A lot of focus will be on those who can't wait for the World Cup — the fans who've had the date circled for months. But what about the people who will also be watching reluctantly?
The stereotype, of course, is the spouse on the sofa who lost the battle for the remote. Their other half and kids are glued to the 4K screen. They're curled up at the other end, half-watching, scrolling through their phone, waiting for something else to catch their eye.
But as GWI's latest report shows, the reluctant fan turns out to be one of the most commercially interesting people in the room.
They're mostly Gen X, 55% female, and more curious about the world than you'd expect — 19% more likely than average to be interested in other cultures, 24% more likely to engage with foreign languages. For them, the World Cup isn't really about football. It's Brazil's yellow shirts. It's the Spanish commentary drifting from a neighbour's window. It's the different national flags draped from houses in the area. It's the collective roar of a packed pub when a team scores.
They're not soccer purists but they still engage with the World Cup, just differently. While the game is on, the Reluctant Fan is 18% more likely than average to be searching for products related to what they're watching, 13% more likely to be on social media, and 18% more likely to look something up mid-match.
The person in the room who looks least like your World Cup target audience may be the one most likely to act on what they see — and to do it in-game. Turning 90 minutes of soccer into 90 minutes of shopping and browsing.
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