Zug, Switzerland, 26 June 2006 – Proof that the FIFA World Cup™ reaches far beyond the traditional male football audience in its universal appeal is confirmed by the profile of the global television audience for the first two weeks of the 2006 FIFA World Cup™ in Germany.

Almost four in 10 viewers are women. The figures reveal that an impressive 37% of the global adult audience watching the FIFA World Cup™ are women. Sponsorship Intelligence, a UK-based research driven consultancy appointed by Infront Sports & Media and FIFA Marketing & TV, has thus farcollated overnight ratings in 44 markets.

The audience in Argentina demonstrates the greatest equality – 50% of the viewers are women. This is a 13.6% percentage increase on the 44% of Argentinean women viewing the 2002 FIFA World Cup™. Indeed, evidence to date, suggests that the FIFA World Cup™ TV audiences in Latin America especially Argentina, Venezuela, Uruguay and Mexico, are more gender-balanced than in many other parts of the globe.

The Koreans continue their love affair with the FIFA World Cup™ and an impressive 45% of viewers in this country are reportedly women. This trend continues across Asia with national audiences in Singapore and Malaysia comprising 45% and 41% women respectively.
 
Host nation Germany has experienced a 17.6% percentage upsurge in the number of women viewers since the 2002 FIFA World Cup™ (40% vs. 34%) and the Netherlands (38% Women, +40.7% on 2002), Hungary (38% Women, +35.7%) and Switzerland (37% Women, +37%) also experienced substantial increases.

Across Europe – Portugal (43%), Italy (42%) and Serbia (40%) – 2006 FIFA World Cup™ broadcasts have generated significant interest from female viewers. Major football markets like the United Kingdom and Spain are not far behind, with 36% of viewers being women. In France, the figure is 34%.

In contrast, the Czech Republic and Greek FIFA World Cup™ broadcasts to-date are dominated by the Male viewers. However, women’s interest has increased by 4.3 % (24% on 23% in 2002) in the Czech Republic and 20% (24% on only 20% in 2002).

Infront is exclusively responsible for the worldwide marketing and sales of the broadcast rights to the 2006 FIFA World Cup™. It has made the event more widely available than ever before. There will be the highest number of broadcasters (more than 500) in the history of the FIFA World Cup™ and coverage provided in virtually every country of the world.
 
The Infront press kit and full lists of the broadcast partners and new media licensees for 2006 FIFA World Cup™ are available at www.infrontsports.com/press.


For further information please contact:
Jörg Polzer
Manager, Communication & PR
Infront Sports & Media AG
Event Tel. +49-(0)89-949 32 077 (until 10 July)
Event Mobile +49-(0)171-56 40 477 (until 10 July)
press@infrontsports.com
http://www.infrontsports.com/