018 World Cup, but that share rose to 20% this time around.
These figures reflect a type of loyalty that is unique to strong sports properties. Consumers who are upset about other types of discretionary products or services might likely stop using them, even if only temporarily. But sports properties, especially those with long-standing fan-bases, can easily withstand brief declines in consumer perceptions.
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Methodology: YouGov SportsIndex collects data on every major club. Buzz score is based on the questions: “Over the past two weeks, which of the following sports properties have you heard something positive about?” and “Now which of the following sports properties have you heard something negative about?” and delivered as a net score between –100 and +100. Scores for the 2018 FIFA World Cup are based on an average daily sample size of 1,621 UK adults May 14, 2018 – July 15, 2018. Scores for the 2022 FIFA World Cup are based on an average daily sample size of 1,117 UK adults October 20, 2022 – December 18, 2022.
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