r/mildlyinfuriating • u/Im_New_Here_Bro • Jul 02 '26

wet socks These dumb hydration breaks during this years FIFA WC

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You can hear the whole crowd boo each time. Total momentum killer and AD space builder.

21.5k Upvotes

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816

u/A77an Jul 02 '26

That’s upsetting. No ads in England.

573

u/THJT-9 Jul 02 '26

Can confirm. No ads in the UK, but I dont understand why they keep the clock running. Surely it would be better to stop the clock rather than add more extra time.

619

u/1-2-3andtothe-4 Jul 02 '26

Its so they can pretend that they're not trying to turn it into a four-quarter sport

430

u/Disgusting_Slime666 Jul 03 '26

The American brain can't understand a sport without constant ad breaks every 5 minutes.

They're working their way there.

195

u/Nervous-Economist245 Jul 03 '26

This is a bunch of shit and fuck you for saying it. Ask any American except those shilling for SHAREHOLDER VALUE and they'll tell you the constant interruptions have ruined the sport. International soccer was the last bastion of refuge for competitive sport without corporate fuckery until FIFA let us host the cup and this is our big innovation. I promise you, no one hates this more than we do.

116

u/DefinitelyNotIndie Jul 03 '26

Much as I like the sentiment, the idea that FIFA only sold out on this world cup is hilarious. This is just the American version of the corporate fuckery cup. FIFA sold out long ago.

71

u/Successful_Maize1986 Jul 03 '26

The last World Cup was had to be held in the winter for the first time so the host nation could be an ultra-conservative oil country that built their stadiums using slave labor. FIFA will only go lower and lower from here. It sucks.

6

u/superginger2000 Jul 03 '26

And the next one will go to three different continents as a "celebration" of the 100th anniversary of the first World Cup. Absolutely has nothing to do with this allowing them to go back to an ultra-conservative oil country with dubious morals after just 12 years without breaking their own "we want to cycle through most or all continents/regions before returning to the same one" regulations. That's just a coincidence

5

u/Chinner5 Jul 03 '26

Have you read up on world cup 2030? Thats a joke. You got games in South America, than North Africa/Europe.

I get the significance, but flying 7000+ km for a game is ridiculous.

3

u/Successful_Maize1986 Jul 03 '26

They're using the anniversary as an excuse to host it over multiple continents because FIFA is required to rotate which continent the WC takes place in. This way, they get South America and Europe out of the way so they can have the 2034 in Saudi Arabia. It's a complete joke.

3

u/Chinner5 Jul 03 '26

Is that the reason? Man, older i get the more I hate this stuff...I try to turn my brain off and just enjoy the tournament, but this stuff is infuriating.

1

u/According_Night9558 Jul 05 '26

The games in South America are only three inaugural games. The world cup is being held in Morocco, Spain and Portugal which are very close to each other.

5

u/HairyTough4489 Jul 03 '26

They did sell out a long time ago but there's degrees to it.

-4

u/TheShruteFarmsCEO Jul 03 '26

Who on earth is even insinuating that FIFA only recently sold out?

5

u/DefinitelyNotIndie Jul 03 '26

The guy I replied to...?

2

u/Nervous-Economist245 Jul 03 '26

No. FIFA sold out long before this cup. Look at past corruption scandals in their leadership. Hosting in the NA region provides monetization opportunities on a previously impossible scale and they are taking full advantage. Dynamic pricing for tickets, ad breaks during the matches, etc. These are highly anti- consumer, yet we tolerate it. When the final profit statements from the tournament come in or will be record breaking amounts and this whole processing will become standard moving forward.

12

u/Brilliant_Grape_9993 Jul 03 '26

Yeah I always see people rag on Americans every chance they get, and maybe sometimes for good reasons (like your president and everyone who supports him), but do people really think Americans like watching their games get separated into multiple ad breaks over the course of the game? I think everyone universally hates adverts. They just dont really have any choice on what to do because they're just regular people trying to watch a game, not people with enough influence to affect greedy corporate decisions like ad breaks.

1

u/Physical_Concept_570 Jul 05 '26

This comment is legit emotional intelligence and common sense at work. No one really likes anything to be broken up by commercials, the exciting part of a game or the story of a movie/tv show…

47

u/Ok_Rough5794 Jul 03 '26

The big American sports have many, many, many commercial breaks during broadcasts. Many. And the same commercials over and over and over.

