Bobby Boucher may understand. Few others do.
Midway through the first half of the U.S. vs. Australia World Cup match at not-Lumen Field, the whistle blew. The boos could be heard in the background as Fox went to commercial.
It was the latest World Cup “hydration break” — a made-up abomination aimed at giving the network televising the games a way to make some money by running some ads.
Fox reportedly is making $250 million during the hydration breaks. Which offsets more than half of the reported $485 million rights fee for the entire 104-match tournament.
Via Sports Business Journal, fans at the matches have not been thrilled with the pauses in the two 45-minute halves of action. In Dallas, loud booing “rained down from the stands” during the breaks in Croatia vs. England. It also happened in Toronto for Ghana vs. Panama and in Boston during Norway vs. Iraq.
The breaks are happening in every match. The teams are taking advantage of the opportunity to regroup and adjust, if needed.
Still, many think the break isn’t needed. Especially when the conditions don’t make it necessary.
