More Than 1.7 Billion People Watched World Cup Videos on YouTube, Pichai Says
New Delhi–More than 1.7 billion unique viewers worldwide watched FIFA World Cup-related videos on YouTube, making the tournament the platform’s most-viewed World Cup to date, Google CEO Sundar Pichai said Wednesday.
Pichai said lifetime views of World Cup-related content on YouTube have now surpassed 200 billion.
“It was our most viewed World Cup ever on YouTube, bringing lifetime views of related content to over 200 billion!” Pichai said in a post on X.
Pichai also shared a post from YouTube CEO Neal Mohan that highlighted additional audience figures from the tournament.
Mohan said YouTube’s first Creator Cup attracted more than 10 million live views. Content produced by a group of creators who provided commentary and perspectives throughout the tournament generated more than 2.5 million views, he added.
“Congrats on an incredible championship, Spain! And a huge thanks to our partners, creators and teams at YouTube who made the fan experience unlike any other,” Mohan said.
President Donald Trump said more than 6.5 million spectators attended the tournament, exceeding the combined attendance of the previous two World Cups.
Trump described it as “the most successful sporting event, maybe in the history of the world,” and said fans from 200 countries attended 104 matches held across 16 cities in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
The tournament also caused significant workplace disruption in the United States, according to separate reports.
One estimate found that schedule changes, absenteeism and other disruptions related to match viewing may have reduced U.S. productivity by as much as $11.7 billion. The estimated global productivity impact was nearly $17 billion, according to data from workforce management company UKG.
Data from workplace platform Envoy showed the largest disruption came the day after the U.S. men’s national team was eliminated. Office attendance fell 26% on July 7, while employee entries declined 11.5%. (Source: IANS)
