- Soccer is a social experience for Indians – watched with family, friends, work colleagues
- Coca Cola & Adidas are most recalled sponsors for FIFA World Cup 2018
New Delhi:As the month-long global football event of FIFA World Cup 2018 kicks off from June 14, the excitement among Indians is quite palpable. 83% Indians claim to be aware of the upcoming global event, to be held in Russia.And 85 per cent Indians claim to be watching soccer–31% call themselves passionate football follower, 28% follow football/ soccer but watch matches of their favourite teams and league and 26% claim to be watching occasionally. Only 15% claimed to be non-watchers of the game.
Interestingly,Football is leveraged as a social experience by Indians; 88% Indians say that they will catch the world cup action with friends and/ or family. And 69% will watch the football World Cup matches with work colleagues. 62% say they will go to a bar or restaurant to catch some part of the World Cup action.
“While the Indian soccer squad is not a part of the 32 countries that have qualified for the FIFA World Cup 2018 tournament (India is placed 97 in FIFA Ranking), yet there is a high level of buzz among Indians for the FIFA world cup. FIFA World Cup unites the world to cheer and support their favourite team or player and experience magic of the global extravaganza. The event is more than just a sporting event and every four years there is a novelty factor with a new theme, anthem and much razzmatazz every time,” says Rinku Patnaik, Chief Client Officer, Ipsos India.
Where will Indians be catching the Football World Cup 2018 sweepstakes?
The big screen is still the most preferred medium for watching with 6 in 10 Indians (62%) claiming to catch the FIFA world cup on Television. The newer mediums like online and handheld devices like mobile, ipads and tablets is also on the rise with 45% said that they will watch it on internet, 32 % will use their mobile and 15% will follow the FIFA event on their ipads and Tablets.
Real Passion means: missing work, buying fan merchandise, carrying luck charms
Indians’ passion for soccer goes so far that five in ten (51%) say they will miss work and school to watch this World Cup (highest globally), with Turkey (46%) and the US (46%) close on the heels.
And 64% Indians say they will splurge on the FIFA World Cup merchandise and themed products; The Chinese (68%) and Malaysians (64%) too going to loosen their purse strings for fan merchandise.
Superstitious Indians – six in ten say(63%) will keep a good luck charm with them, when the matches are on.
Favourite Squads of FIFA 2018
We asked Indians to predict the Winner and Runner Upfor this year’s tournament of FIFA World Cup.
For winner–Indians predict Brazil will lift the trophy – Brazil (22%), Argentina (14%) and Germany (13%), among others. Likewise,for runner-up, Indians chose Brazil (13%), Germany (12%) and Argentina (12%), among others.
FIFA World Cup 2018 Partners & Key Sponsors
Indians were found to be quite brand aware of the partners and sponsors of FIFA World Cup 2018. Interestingly, they mentioned Coca Cola (70%), Adidas (67%), Hyundai(57%), McDonald’s (57%), Vivo (46%), Budweiser(33%), and for other brands awareness and association was low.
High approval rating by Indians for the host country Russia& FIFA
Playing host to the mega event of the FIFA World Cup 2018 is seen to be having a positive rub off on Russia’s image. 86% Indians think better of Russia as a country for hosting the World Cup 2018. And 86% Indians feel that the World Cup will be beneficial to the citizens of Russia. Further, 84% Indians have shown confidence in the security arrangement done by Russia and are confident that the World Cup will be safe for the visitors. A whopping 86% Indians believe that Russia will be a successful venue host for the World Cup games. 80% Indians feel that the emphasis is more on Corporate Sponsorship than individual sportsmanship. At the same time funding is important. Notably, 78% Indians believe that theorganizing and preparations for the World Cup is free from any hanky panky or corruption. 82% Indians believe that it is safe for Indian fans to travel to Russia to catch the World Cup tournaments live.
A significant 86% Indians have shown their confidence in FIFA’s ethos and ability to work in the best interest of the game of Football and for its ardent fans.
Global attitudes towards the FIFA World Cup 2018 in Russia
- Worldwide, more than two in ten respondents, who are aware of the FIFA World Cup 2018, believe that Germany will take home the Cup. Brazil, Spain and Argentina are also among the favourites.
- Overall, people have predominantly positive opinions about the games being held in Russia.
- Russians show little interest in football. Less than one out of ten Russians consider themselves as passionate football followers.
- Watching World Cup Football is a social experience: more than eight in ten will watch the games with family and/or friends.
- The majority, or six in ten, will watch games on a TV set, whilst a quarter will follow the football on the internet.
- Real fans: Globally nearly one in four state they will miss work or school during the tournament.
Television sets are the most popular media devices to watch the Football World Cup
Despite the ongoing digitalization of everyday live, television sets remain the most popular media devices to watch the World Cup in 2018. Globally, more than six in ten viewers (62%) will use a television set to follow the tournament, while one quarter of the respondents (25%) who plan to watch the event will use the Internet to do so. Mobile devices (13%), tablet devices (8%) and the radio (6%) are less popular. Television sets and the radio appear to be particularly popular in Latin American countries like Peru (85% and 15% respectively), whereas the Chinese and Indians are, from all respondents, most likely to use the Internet (47% and 45%), mobile devices (24% and 32%) and tablet devices (22% and 15%).
