Chinese Fans Switch to Mobiles for World Cup. Following a change in how fans are consuming matches, this year, an estimated over 364 million viewers in China will follow the World Cup on their mobiles.
Even though China is not participating in the tournament, enthusiasm remains high for all football fans in the country, with many fans relying on live streams to watch matches on their mobile devices.
China Media Group, in partnership with Xiaohongshu, has obtained streaming rights for the World Cup, and hundreds of millions of users will be able to live stream the games through the Xiaohongshu mobile app for free.
Beijing locals also chose not to crowd into bars, in part because the matches take place in the middle of the night/early morning China time due to the huge difference between the countries, with viewers opting to watch their matches in the comfort of their homes.
This pattern, where China’s share of total global viewing hours was nearly half of that for digital and social media, began with the 2022 World Cup, according to FIFA.
Other competitors remain high, with one such platform, video-sharing giant Douyin, still having a high influx of football lovers through special World Cup videos, analyses and features.
