July 3 – Here’s a surprise for the doubters: the hydration breaks everyone grumbled about are barely denting the TV audience.

New analysis from Octagon Media Rights Consulting found matches on Fox and FS1 in the US lost just 2 – 3% of viewers during the breaks, even though most of them went to full screen ads under a hybrid approach.

“It’s not nearly the impact that you think it would have,” said Octagon director Justin Beitler. “I don’t think the actual viewer thinks it’s that big of a deal. We’re also so used to commercial breaks in sports in the US.”

The real drop off is at halftime, a 14% fall, in line with the AFC and NFC Championship games, though well short of the NBA Finals’ 24%. So, the thing fans were worried about isn’t the problem. The old-fashioned interval is.

Telemundo, which stayed with a camera on the pitch rather than cutting to full screen ads, actually saw its group stage audiences keep building through the same stoppages.

There’s a bigger idea lurking here, and it’s worth watching. Could a league like MLS use hydration breaks to lift its media value? Beitler thinks there’s something in it.

“Growth has stagnated,” he said, pointing to the flood of soccer streaming deals. “Part of that is because the advertising inventory isn’t substantial. If you can add [hydration breaks] in and grow that advertising inventory even a little bit, that’s certainly helpful.”

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