Soccer: Cup viewers exit with England

By LOUISA CLEAVE

Television executives felt the blow of England's exit from the World Cup as much as the fans.

Ratings rose when England took the field but when they lost in the quarterfinals not even victorious Brazil could whip up the same audience on the final's night.

The final between Brazil and Germany, at 11pm, attracted fewer than half the viewers who watched the quarterfinal.

A combined audience of 322,000 watched the final, made up of 39,000 people on Sky's sport and soccer channels and 283,000 watching on TV One.

England's loss to Brazil in the quarter-final attracted 676,000 viewers - 251,000 on Sky and 425,000 on TV One. The game screened at 6.30pm.

Despite the ratings downturn, which the networks attributed to the different start times, sports bosses at Sky and TVNZ said they were happy with the overall audience numbers.

A Sky spokeswoman said audience expectations were not high for the weekday games, usually starting after 11pm, "unless perhaps England had made a semifinal".

TVNZ's head of sport, Denis Harvey, said the England matches had lifted ratings.

"The public take on a favourite and England always seem to be the favourite."

Last year's Census showed about 195,000 people were born in England.

Mr Harvey said the soccer ratings would never compare with other major sporting events, such as the Rugby World Cup, Netball World Cup or the Olympics.

Auckland pubs popular with fans during the tournament also noticed a drop in numbers for the final - and some bars missed out altogether on the last dose of action because they could not stay open past midnight on Sunday.

Staff at the Mad Dogs and Englishmen pub in Auckland City said between 200 and 300 people watched the final - compared with the 1000 at England's quarterfinal.

Sports bar Leftfield had 400 people in for the final, although a bar worker said bigger crowds turned out when England had played.

Fans who watched the final at the Safari Lounge in Ponsonby Rd could not keep their jubilation inside the bar when Ronaldo lifted the cup.

Hundreds moved into the street and blocked traffic in both directions until police arrived, taking a light-hearted approach to the disorder.

nzherald.co.nz/fifaworldcup

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