More than 6 million fans came together at the official FIFA Fan Fests, organised by FIFA together with the South African Host Cities and six international cities - with the Final Match having proved to be an outstanding highlight in all South African cities, with a total of 290,000 at the 10 FIFA Fan Fests.
For the first time in the FIFA World Cup™ history, a 31-day event was staged parallel in 16 cities across the world. A total of 2,634,018 fans in the ten South African venues and 3,517,805 fans in Rome, Paris, Berlin, Sydney, Mexico City and Rio de Janeiro watched the 64 matches on giant screens at the official FIFA Fan Fests in a peaceful, joyful and colourful manner over the course of the tournament.
All 10 South African host cities made great efforts to provide free access to watching the FIFA World Cup matches for all South Africans and the international visitors being in town during the tournament. The best attended venues were the three mostly sunny coastal sites of Durban 741,533, Cape Town 557,483 and Nelson Mandela Bay/Port Elizabeth 276,742. The opening Bafana Bafana match and Final were the two most well attended in South Africa (total of approx. 600,000 visitors). The central venues suffered from low temperatures, still FIFA is very satisfied with the overall visitors per day across all South African FIFA Fan fest venues.
The impressive International FIFA Fan Fest™ average attendance figures of 23,452 spectators per day across the six venues show that there is demand for public viewing outside of the host country. Maximum capacities were reached in all venues when the national team played, let by Berlin´s 350,000 spectators during the Germany vs. Spain Semi-Final , followed by Rio de Janeiro´s 83,759 during the Brazil Vs. Ivory Coast match and Mexico City´s 93,500 during the Argentina vs. Mexico match. Fans also ignored time differences, so in the middle of the night in Sydney, 29,450 fans joined together to watch the Germany vs. Australia match. The best frequented venue of the International FIFA Fan Fest™ based on average daily attendance was Paris with a total of 461,500 visitors.
More than just posting record numbers, the leverage of the competition onto an even higher global stage and the fantastic atmosphere generated through these events turned the FIFA World Cup™ into a huge success. Nowhere else but in the stadiums has the FIFA World Cup™ spirit been this present. The cities made their most historic and iconic squares available, which were decorated in the official FIFA World Cup look, which brought Africa to the world. The FIFA Fan Fest was a gathering point for fans, free of charge and open all day. Prior to and after the live matches, the stage/screen was used for attractive entertainment programmes, concerts and shows. Food, beverage and official fan merchandise products were all available on-site.
The FIFA Fan Fest was extensively covered by the media. In particular, SABC for the FIFA Fan Fest South Africa and the respective Official Media Supporters of the International FIFA Fan Fests triggered countless hours of live broadcast from the sites and shared the footage amongst each other. Overall, more than 5,200 accredited media members reported from the FIFA Fan Fests.
Only with the participation of the FIFA Partners Coca-Cola, Emirates, Hyundai and Sony for the International FIFA Fan Fest and FIFA Partner Coca-Cola as the Presenting Sponsor of the South African FIFA Fan Fest™ and MTN and NeoAfrica as Sponsors of the FIFA Fan Fest South Africa this great event was possible.
Huge logistical operations and the smooth co-ordination between the key stakeholders FIFA, cities, Sponsors and Media Right Licensees have been the base for this success. 5,300 permanent on-site staff ensured that everything ran smoothly. Local authorities have developed comprehensive security measures, which have been implemented without any major incidents.
FIFA was responsible for the overall project management and the coordination of the operation as well as for providing the technical infrastructure, such as the giant screens, stages, sound, lighting for all 16 venues. 34 high quality giant screens, a 1,7 million watt sound and 3,3 million watt lighting systems ensured a truly great fan experience while watching the matches.
16 stages were installed on various challenging surfaces such as sand, water and unlevelled concrete. FIFA´s equipment was running well despite extreme temperatures between -4° (Bloemfontein) and +38° (Berlin) for four weeks and had to cope with a lot of dust, moving sand at the beaches and heavy storms in Cape Town and Nelson Mandela Bay/Port Elizabeth with wind speed up to 100km/h.
FIFA also provided the official FIFA World Cup branding materials of a total of more than 50,000 sqm in the official FIFA World Cup design. More than 180 FIFA technicians were permanently on site. 120 trucks transported the basic infrastructure to and from the venues.
The 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany has put the FIFA Fan Fest as a very distinct point for any FIFA World Cup on the map. In 2010, FIFA not only succeeded in providing this free access platform with their partners in all 10 South African cities, but elevated the FIFA Fan Fest to the next level, enabling fans without stadium tickets around the globe to experience the FIFA World Cup. The FIFA Fan Fest will be a vital part of future FIFA World Cups. That decision has long been made – by the fans. ” said FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter.