The World Cup draws massive coverage from around the world and Yahoo is planing on putting out new content to match the demand. The content will both cover regular web and mobile elements, with fantasy games, coverage from South Africa and new search tools for over 20 countries.
Users can receive news, scores and schedules via the downloadable Yahoo toolbar, which can be customized with a theme of any of the 32 national teams participating. A full team of sportswriters will be following the event and a “World Soccer Roundup” video will recap daily stories.
Fans from 22 countries can choose the winners of every game and face off with others in a virtual penalty kick shoot-out. The winner of the shoot-out will receive a Yahoo Sports Pass that will provide tickets to any four top sporting events in the world per year for the next four years.
Yahoo will also launch its mobile site for the World Cup later this month. Including scores, news and player profiles, this companion site will be available in 40 markets across 13 languages and support over 4,500 types of devices.
Additionally, Yahoo will hold World Cup events in Brazil, France, Germany, Italy, Korea, Indonesia, Spain, and the United Kingdom with many famous goalkeepers on hand. The special events will have co-branding ad opportunities in addition to the online ad options.
While Yahoo will be making a play to attract the U.S. market, the international audience that helped them beat ESPN and NBC’s online Olympic coverage with 32 million viewers over 17 days is hoped to show up again. With ticket, hotel and airline sales to South Africa lower than expected, there could be an even larger audience online.
Source: MediaPost
