Will the World Cup kick off a new era for mobile TV?

The 2010 FIFA World Cup begins on June 11--traditionally the most-watched sporting event across the globe, it takes place this year in South Africa, heralding the first time the tournament will unfold in an African nation. This week CNN reported that Africans outside the host country have purchased fewer than 40,000 of the total 3 million World Cup tickets available, even though qualifying teams Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon and Algeria boast a combined population of over 225 million. So FIFA (soccer's international governing body) is turning to mobile TV to reach fans across the African continent: According to United Nations data, African wireless subscribers grew from 54 million in 2003 to nearly 350 million in 2008, prompting providers like African pay TV giant MultiChoice to expand their World Cup coverage to the mobile platform. "It's an important complement to the main TV screen," FIFA's Niclas Jensen tells CNN. "It's important for us to be there. It would be foolish to say that we do not need to service that medium because then we will lose people who will watch our games."

The 2006 World Cup in Germany was supposed to signal mobile TV's mainstream breakthrough. Didn't happen. But four years later, much has changed: Mobile device technology is exponentially superior, smartphones are more prevalent and operator networks are far more robust. So here in the U.S., ESPN is making a significant bet that the time for mobile TV is now: The sports media giant will stream all 64 World Cup matches live on its ESPN Mobile TV channel, according to Ray DeRenzo, chief marketing officer of mobile broadcast solutions provider MobiTV. In fact, MobiTV is so convinced that the excitement of the World Cup will solidify the appeal of the mobile television experience as a whole that the company will make the first seven days of its coverage available for free.

"ESPN could have built a standalone mobile application that presented only World Cup matches--instead, they've chosen to direct people to an aggregated mobile television experience, because they believe people interested in the World Cup will find utility and value in our product," said DeRenzo in an interview with FierceMobileContent. "ESPN's ads highlight the opportunity to enjoy the World Cup across all of its platforms. They're promoting their mobile coverage very heavily. It all suggests this will be a step-function change [for mobile TV]."

Metrics on mobile TV consumption in the U.S. are scarce, but the consensus suggests that viewership continues to lag--given that World Cup soccer is low on the priorities of the average American sports fan, it's fair to approach DeRenzo's comments with healthy skepticism. But there are reasons to be optimistic. For one, ESPN recognizes that soccer's methodical pace and expansive play do not translate seamlessly to small handset screens--according to DeRenzo, the network will install cameras set up expressly for its mobile TV feed, with device-friendly closeups on athletes and plays. "ESPN is shooting the World Cup with mobile distribution in mind, which is somewhat innovative in and of itself," DeRenzo said.

Another persuasive argument lies in the time difference between South Africa and the U.S. Two of Team USA's three opening round matches begin at 9:30 am on the East Coast, meaning the American squad will play when most fans are at work or on their way there. In the past, ESPN's mobile traffic has spiked dramatically when major sports coverage has spilled over into the workweek, so if Team USA can make a serious run through the tournament, viewers will no doubt turn to their phones for coverage. (It's not just Team USA that viewers will be watching, of course--as DeRenzo points out, the World Cup cuts across national and ethnic lines, and attracts a broad cross-section of the viewing audience.)

But some of the key differentiators of the mobile user experience, like supplementary interactive content or social networking options, are frustratingly absent from ESPN Mobile TV's World Cup slate. "The live matches are part of a linear signal, and we're rebroadcasting the feed," DeRenzo explained. "Interactive elements like player profiles are not a part of the ESPN channel at this time, but ESPN does offer some mobile applications to provide that kind of depth."

Oddsmakers forecast that Team USA is heading into World Cup 2010 as a 90-to-1 underdog. You could argue that mobile TV is an even bigger longshot. But the reason we watch sports is because anything can happen. You just never know. "The bet we're making is that if you give consumers a compelling mobile television experience, they will stay connected to that product," DeRenzo said. "Clearly this will be the catalytic event that causes a huge spike in viewers. The challenge for us is how to pivot off that moving forward." -Jason

P.S. FierceMobileContent will not publish Monday, May 31 in observance of the Memorial Day holiday. Publication will resume June 1.