As the biggest global sporting event kicks off in Japan and South Korea later this month, millions of soccer fans will break from their busy work schedules to watch highlights of World Cup matches on their desktops.
For the first time in the tournament's history, on-demand video highlights of all 64 matches from May 31 to June 30 will be available on the official World Cup website.
But while this year's tournament is expected to draw more fans to the Internet than ever before, live webcasts of the games will still be noticeably absent.
Fans in Europe and the United States, separated by up to 16-hour time differences from Korea and Japan, will turn to the Internet to get timely results, rather than wait to see the games on television.
"We think it's a great offer for the West Coast, the East Coast and Europe," said Charles-Henry Contamine, head of Internet at FIFA, the world's soccer governing body.
"With most people around all parts of the world sleeping or just getting up when the games are in play in Asia, this is truly the first 'Internet World Cup,'" said Dean Jutilla, spokesman for Yahoo.
KirchSport, in partnership with FIFA and Yahoo (YHOO), will offer a premium subscription service for fans. For $19.95, subscribers will be able to catch four minutes of action from all matches, including voice-over commentary in six languages and post-game interviews.
The video highlights will be available two to three hours after the final match of the day, offered as part of FIFAworldcup.com's premium subscription service. The highlights will be available no earlier than 5:30 p.m. Central Europe Time each day.
In addition to highlights, subscribers can also access a graphics-based, real-time online feature called "Philips MatchCast," which offers live data such as running game clock times, match scores, statistics, current stadium weather conditions and play-by-play commentary.
But will fans pay for this service, when they can catch highlights on television for free?
"I think they will," said Norbert Specker, interactive media consultant and president of Interactive Publishing GmbH. "I think it will be highly successful. On the Net, there will be no alternative for live coverage.
"There will be heavy usage from the workforce," Specker continued. "During office hours, the Net is the preferred medium."
FIFA's World Cup site will complement rather than compete with television for viewers, Contamine said.
The site will be accessible from anywhere in the world. Translations will be available in six languages, unlike the official Olympics website, which is mainly offered in the Olympics' official languages of English and French.
The site will offer a fully indexed, searchable database. That means fans can search specifically for, say, U.S. goals or number of saves by Tunisia's goalkeeper.
Observers say that FIFA's partnership with Yahoo demonstrates a commitment to enhanced Internet coverage.
"It's an important first step," Contamine said.
But it's unlikely Internet news sites such as BBC Sports will be able to broadcast live action from the World Cup until after the 2006 tournament.
FIFA has issued a blanket ban that prevents other websites from featuring video clips of the World Cup, in order to protect broadcasters' rights.
"We don't want to jeopardize the rights of our broadcasters," Contamine said.
German television group KirchMedia, which owns the World Cup television rights, has objected to Korean broadcasting companies' plans to webcast live matches, claiming they have failed to meet quality standards for footage, as well as restrictions to limit Internet broadcasts geographically.
"(KirchMedia) will surely not broadcast live on the Internet," Contamine said.
For the television broadcaster, live Web broadcasts would be like "shooting themselves in the foot."
The World Cup isn't the first major sporting event to prohibit webcasts.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) banned any unauthorized webcasts of Olympic events or other related audio and video products until 2008 in order to protect television broadcasters' multi-million dollar rights deals.
NBC prohibited webcasting sports action of the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. Viewers had to tune in to time-delayed broadcasts instead of turning to the Web for live commentary.
"(During the Olympics) the IOC was frantically afraid of the Internet breaking through the safely guarded environment (of television rights)," Specker said, "whereas FIFA seems to embrace (the Internet) more openly because of its relationship with Yahoo."
In the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, NBC again delayed broadcasts. But the IOC granted limited Internet broadcasting rights to Swiss television rights holder Television Suisse Romande, which featured live streaming Olympics broadcasts on its website.
Television broadcasters might have reason to worry about their livelihood. Last month, KirchMedia filed for insolvency (PDF). Just this week, ITV Digital pulled the plug on its pay-TV channels.
"In a few years' time, the shape of the Internet will have evolved, and we may be thinking about (allowing video clips on the Web)," Contamine said. "But we're not there yet."
While it might not happen anytime soon, someday users may be able to catch a live video feed of a match in its entirety on the Internet or through their mobile phone.
"In the long run, there will be a solution for television rights, radio rights and Internet rights for the World Cup," Specker predicts. "You will see games over the Internet."
