sports
World Cup water breaks, or how the US bends the knee to sports broadcasters
America’s success as the world’s most prosperous and dynamic country rests on its culture. Key ingredients of this culture include our affection for innovation, for the pursuit of excellence, and our intolerance for those who seek to take unfair advantage of others.
TL;DR
- American culture's strengths include innovation, pursuit of excellence, and intolerance for unfair advantage.
- Professional sports in America are negatively impacted by an "unending blitz of advertisements."
- Games are delayed for commercials, even when players are ready to restart.
- The FIFA World Cup has introduced mandatory three-minute water breaks in each half.
- These water breaks are not for player health but for the financial gain of broadcasters and FIFA.
- The water breaks are predicted to generate an additional $250 million in ad revenue for Fox.
- Fans and soccer stars are seen as the losers in this pursuit of ad revenue.