Massive World Cup ratings and lessons for Fox

The 2014 World Cup featured brilliant play on the pitch, culminating in Germany's 1-0 extra time victory over Lionel Messi and Argentina in the final. The Germany-Argentina final also drew a massive viewing crowd on television, garnering 26.5 million viewers between ABC and Univision, the World Cup's Spanish-language broadcaster. For comparison, the Heat-Spurs NBA finals averaged 15.5 million viewers.

What do the ratings mean for the World Cup moving forward?

Full 90: Countdown to Kickoff

Today is the day: kickoff to the 2014 World Cup in Rio de Janiero. After years of planning, construction, numerous protests, and unfortunately, lives taken, everything is in place for a seamless World Cup hosted inside the mecca of soccer. Not quite.

Outside the Octagon: Is the Dominance of Brazil over in the UFC?

Brazil has been dominating the UFC for years. This has been from the very beginning of UFC back when Royce Gracie use to beat fighters double his size. There have been points when over half of the UFC champions have been from Brazil. Now Jose Aldo is the lone remaining champion.  I believe there are two main factors that have led to the recent spur of American champions, growing popularity of the UFC and the evolution of the sport as a whole.

Rife with Flaws and Questions, the World Cup is Coming

The 2014 FIFA World Cup kicks off in Brazil in less than a month, and preparations are going about as poorly as one could imagine. While much of the negative attention has been paid to Qatar 2022 in the past week, Brazil is coming up quickly in the rear-view mirror, baggage and all. The baggage comes to life in a variety of forms. Over-spending, corruption leading to protests and weather concerns have marred the build-up, an international mega-event trifecta of things that could go wrong.

Under Further Review No. 7: Travis Waldron

The sports world doesn't exist in a vacuum, no matter how hard you try to put it in one. Sports have the same kinds of political, economic and social issues that plague the rest of the world but offer a unique platform to disguise the issues in a much more palatable context. Really it's the same way that music, television, movies or any other popular culture can shape and direct conversations.

Full 90: World Cup Roundup

We are 27 days away from the World Cup. Here’s what you need to know:      

• Petr Cech, Gareth Bale, Robert Lewandowski, Zlatan Ibrahimović, Samir Nasri, Isco, and Carlos Tevez will not be featured in the World Cup.
• 31 MLS players have been featured on the shortlist of World Cup teams, up from the 6 MLS players who played in South Africa.
•  NIKE v. Adidas v. Samsung: The Battle for World Cup Supremacy

Guard the Post: There are no warning flags left for Brazil, Rio

Last year, there was a lot of conversation around the Rio 2016 planning committee and how far behind they were on the preparation for the Rio 2016 Summer Olympic Games. Luckily, the organizer got a bit of a break from the media mercenaries thanks to a man named Putin and some place called Sochi. Now, with Sochi 2014 in the books, all of the international sport focus has shifted to Rio. Guess what? It hasn't gotten better.

Full 90: World Cup Update

We are 89 days out from the World Cup in Brazil. Here is an update on events surrounding the most coveted soccer tournament:

Global Scope: FIFA World Cup Prediction

The 2014 FIFA World Cup final draw, held in Costa do Sauipe last Friday December 6th, decided which teams are facing each other in the tournament's group stages. It also awarded fans with the possibility of simulating what the road could be like for each team in order to go all the way. As of right now we still have to wait 182 days until Brazil and Croatia take to the field in Sao Paulo for the inaugural match on June 12, 2014. It is obviously too early for a real prediction, but it is never too early to feed our curiosity and see which match-ups could arise through a simulation.

World Cup 2014: Update