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.