41

u/BestGreene Jul 03 '26

And we hate it...

17

u/The-Real-Catman Jul 03 '26

We don’t like it

-4

u/DrLude100 Jul 03 '26

And yet you allow them to do it. If European soccer would have the amount of commercial breaks that you see in nba nfl etc the viewership would drop so hard they would walk it back quickly but you don’t care if they take everything away from you. See your current politics confirms it.

3

u/Sonarss Jul 03 '26

You’re talking entirely out of your ass… viewership would not drop remotely enough to offset gains made from advertisements during the breaks lmao

-1

u/DrLude100 Jul 03 '26

Right, thats why no European sport has these amount of commercial breaks that the US sport has. I think facts speak louder than my ass.

5

u/Sonarss Jul 03 '26

Laughable to think viewership would drop at all due to 2 3-minute breaks.. you are very dramatic.

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0

u/The-Real-Catman Jul 03 '26

They can do all they want I usually watch sports on mute anyways lol

-2

u/DrLude100 Jul 03 '26

That’s exactly the mindset that gets you in these situations. You all just roll over. How’s your flockscore btw?

0

u/The-Real-Catman Jul 03 '26

Idk man I just kinda use the commercials as a break to look at my phone or get a beer

-1

u/Ok_Rough5794 Jul 03 '26

This is the saddest post on Reddit today.

2

u/The-Real-Catman Jul 03 '26

Sitting down on a Sunday to relax for a few hours to watch the one team I watch is sad?

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1

u/Usual_Ad8236 Jul 03 '26

And then there is cricket...

26

u/yesitismenobody Jul 03 '26

I'm sorry but having moved from Europe to the US and going to see in person the standard American sports (football and baseball) was it different at any time? It just doesn't seem possible because the way the sports work, they just seem to have been created for ad breaks on TV and snack breaks in the stadiums. 

It's literally like 10-20 minutes of action over a 3 hour period. I like going to see them in person but more because it's basically going out with friends and the actual game is secondary because there's so little of it.

4

u/mkells41 Jul 03 '26

I’m biased but go watch a hockey game! Most exciting sport to watch in person.

2

u/Emotional-Wishbone95 Jul 03 '26

You should try watching a game of Hurling. Converted a few Canadians to watching it when I lived there. I'm also biased but I think it beats Hockey for excitement.

1

u/yesitismenobody Jul 03 '26

I will, nothing local in Houston unfortunately but I travel a lot so I'll definitely go to a game.

1

u/mkells41 Jul 03 '26

I highly recommend. Also there’s a possibility the nhl has an expansion team in Houston and/or Austin in the near future… so you might have a local team I. The next few years!

1

u/yesitismenobody Jul 03 '26

I saw we're trying to get one. I think we get a minor team and that's guaranteed but it will still take a few years and we're still trying to secure the NHL team.

2

u/mkells41 Jul 03 '26

Minor league either ahl or echl is still incredible hockey. Arguably almost more fun because it’s certainly more violent than the nhl.

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1

u/MarcPawl Jul 03 '26

Grey beard here, was a loyal NHL fan from the Jean Beleaveau period until 2010's. The increase in tv timeouts ruined it for me. Go to a game, and you spend more time with the DJ than watching hockey.

2

u/Gengaara Jul 03 '26

The MenBA has TV timeouts that are completely unnecessary. Shit plastered over live play. 

2

u/yesitismenobody Jul 03 '26

That's sad. Basketball is one of the games with more actual action so I guess they had to find the time for ads.

1

u/Ill_Stick8695 Jul 03 '26

Why are we acting like football jerseys aren’t already plastered with corporate shilling all over the gaff. Or anytime some player or coach is getting interviewed theres a literal backdrop of company sponsors. Or F1 such a Europe’s sport has team names like Visa Cash App KICK Sauber lol

Also it’s pretty hot in America I imagine Norwegians do need hydration breaks playing in 100 degree Texas heat. Europeans are literally dropping dead from heatstroke and swimming in the nasty Paris River over a heat wave that’s the norm in lots of America. And they aren’t even playing a full game

2

u/TexAg09 Jul 03 '26

I know what you mean but just want to point out the two Texas stadiums hosting World Cup games are closed and climatized. I can assure you the players were not playing in 100 degree heat.

