From suds to sex, soccer mania seizes Germany

Andy Eckardt Producer

MAINZ, Germany — Thirty-two years after hosting its first World Cup, the world's most-watched sporting event is back in this soccer-mad nation.

The month-long contest featuring the world's 32 best soccer powers — including the United States — will kick off on Friday at a brand new, state-of-the-art stadium in Munich, the Bavarian capital famous for its Oktoberfest, lederhosen (traditional leather pants) and huge mugs of beer.

With a population of 84 million — including more than six million active members in 170,000 organized soccer clubs and an additional 10 million Germans who play soccer regularly — the German fan base is huge.

And intense. During the 2002 World Cup, held in Korea and Japan, German broadcasters reached up to 80 percent of the market share when the national team played, and the opening match between Germany and Costa Rica is expected to empty the streets.

"We all are Klinsmann — 80 million will become national team coaches," wrote the German sports magazine Rund, referring to the large number of soccer fanatics who will be loudly assisting coach Jürgen Klinsmann from couch positions in front of their television sets.

Watching everywhere
Ahead of the tournament, German union officials called upon employers to grant their workers flexibility to down tools if soccer matches take place during their shift. Meanwhile, many workers did not want to take any chances and put in for vacation during the World Cup.

A pub in Stuttgart, a southern German city, even installed television screens in the men's room so that guests would not miss a single play of any games.

And, for the few nationals not interested in the sport, travel agencies have been offering special "escape" packages, such as half-price tickets to Turkey and other vacation destinations for so-called "soccer widows" who want a time-out from all the frenzy.

Expected boon
All the attention is especially welcome in Germany, whose battered economy has led to severe political battles and much soul-searching.

Sales of World Cup merchandise alone — from special sausages to German flags and World Cup t-shirts — are expected to score millions in additional revenue.

Meanwhile, more than 50,000 jobs are expected to be created in the hotel, restaurant and retail industries during the tournament, with some hotel room prices having tripled for game nights.

And with an estimated TV audience of over 2.5 billion over the next four weeks (many being repeat viewers, but viewers nonetheless), the World Cup offers an advertising and marketing bonanza to international companies from Coca-Cola to McDonald’s.

If it's done right, that is. Anheuser-Busch paid $40 million for its exclusive sponsorship — more than it paid for this year's Winter Olympics in Italy — but the U.S. suds maker quickly realized that it had perhaps made a tactical error in pushing its products in a country where ale is practically a national religion.

Negative reaction came just after the organizing committee announced that the maker of Budweiser would have the exclusive sales rights at the 12 World Cup stadiums, with Germans exploding in anger that their local brews were being excluded.

"Beer is an extraordinarily sensitive issue in Germany," Jens Grittner, a spokesman for the organizing committee told Reuters.

Anheuser-Busch moved quickly to quell criticism by striking a deal with German brewery Bitburger, allowing the local firm to sell its "Bit" beer alongside Budweiser at the venues. In return, Bitburger agreed to drop an old lawsuit against Anheuser-Busch and will not be permitted to put up advertising. 

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