This summer, millions of people will be able to see Russia from their house — or just about anywhere else, including Alaska. The FIFA World Cup, one of the most-watched sporting events on Earth, will be held in 11 cities in the world’s largest country from June 14 to July 15.
Social and broadcast networks are on the alert, seizing the quadrennial opportunity to grow ad revenue and brand awareness.
Four years ago, the World Cup drew a TV audience of about 3.2 billion people, with 280 million watching the action in Brazil online or on mobile devices. Nearly 700 million tweets were sent out, and the record-breaking Brazil-Germany semifinal game is still the most-tweeted sports event in history, with 35.6 million tweets.