The 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup came to a spectacular end last Sunday with the U.S. Women’s team triumphantly winning over Japan and the Fox Network winning with ratings. A record breaking 25.4 million viewers tuned in to the final match making it the most watched U.S. soccer game of all time. This, combined with an estimated $26 million in advertising revenue for Fox and Fox Sports 1, should dispel any remaining doubts about Fox’s decision to partner with FIFA.
The U.S. Women’s Team and Fox certainly came out on top, but how did the advertisers do? Of the 286 brands that advertised across 2,418 commercials, only a few rose to the top of our performance rankings. Let’s take a look at the stats:
Takeaways
Based on our data, most brand performance seemed to remain stable throughout the final half of the games. Nationwide maintained their spot as the biggest spender, earning a solid 12.56 percent Digital Share of Voice for their money. While Fiat continued to outrank them in engagement. “Blue Pill” accounted for 6.21 percent of the total spend on the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup, but generated over 20 percent of the total digital engagement. It appears that when advertising during the Women’s World Cup, higher spend doesn’t always make for better performance.
One notable change since our last post was Nike’s meteoric rise in engagement. After appearing nowhere near the top of our list during the first weeks, Nike earned an 18 percent Digital SOV with their soccer themed spot, “American Woman” and with it, the rank of number two most engaging ad. The commercial aired only four times during the course of the games making the leap a particularly impressive one.
Conclusion
The future is looking bright for Fox Sports renewed association with fútbol. In the face of some initial skepticism, its continued support of the beautiful-game has paid off brilliantly. All-time highs in viewership and soccer’s growing popularity in the U.S. make its decision to broadcast the next four World Cups seem like a stroke of genius. Advertisers who aired during the Women’s World Cup also saw the benefits, earning impressively high levels of engagement with their ads, and unprecedented viewership. Check back with iSpot.tv for more real-time statistics and national advertising insights.