More and more Dutch people are turning on the television to watch the football players’ matches. On Saturday to Sunday nights, more than 660,000 people watched the eighth final against South Africa on NPO1. Nearly 400,000 people watched the Lionesses’ group match against the USA, the only previous game the footballers had played on a Dutch night. Football association KNVB expected lower attendance figures.

This has not led to the company buying more advertising time on television around the quarter-finals on Friday at 3am Dutch time. The Ether Advertising Foundation (Ster), which sells advertising space to public broadcasters, expects interest to increase if the football players reach the semifinals or final. This match took place at noon in the Netherlands.

TV marketing organization Screenforce supports Ster’s image. Director Michel van der Voort added that ‘being involved in a World Cup or European Championship requires a long period of preparation’ and that ‘advertisers find it difficult to make this happen in such a short timeframe’.

The KNVB thinks that companies will be more responsive to the orange rush in the coming days, especially via social media. Precisely because there is no longer time for advertising on television and target groups can also be easily reached online, said Dennis Hogenboom, KNVB partnerships manager. Companies that have advertisements about football players include ING, Albert Heijn and KPN. According to Hogenboom, only ING has explicit advertising on television.

Even on the shopping street you can hardly see the football World Cup taking place. Retailers association INretail attributed this to unprofitable playtime. “This is in line, because before the World Cup there was less attention to men from retailers,” said Jeroen van Dijken, director of interests and policy. The reason is, the tournament is being held in Qatar and there are concerns about human rights in that country.

INretail also expects retailers to get in on the orange rush if the footballers reach the final four. Stores will then offer deals on orange televisions and gadgets, for example, Van Dijken expects.