Abstract
This article analyzed how the profile of the teams and quality of the matches influence the rating figures during the broadcasting of live soccer matches. It confirmed that national teams (Rosenborg in this case) are especially popular, but also that other teams can be extremely popular (Manchester United and Liverpool in this case)-independent of the viewers geographical origin. When such teams are eliminated from a tournament-or do not even qualify-this can hit the TV channels financially. The data also revealed that even if soccer matches attract high rating figures, this is no guarantee that the prematch sections will also attract high rating figures. The median viewer of Champions League matches started to watch when the match was about to start, and thus did not take any interest in the prematch commercials. Hence, the optimal solution for profit maximizing channels may be to start the program shortly before the match. If there are few who watch the long prematch and postmatch sections, then the alternative costs of screening them will be high, particularly if the channel could have alternatively broadcast other attractive programs.