The beIN MEDIA GROUP has smashed new records after releasing figures showing that it has received over a billion cumulative views of the opening ceremony across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region on its flagship beIN SPORTS – a whopping 113 percent increase from the FIFA World Cup Russia 2018.
beIN – MENA CEO Mohammad Al-Subaie commented on the whopping success, saying: “We are not surprised that the first World Cup in the Middle East is shattering regional viewership records with more than one billion cumulative views of the opening ceremony and first 16 matches. Football fans across the Arab World are some of the most passionate in the world, and we are delighted to be screening the tournament across the region as we continue to inspire, educate, and entertain as the tournament’s Official Broadcaster in MENA.”
Data from IPSOS shows that 111.7 million viewers from the MENA tuned in to the opening ceremony – representing 31 percent of the adult population across all 24 countries of the region.
Group by group breakdown
And the 16 group stage matches saw 900 million viewers tune in, with the total numbers were divided based on the eight groups of players for the matches:
- Group A
Up to 99.2 million watched the opening match between Qatar and Ecuador while 44.6 million watched the Netherlands’ victory against Senegal.
- Group B
Iran’s defeat to England was watched by more than 80.7 million viewers and 26.5 million watched Wales 1-1 draw with the US.
- Group C
Up to 99.3 million viewers tuned in for Saudi Arabia‘s 2-1 comeback win against Argentina, while 30.7 million people saw Poland and Mexico tie 0-0.
- Group D
Tunisia’s stalemate against Denmark was seen by 63.4 million people while 71.9 million watched France defend its championship title with a 4-1 win against Australia.
- Group E
Japan’s shock 2-1 win against Germany was viewed by 82.2 million people while 52.4 million stayed for Spain’s 7-0 sweep against Costa Rica.
- Group F
Around 57.2 million witnessed Morocco’s stalemate against Croatia, and 26.7 million viewed Canada’s 1-0 defeat to Belgium.
- Group G
Up to 95.6 million viewers tuned in to see Brazil defeat Serbia 2-0, in the third most-watched game. However only 11.1 million saw Switzerland’s close 1-0 match against Cameroon.
- Group H
A total of 64.9 million watched Cristiano Ronaldo become the first player to score at five FIFA World Cups, with Portugal beating Ghana by 3-2 while 8.1 million watched Uruguay’s 0-0 draw against South Korea.
Social media sensation
Social media data for this year’s world cup is even more impressive – data from beIN revealed that social media reactions from November 20-27 were up to 1.7 billion, seven times more the 235 million from the FIFA World Cup Russia 2018.
The total amount of beIN online video posts were viewed over 330 million times, triple that of the 121 million from 2018’s world cup.
