this post was submitted on 16 Jun 2026
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United States | News & Politics

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The American World Cup Introduced Ad Breaks—and Everyone Absolutely Hates It (www.wsj.com)
submitted 2 days ago by geneva_convenience@lemmy.ml to c/usa@lemmy.ml
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As the World Cup landed in the U.S. for the first time in three decades, international soccer fans have been acquainting themselves with the distinctly American pleasures of barbecue, highway traffic jams and Texas summers.

But there’s one American tradition that fans of the world’s most popular sport simply cannot tolerate. This summer, World Cup games have introduced commercial breaks smack in the middle of each half.

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[–] Moonrise2473@lemmy.ml -4 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Not a soccer fan, but I was under the assumption that during the middle of each half they always had ads since decades? Otherwise they show the empty field for 10 minutes?

[–] brennesel@discuss.tchncs.de 13 points 2 days ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (2 children)

A soccer game lasts 90 minutes. After 45 minutes, there is a half-time break that lasts 15 minutes. During this break, there are often commercials or updates on the game. But now, for the first time, there are also additional commercial breaks DURING each 45-minute half.

[–] Moonrise2473@lemmy.ml 6 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Lol and what happens if there's a goal during the ad break? Or they stop playing for an ad break using some BS excuse??

[–] ZeroHora@lemmy.ml 6 points 1 day ago

They stop playing to drink water.

[–] JackFrostNCola@aussie.zone 6 points 1 day ago

Essentially they have gone from halves to quarters, but kinda wishy-washy about it.