Recommendations of the Editorial team
Where are you watching the first Germany game? In the garden with friends or in Jürgen’s corner pub? In any case, it most likely won’t be at a public viewing event. Because interest in such events is limited. No less than two large cities in Germany have decided to organize a public viewing: Hanover and Dortmund. In Dortmund, people don’t know what to do without football – but many people were still surprised that there is no fan mile in Berlin and no LEDs are set up in Frankfurt am Main. The anticipation for this World Cup is particularly great. Entry bans for Iran, water cannons on Mexico’s fan miles and poorly irrigated playing areas make this World Cup in Qatar a crowd favorite. So why is it really that no one is cursing Cucurella on the streets of our cities this year?
Problem #1: Kick-off times
With game times from 6:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m., you’d have to take a trip through Frankfurt’s snow-covered financial district to see all the games while still doing your work during the day. If you don’t want to consume external substances to boost the economy of the host country, Mexico, you’ll probably be better off sticking to the early evening games. Germany’s kick-off times of 7:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m. in the group phase would not result in any obvious disruption to everyday life – and yet there is still no great interest.
Problem #2: The economics
In contrast to the home European Championships in 2024, interest is pretty low. Fan miles are simply not financially viable through a few Germany games, and in addition to calls for a boycott, the fixtures are more at regional league level thanks to the team expansion from 32 to 48 teams. As much as thousands of fans would have liked to gather for the game between Congo and Uzbekistan, the kick-off time of 1:30 a.m. prevented this from happening. In addition, Telekom alone has secured all transmission rights, which makes licensing more expensive.
The solution: private providers and beer gardens
From the small parish festival in Obertshausen to the huge screen in the center at Potsdamer Platz – the German games in particular are shown by private providers. There are definitely public viewings in your own city, you just have to look for them. Instead of official major events, private operators across Germany will expect many fans, and mostly free of charge. Although these offers must be approved by the city, thanks to special regulations they are allowed to broadcast games until 10:00 p.m.
So pull out your Germany jersey and watch eleven millionaires beat Curaçao.