Spanish-language broadcaster Univision "has seen a doubling of digital ad spend on its properties compared to the last World Cup," according to Michelle Castillo of ADWEEK. On the U.S. national team homepage, a Chips Ahoy ad "is running in Spanish." Sporting News Media Chief Revenue Officer Rich Routman said that approximately 40% of brands interested in advertising on int'l football website Goal.com "want their message to specifically reach Hispanic eyeballs." The games "are especially lucrative for digital properties, considering that soccer doesn’t have natural breaks in the game for commercials." VML Managing Dir of Analytics/Insights Eric Beane said that digital budgets "have gone up" since the last World Cup, and more brands "are taking advantage of online interactive opportunities for die-hard fans." Beane: “We’re seeing a lot of clients trying to reach emerging markets and a global audience. [Soccer] is the right platform to do that.” One of Goal.com’s advertisers, Gatorade, "is using the site to tout its Unreal Around the World global contest." Even ESPN "has seen an increase in interest for its Spanish-targeted properties." AT&T will sponsor its digital interactive World Cup bracket "in both English and Spanish." ESPN Deportes "will boost the main U.S. English broadcast with more than 12 hours of live news and coverage daily." ESPN Exec VP for Global Multimedia Sales Eric Johnson said, “In many places around the world, we are a digital-first company. It’s going to be the halo for our [soccer] coverage and our umbrella brand for our digital venture during the World Cup” (ADWEEK, 6/3).
