Super Bowl Can’t Hold the Candle to the Biggest Game in Soccer

Source: Statista

While Americans are getting ready for what they consider the biggest sporting event of the year, the 53rd Super Bowl, the rest of the world couldn’t care less. Well that may be a bit harsh, but from an American perspective it’s easy to overestimate the global appeal of the biggest game in (American) football.

Speaking of football, soccer, i.e. the proper kind of football from a European perspective, far exceeds the Super Bowl in terms of global interest. The FIFA World Cup Final, played every four years to culminate a month-long tournament of 32 nations, really is the biggest game in the world, regularly reaching more than a billion people across the globe.

According to FIFA, last year’s World Cup final between France and Croatia reached an average live audience of 517 million viewers, with more than 1.1 billion people tuning in over its 90 minutes. The 2018 Super Bowl pales in comparison, having had an average viewership of 103 million in the U.S. plus an estimated 50 to 60 million around the world.

Super Bowl Infographic

StubHub Partners With The NFL Players Association For Second Year To Support Career Growth

StubHub gives current and former NFL players exposure to hands-on business experience through the NFLPA’s Externship and Fellowship programs

San Francisco, CA – Feb. 13, 2019 (PRNewswire) StubHub, the world’s largest ticket marketplace, has partnered with the NFL Players Association (NFLPA) for the second year in a row to empower current and former players in realizing their career goals after life on the field.

The 2019 NFLPA Externship program pairs 63 athletes with 24 organizations, including StubHub, that best fit participants’ interests and career development goals.

StubHub Logo

Josiah Price of the Minnesota Vikings, Thomas Hennessy of the New York Jets, Ryan Malleck, a free agent who most recently played for the Pittsburgh Steelers and Kapron Lewis-Moore, one of the newest players to sign with the San Francisco 49ers will participate in a three-week immersive business experience program at StubHub’s headquarters in San Francisco. This year marks an expansion of the program as StubHub will now host four externs rather than three.

StubHub’s NFLPA Externship program kicks off Tuesday, February 19, at StubHub headquarters in San Francisco and will conclude on March 8. Players will also travel to StubHub’s global customer service center in Salt Lake City and work with StubHub customers at a Lakers vs. Clippers game in Los Angeles.

Scott Jablonski, StubHub’s General Manager of NFL, NBA & NHL said, “We are excited to continue our partnership with the NFLPA for a second year. We were so impressed with our Externs and Fellow from the first year that we jumped at the chance to participate again. These players are driven individuals and we’re lucky to have them at StubHub. We always love new perspectives and appreciate the opportunity to learn from some of the best and brightest in the NFL.”

“The experience provided by StubHub in the first year of our partnership served as a great fit for our externs and fellows in learning more about the ticketing industry,” said NFLPA Player Affairs Manager, Connor Ford, who helps direct the Externship program. “We are thrilled that this year’s externs will once again have the opportunity to work with StubHub in gaining valuable, hands-on experience.”

Players will learn what it’s like to work in a fast-paced Silicon Valley business environment. Each player will have a mentor, sit within a department and complete a project tailored to their skills and interests, while learning every aspect of StubHub’s business. They will also experience the customer facing part of StubHub by participating in customer service calls and in-person ticket sales in Los Angeles.

“I chose StubHub for my NFLPA Externship because I wanted to work with an awesome company and challenge myself off the field in a real-world corporate environment,” said Kapron Lewis-Moore. “I am excited to bring some of my skills from the football field to the office while starting to explore career opportunities beyond football.”

In addition, last year StubHub piloted a year long paid Fellowship through NFLPA and will continue the program in 2019. The program is designed to help transition retired NFL players evaluating their next career moves. In October 2018, StubHub added another Fellow, former New York Giants’ Offensive Tackle, Selvish Capers Jr.

About StubHub
At StubHub, our mission is to bring the joy of live to fans globally. As the world’s largest ticket marketplace spanning 44 countries, we enable fans to buy and sell tickets to tens of thousands of events, whenever and wherever fans want to be. Backed by award-winning customer care, StubHub’s FanProtect™ Guarantee means every ticket is 100 percent guaranteed valid or you’ll receive your money back or a replacement ticket of equal or better value. Our business partners include more than 150 properties globally across the NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, MLS, WWE, NCAA, Matchroom Boxing, plus Paciolan and Tessitura. StubHub provides the total end-to-end event going experience throughout the world. StubHub is an eBay company (EBAY). For more information on StubHub, visit StubHub.com or follow @StubHub on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or LinkedIn.

About the NFL Players Association
The National Football League Players Association is the union for professional football players in the National Football League. Established in 1956, the NFLPA has a long history of assuring proper recognition and representation of players’ interests. The NFLPA has shown that it will do whatever is necessary to assure that the rights of players are protected—including ceasing to be a union, if necessary, as it did in 1989. In 1993, the NFLPA again was officially recognized as the union representing the players, and negotiated a landmark Collective Bargaining Agreement with the NFL. The current CBA will govern the sport through 2020. Learn more at www.nflpa.com.