SINGAPORE – The majority of over 700 respondents of a Consumers Association of Singapore (CASE) survey said they are watching the ongoing World Cup action for free, with just 5 per cent of them saying they paid for a subscription.

Announcing the findings in a Facebook post on July 8, CASE president Melvin Yong said 45 per cent of the respondents have been watching matches through free-to-air options, such as those by Mediacorp.

Another 22 per cent say they have been following the June 11-July 19 tournament via clips online or on social media, and only 5 per cent of respondents are watching games through paid subscriptions.

About half - or 49 per cent - of the respondents indicated that they were neutral to the statement “I find the subscription price of watching the World Cup reasonable”, with a combined 40 per cent either disagreeing or strongly disagreeing with the statement.

The standard subscription price of $118 for this tournament is unchanged from the previous edition in 2022.

The majority of the respondents, or 39 per cent, said they were watching only match highlights, while 26 per cent said they were watching some matches. Only 6 per cent of respondents said they watch the games regularly.

Held in the US, Canada and Mexico, the matches so far have kicked off between midnight and noon in Singapore.

Yong said the survey suggests that more people are able to enjoy the tournament without a paid subscription because more matches are being shown on free-to-air platforms, and highlights from the games are uploaded online quickly.

In February, Mediacorp annou...