It’s hard for Americans to picture how important international soccer games are to the European community, but it’s really staggering when you find out how consuming they are. Matches between rival countries are obsessively gossiped about more than Meredith’s bitchiness or even Izzie pulling out Denny’s LVAD wire. It’s just that important. So, it’s really no surprise that the 90 minute England vs Germany contest dominated the ratings, but the sheer force at which it crushed its television opponents is noteworthy.
According to Variety, the Wednesday night match-up brought in an average share of forty-three on German TVs. That means more than four out of every ten people watching the tube were tuned in to the soccer match. That is insane for a game that didn’t even count for anything! That’s almost two/thirds of the share that the Super Bowl gets! I’m not exactly ready to pick-up and move to Germany yet, but it would be nice to see The United States get that excited about anything that wasn’t Janet Jackson’s nipple falling out or Michael Vick murdering dogs.