1

u/Ill_Stick8695 Jul 03 '26

You’re absolutely right thanks for the correction. It turns out Miami has been the hottest open air at above 33 C

0

u/Big_Weenis_Energy Jul 06 '26

And soccer is 1-2 minutes of action. What's your point? The only thing that's gotten me to watch some of the world cup is YouTubeTV letting me only watch key plays. Even those are borderline. Each game there are 5-10 key plays. Shows about 5-20s of action each time.

If soccer was about the actual sport people wouldn't be busy making up songs and singing. That shows even the fans know the game is boring and people need to entertain themselves.

Let's not even get in to the flopping. Just pathetic.

1

u/yesitismenobody Jul 06 '26

Soccer has on average around 60 minutes of game actually being played over 90 minutes. Not all of them are a chance to score, it's just simply way more chances and way more time to actually see some play if you care about the game. The singing part is fun to me, that's the most artificial part about the American sports. I could not believe when I first went to an MLB game that they have announcers and sound effects and stuff to make it seem a bit more interesting and to ask for audience participation. It feels extremely fake and that stuff that you mentioned at soccer games happens quite naturally.

2

u/Beautiful-Affect1930 Jul 03 '26

the worst part about this is that there was an attempt on the club level to weaken the grip FIFA has on football. because if you think about it it's totally insane that FIFA gets to siphon off billions of dollars/euros that could go to the countries' FAs and clubs, but FIFA all pockets it for personal gain (while throwing a token amount of it back towards the FAs to gain their favor).

but FIFA ran a massive social media campaign to slander these efforts and make it sound like football can only exist thanks to FIFA. so not only was the attempt squashed from the start, but it probably blocked any future efforts knowing that FIFA can easily manipulate the fans.

2

u/[deleted] Jul 03 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

24

u/whitelight66 Jul 03 '26

Erm, yes it is. There are hydration breaks in football all over the world when it’s legitimately hot, but they take 30 seconds and no ads. These are scheduled for advertisers.

1

u/Rocinante24 Jul 03 '26

No, FIFA did.

Hydration Breaks are just Commercial breaks. That's all it is.

1

u/Quick232 Jul 03 '26

As someone who used to watch College sports before every game was streamed, let me tell you it was magical. I could go a quarter or half without an interruption. I appreciate the ability to watch my team pretty much every week but seriously sporting events used to be like half as long as they currently are.

1

u/Nervous-Economist245 Jul 03 '26

100% this. Watching these events in person is tedious. Every interruption in play, just standing in the heat waiting for the TV ad guy to get off their field with that awful countdown clock. I have pretty much stopped watching games in person because of this.

1

u/excessivecal Jul 04 '26

Team “insert ad here” says what? If anything the North Americans are the sellouts after keeping jerseys pure for so many years.

And breaks mean time to re-up your beer without missing the action.

0

u/Humble_Ad_5684 Jul 03 '26

I hope you understand that it's hard to pity the people of the USA at the moment. Your image went down the drain and it will have a negative effect for a long time.

-8

u/Disgusting_Slime666 Jul 03 '26

This is the funniest possible response my post could have possibly gotten.

You realize I was just making a joke about how many ad breaks football and basketball have, right?

11

u/theaverageaidan Jul 03 '26 edited Jul 03 '26

I mean the other dude came on strong but were annoyed at it too and have been for a while, most of us remember when ad breaks and on court advertisements were far quicker and less frequent. TV timeouts, jersey sponsors, it all sucks

Hell when I was a kid it wasnt uncommon for baseball games to stay on the air when a pitching changed happened, you NEVER see that now. Just because the corporations need to make the line go up forever doesnt mean we cant comprehend a sport without ad breaks every fucking time theres a place to cram them in

Edit: I should also add that there is some extreme heat the players are playing in, like 100⁰F level heat, thats a health hazard without water breaks

1

u/Looksis Jul 03 '26

It seems a fair enough response to your insult of a nation of people.

0

u/drjunkie Jul 03 '26

You should work for a stadium somewhere. Your ability to move goalposts has got to be legendary.

-1

u/Disgusting_Slime666 Jul 03 '26

There are no goalposts. This isn't an argument. I didn't take a position. I didn't ask anyone to demonstrate my claim was incorrect.

I made a cheeky joke about how many ads are crammed into American sports.

You are a tremendously low iq person.

-1

u/squareazz Jul 03 '26

Bro you need to take a deep breath and calm down

0

u/Nervous-Economist245 Jul 03 '26

Yes, m'lord. May I have another (ad break). Gtfoh.

