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Scotland failed to reach the FIFA World Cup held in Qatar this year after Ukraine beat them in the playoff semi-final back in May, but how could this affect Scottish viewing figures?
The World Cup is an event that is spectacular to watch as a neutral with no affinity to any of the nations, but maybe some Scottish nationals will have a lack of interest in the competition after their nation failed to qualify.
Ukraine beat Scotland at Hampden and earned a historic World Cup play-off final against Wales!
Read the report ⤵️ #BBCFootball
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) June 1, 2022
In terms of online streaming’s contribution to viewing figures in the UK, teams that are performing particularly well tend to accumulate the most searches. But how does this correlate to national football? Will Scottish people not still be drawn to the tournament and simply want to view good football? Some Scots may even wish to support fellow home nations England and Wales in the tournament.
Biases in viewing trends
The Khabib Nurmagomodev effect shows how there are anomalies in the trends of sports streaming. Viewers have preferences that are not determined by the quality of a sportsperson or team. For example in Khabib’s fights with Conor McGregor he has dominated the Irishman, yet in the United States McGregor is preferred and there are more streaming searches for his fights.
Maybe some Scottish people have a similar bias and they would be more eager to watch a nation such as Brazil or France in comparison to England who they may see as rivals.
Or in contrast, viewing figures of specific nation’s games may not differ at all, some people may watch England fixtures with an active bias of wanting the Three Lions to fall to defeat.
England present their home and away kits for the World Cup 🏴 pic.twitter.com/lNKuRR7qQO
— B/R Football (@brfootball) September 21, 2022
It is a certainty that Scotland’s absence will have some effect on total viewing figures as a nation competing in an international tournament draws the entire country’s interest.
Scotland’s place at the tournament would have created a situation of national pride or patriotism in which people would have gathered around TV screens and computer screens to support their country in a sport they do not necessarily enjoy.
Scotland against England?
An NPR report conducted in relation to the 2010 World Cup stated that around a quarter of Scottish people actively watch England’s fixtures at major tournaments hoping that they lose.
In the case of Scotland not being at the tournament it gives Scottish fans a team to root for.
The team they root for being the opposition of England for 25% of Scots could actually mean that an increased amount of people from the nation stream England games or watch them on TV.
While the World Cup is a spectacular neutral event there is no doubt that it is a much more entertaining viewing when an affinity or a lack of an affinity in this case is present and football fans have an outcome that they can root for.
Although the nation of Scotland will be deprived of a major tournament in which the whole nation could come together to support their country, the long-standing rivalry between England and Scotland could mean that many will have a cause or an outcome to follow.
There is no doubt viewing figures would have been expected to be much higher if Scotland had qualified but the World Cup will still draw in hundreds of thousands from the nation, maybe millions.
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