Business & Technology
World Cup final half-time show set to shake up ads
World Cup organisers are set to introduce a Super Bowl-style half-time show for the final, a move that could extend the interval beyond the usual 15 minutes.
The change is prompting discussion among advertisers, broadcasters and media groups about how a music-led break could alter audience behaviour during one of sport’s biggest televised events.
Research cited by adtech company Adlook found that 56% of people in the UK planning to watch the tournament will be casual viewers. The study also found that 48% expect to stop watching once their team is eliminated, underlining how sharply audience numbers can shift as national interest fades.
Against that backdrop, marketing executives argue that an entertainment segment in the final could help keep occasional viewers watching for longer, particularly if the performers attract people with little interest in football.
Keith Arrowsmith, Global Marketing Director at Onetag, said the show could reshape campaign planning around the final and widen the range of content publishers produce around the event.
“Huge events like the World Cup always bring a spike in attention. Millions of people tune in, fully engaged, creating a substantial opportunity for advertisers across media. That will be especially true this summer following the introduction of an inaugural World Cup final half-time show. With megastar performers taking the stage, campaigns are likely to be planned differently to capture even more attention.
Audiences who might not usually engage with football will tune in for the show and consume online content around it. That creates new editorial opportunities for publishers and, in turn, broader coverage for advertisers: more content, more inventory, and more environments for effective campaign creative.
TV campaigns already in place for the tournament provide the appointment to view. Online advertising, alongside that, creates opportunities to engage. The latest programmatic technology gives brands easy access to highly immersive online advertising that audiences can interact with and explore at scale.
With just under a month to go until the tournament kicks off, there is still time to create strong brand experiences with programmatic creative technology. Combining the potential of appointment to view and appointment to engage will make brands that use both this year’s World Cup winners,” he said.
Audience split
For brands, the main issue is not simply the larger audience a half-time concert may draw, but that viewers may be watching for different reasons. A football audience focused on match tension and national rivalry may respond differently from viewers drawn in by celebrity performers.
Dan Ward, Deputy UK Country Manager at Seedtag, said the line-up could change assumptions about who is watching and what messaging will feel relevant during the break.
“The halftime lineup changes the conversation around who is actually watching. Madonna, Shakira and BTS bring in audiences with no particular interest in football, and that shift matters for how brands show up in that moment, in publisher content covering the event, and in the lead-up to it.
A campaign built around match tension and national pride reads very differently to an audience that switched on for the music and celebrities. The emotional context shifts completely. During the match, viewers are riding tension, nervous energy and the drama of every moment. Their attention is reactive and charged. The halftime show resets that entirely. Suddenly you have audiences in a completely different headspace: celebratory, open, and leaning in for a different kind of experience. Those are distinct emotional signals, and brands that understand the difference, using neuro-contextual insight to align their creative with what is actually driving engagement in that moment, are far less likely to feel out of place.
It will be interesting to see how brands adapt their messaging around the halftime window, and how audiences respond to the music format, particularly in markets where traditional punditry and match analysis are such a key part of the viewing experience,” he said.
His comments also point to a possible tension for broadcasters. In many markets, half-time has long been reserved for tactical analysis, highlights and studio discussion, and replacing or reducing that format may not appeal to supporters who expect a more conventional presentation.
No precedent
For media buyers and planners, the final presents an unusual problem because there is little comparable data on how audiences will behave during a World Cup final with a major live entertainment slot built into the interval.
Matt Longley, CEO at Mobsta, said the lack of historical precedent means brands may need to focus less on the match itself and more on audience movement in the surrounding hours.
“With the release of the anticipated half-time performers, the real story for advertisers is what it tells you about how audiences are going to behave. It will be interesting to see how the announcement starts shifting behaviour in the weeks before July 19: where people plan to watch, how footfall moves around cities on the day, and which areas see an unexpected surge.
There’s also a question of who tunes in who otherwise might not. Madonna, Shakira and BTS bring audiences that do not necessarily follow football, and that changes the profile of who is watching during that ad break.
This is the first World Cup final with a show at this scale, so there is genuinely no historical data to draw from. Brands focused mainly on the 90 minutes may find the more revealing picture lies in what happens in the hours around it, and whether their campaigns reflect how people are actually going to show up,” he said.
Ten Seconds Yunnan Rice Noodle in New Inn Hall Street was inspected by Oxford City Council on May 26.
Inspectors subsequently handed the Chinese restaurant a rating of two out of five, meaning “improvement necessary”.
According to the report, received by the Oxford Mail after a Freedom of Information request submission, officers identified a series of concerns, including evidence of mouse activity.
The report states that mouse droppings were found throughout the business in two food storage rooms and the bar area.
In one of the storage areas, mouse activity was present where noodles were kept in plastic carrier bags and potatoes and onion were left in the open.
Inspectors said pest-proofing measures were “not great” and identified a hole beneath a sink in the bar area which could potentially allow pests to enter the premises.
In the report, the inspector said: “At the time of the inspection, I observed a number of historic mouse dropping in both the food storage areas.