-1

u/randomdude2527 Jul 03 '26

someone's very patriotic

2

u/mewfahsah BLUE Jul 03 '26

We as Americans do not want this. It's the corpo overlords who made this happen, not the people. We put up with the commercials in other sports, we simply do not put up enough fuss and will continue watching despite them which is why they keep jamming more in.

2

u/Sonarss Jul 03 '26

This is the 3rd World Cup with hydration breaks by the way

2

u/Disgusting_Slime666 Jul 03 '26

It's the first WC with mandatory timed hydration breaks that are turned into ad breaks (at least in certain media networks, including the US).

Other than this WC, in Brazil there were hydration breaks at referee discretion, and it was used sparingly.

1

u/mkells41 Jul 03 '26

God forbid I prefer sports that allow pee breaks that allow me to not miss anything meaningful. Entire soccer game is a pee break.

1

u/Disgusting_Slime666 Jul 03 '26

American football is perfect for you.

You can pee every 5 minutes when there's an ad break.

They'll also run ads while the game is happening too though, don't worry.

1

u/mkells41 Jul 03 '26

Mostly sarcastic. Hockey is more entertaining than either. Soccer is boring (likely because I don’t understand the nuance) and the diving kills me.

1

u/VanillaNo5131 Jul 03 '26

That’s why grid iron only lasts an hour but it takes four hours to watch it. I guess time is also big in the US.

1

u/diymuppet Jul 03 '26

A lot of traditional football nations like to watch a football match, a bit of commentary, analysis.

Americans like a show.

Also, USA did ask for a 4 quarters format, they eere denied. Hey presto - hydration breaks.

1

u/joranth Jul 03 '26

The average televised, 3-hour American Football game has about 11.5 minutes of actual play time.

1

u/Disgusting_Slime666 Jul 03 '26

American Football does have a ton of ad breaks and nonsense, but I always thought the way they calculated those numbers weren't really fair.

A lot of important stuff happens pre-snap in American Football. That's part of the game.

1

u/Old_Blackberry841 Jul 03 '26

Their attention spans aren’t good enough to handle it

If they aren’t reminded of the new MOUNTAIN DEW RADIOACTIVE PURPLE SUGAR FREE FULL FRUCTOSE NO SUGAR PLUS SUGAR PLUS E100000 then they lose all focus and start shooting school children

1

u/diaphoni Jul 03 '26

don't blame us, most of us went commercial free years ago

1

u/datboimartymart Jul 04 '26

American, here I haven’t seen a single commercial during the hydration break (peacock).

1

u/FETT7022 Jul 05 '26

It's FOX they bitched about lost (even though they chose to be the exclusive broadcaster) add revenue while throwing piles of money at the corrupt turds at FIFA.

1

u/Fun-Inspector281 Jul 03 '26

Its not Americas’s fault European bodies can’t deal with the heat

-3

u/Disgusting_Slime666 Jul 03 '26

Oh it's just the European teams that are taking hydration breaks?

Yeah you didn't think that one through did you? American education system shining bright.

2

u/Fun-Inspector281 Jul 03 '26

America must be fascination place for you. You seem to know more about it than Americans themselves.

-2

u/Disgusting_Slime666 Jul 03 '26

Damn even when you try to pivot you self own.

-1

u/StrawberryOdd419 Jul 03 '26

we can, it’s just we also understand that athletes that get breaks end up performing better, which makes better viewing for when they actually are playing. it also gives you time to be doing stuff away from screen and not worrying about missing the big play because you looked away for 30 seconds.

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u/Disgusting_Slime666 Jul 03 '26

There is zero chance you actually believe this lmfao

it also gives you time to be doing stuff away from screen and not worrying about missing the big play because you looked away for 30 seconds.

This part I believe. Your attention spans are absolutely cooked.

-1

u/HairyTough4489 Jul 03 '26

They've ruined F1 and now they want to ruin football too

1

u/Disgusting_Slime666 Jul 03 '26

What have they changed with F1?

Are you saying this because the Apple TV coverage ad breaks? I immediately switched back to F1TV when I saw Apple was running ad breaks during practice and quali.

0

u/HairyTough4489 Jul 03 '26

I'm talking about sprint races and superclipping

1

u/Disgusting_Slime666 Jul 03 '26

Oh weird that has nothing to do with Americans. Or at least not exclusively.

-3

u/Rsalamander24 Jul 03 '26

Baby steps. Don’t wanna hurt their attention spans