Thanks to Yahoo, the 2006 FIFA World Cup has been outfitted with more interactive bells and whistles than any previous tournament: blogs, chats, contests, photos, interactive city guides, news and
commentary, as well as live animated MatchCasts and three-to five-minute video highlights of each game as they conclude. Fans attending the games in Germany will also be able to post their personal
photos and video, YouTube-style, in an attempt to make the international soccer federation's site the de facto Web portal for all things World Cup. User-generated content seems to have become a
standard requirement for many Web content providers these days, but one has to wonder how long the fad will last. However, for a short tournament like the World Cupit's only a month longthe
opportunity to give fans a space to convene or to vent and argue seems like a good idea. As a global game, it also lets users from all over the world interact with each other. All these "sticky"
features are designed to get more page views out of visitors, and create more inventory for advertisers to buy. For the World Cup, Yahoo is experimenting with corporate sponsorships for each of its
separate features. For example, Adidas is sponsoring a tournament goal counter, while Global Gillette is sponsoring the award for Best Young Player, which users will vote on at the site.
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