“The most recent pest control report mentions no mouse activity in any of the food storage areas.
“All areas where food is prepared and stored must be kept clean and capable of being kept clean. This is so that pests are not attracted into your premises and the risk of food being contaminated by dirt is minimised.”
They advised the owner to remove all historic mouse droppings within the food business and continue to identify any issues of pest proofing within a month.
The business was instructed to remove the droppings and improve pest-proofing measures where previous temporary work had failed.
Food storage issues were also highlighted during the inspection.
In an “overfilled” fridge, officers found raw chicken stored above ready-to-eat foods, including uncovered beans and spring onions, which could cause cross-contamination leading to food poisoning.
That same fridge, which stored items such as cooked rice, chicken ballotine and prawns, was above the required eight degrees, raising concern about food poisoning.
A large number of food containers were also unlabelled, despite the food looking fresh.
The officer insisted a “robust system for ensuring adequate stock rotation” was implemented and recommended all food be kept in sealed, pest-proof containers.
No food-safe sanitiser or disinfectant were available on site, only a kitchen cleaner which they said did not provide adequate disinfection.
Despite the concerns, the report noted there had been a “huge improvement” in cleaning standards since the restaurant’s previous inspection.
The business also had a food safety management system in place and a pest control contract with Pure Pest Solutions.
The council has required a range of improvements, with compliance timescales ranging from one week to one month with a revisit inspection planned.
Oxford-based Peripear has secured an Innovate UK Women in Innovation Award and a £74,974 grant for its development of a wearable device designed to prevent perineal trauma during labour.
The funding will support continued product development ahead of the company’s planned first-in-human study.
Nina van Schaick, co-founder and COO of Peripear as well as a midwife who trained at Oxford Brookes, said: “I’m sure I wasn’t the only one to see this gap.
“I was incredibly lucky to meet my co-founder, Eviatar Natan, right as my frustration about the lack of translation of evidence into practice had peaked.
“There was a proven mechanism that could reduce injuries occurring in up to 90 per cent of vaginal births, and it was being left out of clinical pathways simply because no standardised tool existed to deliver it.”
Peripear is developing what it describes as the world’s first automated perineal thermotherapy wearable, designed to prevent perineal trauma during childbirth.
A perineal thermotherapy wearable is an emerging medical device.
It is a hands‑free warm compress device used on the perineum during the second stage of labour to reduce severe tearing and episiotomies while improving maternal comfort.
Ms van Schaick added: “I’m a farmer’s granddaughter, and when I started practising over 14 years ago, I asked: where is the tool I need to implement this evidence? I looked around and realised we were still asking clinicians to improvise.
“Peripear is what happens when the person who has lived the problem, both personally and professionally, meets the person who can help her build the solution.”
The company behind bikemaker Raleigh, which was founded 139 years ago and has supplied bikes to the UK’s cycling city of Oxford over the years, has filed to appoint administrators.
Accell UK and Ireland, part of Netherlands-based Accell Group, filed a notice of intention to appoint administrators as the wider group kickstarted insolvency proceedings.
This follows a difficult spell for Nottinghamshire-based Raleigh, which confirmed job cuts in 2024 before reporting a £30m loss in financial accounts published the following year.
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The boss of Accell said it was a “deeply sad and frustrating situation” and that it had “tirelessly explored” every option for the future of the cycling business.
The company bought Raleigh in 2012 for around 100 million US dollars (£74 million), adding to its roster of bike brands throughout Europe including Haibike, Winora and Ghost.
Raleigh was founded in Nottingham in 1887 and was well-known for its Chopper model, which featured extended handlebars and is now part of its “retro” range.
It no longer manufactures bikes from Nottingham, and its head office has moved to Eastwood, Nottinghamshire, while the company has shifted to selling electric bikes under Accell’s ownership.
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Accell went through a restructuring in February, securing additional funding from shareholders and lenders and reducing debts.
The group said it had since “explored every possible avenue” for its future, including discussions with potential buyers, but that it had not been possible to find a solution which means the business can continue operating.
It has therefore initiated insolvency proceedings in the Netherlands.
Accell’s chief executive Jonas Nilsson said: “This is a deeply sad and frustrating situation given all the hard work and everything we have achieved, with the support of shareholders and lenders, to restructure Accell’s operations and finances.
“It is an especially difficult moment for our employees, creditors, customers, suppliers, and partners.
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“Every realistic option for the future of the business has been tirelessly explored, and none have resulted in a solution to continue the Group in its current form.
“Our immediate focus is to support an orderly process, provide clarity wherever possible, and work with the relevant court-appointed administrators to preserve viable activities and employment where circumstances allow.”
At its 1970s height, Raleigh employed more than 13,000 people across the UK, with around 8,000 working at its various Triumph Road sites in Nottingham.
The former factory land later became the University of Nottingham’s Jubilee Campus.
Raleigh subsequently moved its headquarters to Church Street in Eastwood, before leaving that site and relocating to Durban House in 2024.
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