Berlin, July 09: World Cup organisers expect Sunday's final between Italy and France to draw a worldwide audience of more than one billion viewers.
"The TV rights have been sold to 200 countries," Wolfgang Niersbach, vice president of the local organising committee, said today. "I think 207 contracts have been signed. That's more than the UN has countries."
The U.S. Census Bureau estimates the current world population at 6.5 billion. The United Nations, meanwhile, has 191 member countries.
The cumulative audience is expected to exceed 30 billion.
The 2002 tournament in Japan and South Korea drew a cumulative TV audience of 28.8 billion in 213 countries, with 1.1 billion watching the final, according to FIFA. That was down from 33.4 billion at France 98, most likely due to the time difference in Asia.
FIFA sold the TV rights for the tournament for 1.5 billion swiss francs (euro956 million, USD 1.22 billion).
Niersbach said there will be more than 3,000 journalists at Olympic Stadium to see the final between France and Italy: 1,800 print, 1,000 TV and radio, and 300 photographers. There will also be 66,000 fans at the game.
In total, the tournament has drawn 21,000 media. Niersbach says he believes the event can handle no more, although he acknowledged that decision rests with FIFA.
Bureau Report
