World Cup hydration breaks draw boos and tactical pauses in Monterrey match
Caught some World Cup commentary this morning and I‘m surprised to hear reporters referring to FIFA‘s ad breaks as ‘hydration breaks‘. We all know they aren‘t about hydration, drinking a bottle of water does not take three minutes. Shame journalists are buying-in to the bullshit.
Johno17Blatant gaslighting, and most commentators go along with it. At least the fans are booing it while shameless Infantino watches on.
Greg Tuck12They also ruin the flow of the game. FIFA are a cancer on football.
Neil Gilbert8Thankfully, our commercial station (ITV - UK) doesn’t show adverts during these breaks. It does mean we have more time to listen to their super-knowledgeable pundits.🙄
fizz56.bsky.social7And some suggesting football should be 4 quarters - horror of horrors! I hate what USA and FIFA have done
macneirr.bsky.social6Yesterday during a game the ref signalled to players they can’t go to sideline to get water during an injury. For me I’m asking ref what rule allows him to stop me from moving about field? Seconds later there was a hydration break and everyone went to sideline for water. On its face ridiculous.
Matthew Newell 🇺🇦5The "hydration breaks" also happen in an air conditioned stadium.
@lowcarbondave4BBC has started calling them commercial breaks and taking the piss out of fifa for doing it.
Richard Webb4It's a fizzy piss plugging break. Appreciate the crowds booing it
Boo4And it’s being spun that all matches have them (including air con matches) so it is fair on all teams🤡🤑
Anth3The problem is, now the precedent has been set, they will almost certainly try the same thing at the next WC in Spain, Portugal and Morocco claiming heat, but even if that is repelled, it's guaranteed that the following one in Saudi will already have agreed to it. All that lovely ad revenue.
bass67.bsky.social2It's American shittification of sports and turning it into a huge advertising opportunity. As a European basketball fan I'm very concerned about the creation NBA Europe and ruining European top level basketball in the process. Sure FIBA is corrupt too but at least the games do not have ad breaks.
Stagger McTipsy, AKA Captain Awesome Motherfucker2They should just be honest and call it what it is -- a commercial break. There's nothing wrong with honesty.
Mike McGunigle2I usually enjoy the World Cup and try to watch as many games as possible. This time round I've not watched one match and have no intention of watching any. Fuck Trump and the Brown noses at FIFA.
There’s never been a World Cup with this much in-game commercialization. Mandatory commercial, er, hydration breaks each half. Meanwhile, the USMNT has never played better. We can only conclude that Americans are most culturally suited to sports with in-game commercials. We have a huge advantage.
Norm Charlatan145The idea of the last two minutes of a sporting event taking 30 minutes would break the European brain. We need to embrace it. This is our culture.
treb22We are a water bottle nation. Keep filling and cleaning those bottles, folks
Jeffrey Keese8We simply needed to play four quarters
Thomas7You merely adopted advertising. We were born to it, molded by it. We didn't see a non-commercial public message until we were already men
Flaming Snowball7Super hard to argue! Though, I will say the European feed — which does not cut to commercials during hydration breaks — spent a decent part of the TUR-PAR game talking about how the Seahawks won the Super Bowl in the stadium the game was being played at... …which sort of bolsters your point.
area man6it’s simple if you can’t adapt to the game, adapt the game to you
G. Willow Wilson5You jest, but there may honestly be something to this
d-d-jones.bsky.social4American football is like work; a brief flurry of activity is followed by a meeting, repeat.
NEW: I spoke to a number of sports media executives and soccer on-air talent about the World Cup hydration breaks. Everyone believes they are here to stay. The money is too great for the host broadcasters/FIFA to pass up. STORY: cbc.ca/sports/socce...
Brian Broadus9If the Premier League tries this there will be riots. I guarantee it.
Wally Thinks6Let’s ruin a great thing
Eric4If they try it in Germany or France, the pitch will be covered with tennis balls from the fans. They can get away with it in America because of how submissive Americans are to the whims of the rich.
Richard Cohen2I'm sure it's varying around the world, but interesting element over here is that even for the half of games that are on a commercial channel they're not showing ads during those breaks. Just chatting and analysis. Oh and the fans hate them. So we'll see.
I’ve reached 'grumpy old man' stage and prepared to hate this World Cup. So far its been better than I expected (hydration breaks apart). Entertaining games, and plenty of goals. Even our American cousins are into it (now the Knicks have won) And whisper it, England might have a sniff of a chance!
Wiz Ball8I really wish they'd stop hosting World Cups I'm morally reprehensible countries. Sure puts a dampener on things.
Steel City Vegan3I hate to say it, me too. Turkey v Paraguay while not really a hot pick was just end to end, two teams going for it entertainment. Feels like its been on for weeks though.
🇱🇻 Gez Campbell-Smith 🇱🇻3If the hydration could instead be cheese breaks, brought to them by uniformed butlers, that would be much more fun. First half would be cheeses from one of the competing nations, second half the other. Then, in the knockout stage, in the event of a draw after extra time, it goes to cheese judges.
Graham🎶2Agree, Richard. Particularly some of the lower profile matches like Uzbekistan v Colombia and Iran v New Zealand - proper end-to-end stuff! ⚽️
