Fox is "off to a fast start on sales" for inventory around the '15 FIFA Women's World Cup, helped by "a powerhouse U.S. squad, a surge of interest in soccer and a viewer-friendly time-zone arrangement," according to Anthony Crupi of AD AGE. Fox Sports Media Group Exec VP/Sales Neil Mulcahy said that the enthusiasm for the event "is unprecedented, as inventory is being gobbled up by automotive, QSR, movies and insurance brands." Crupi reported more than 20 advertisers "have signed on" thus far, with Nationwide and Fiat among the "more visible advertisers." Nationwide will be the "pre-game sponsor of each of the 52 matches, of which 16 will air on the Fox broadcast network." Fox Sports VP/Ad Sales Mike Petruzzi said that the net has "landed Fiat as the sponsor of its nightly recap, 'World Cup Tonight,' but is still looking for a marketer to make a similar stake in its bridge show." Petruzzi said that "some 'non-traditional' players (grooming and personal-care brands, essentially) owned by Unilever and Procter & Gamble also have bought time in and around the WWC." He added that Fox has "had 'great success' in lining up the support of many of the 15 official sponsors of U.S. Soccer, a group that includes snack giant Mondelēz, Budweiser, Coca-Cola, Chevrolet and Johnson & Johnson." Ad buyers said that there "have been no indications that secured sponsors had any inclination to cancel or otherwise pull back on their commitments to the WWC" after the arrests of FIFA execs this week on corruption charges. Meanwhile, Crupi noted Fox is "supplementing its own in-house promotion with a national TV buy across four male-skewing cable networks" -- Discovery Channel, History, Comedy Central and Spike. Fox also will "air a co-branded spot for Marvel's upcoming 'Fantastic Four' reboot that will feature members of Team USA and another promo that piggybacks onto the June 12 release of 'Jurassic World'" (ADAGE.com, 5/28).
THEY'RE IN THE GAME: NBCSPORTS.com's Jeff Kassouf noted women's national soccer teams will be included in EA Sports' "FIFA" videogame franchise "for the first time," with 12 nations teams playable in "FIFA 16." U.S. players Abby Wambach, Alex Morgan, Megan Rapinoe and Sydney Leroux, "along with the Canadian women's national team, helped EA Sports develop authentic player models and movements." Women's teams "will be available for play in 'kickoff' mode and tournament mode," and can only play other women's teams in the game (NBCSPORTS.com, 5/28).
