World Cup Hydration Breaks: $250 Million in Advertising in the US alone, So Are They Here to Stay?

“Americans have been used to in-play advertising for 40, 50 years, so culturally it fits right in,” said Rob DeGisi, a lecturer in sport management at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School.

“There’s very little pushback. Any change that makes the games more Americanized will be embraced without people noticing.”

Fellow US broadcaster Telemundo, which shows the match in Spanish and targets Latin Americans, is one of the few broadcasters that has opted not to show commercials during the break.

During Canada’s opening match last week, its commentator said: “We like the old-school approach. We should be able to see what the players do.

“We show the fans, people enjoying themselves, not the corporate side of football.”

BBC Sport has approached Fox Sports and Telemundo for comment.

The ads are also being used in other major markets around the world, including Mexico, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, China, Japan, India, Australia, the Middle East and sub-Saharan Africa.

Broadcasters in these regions won’t be able to charge as much as Fox Sports, and not everyone is running them for the maximum duration allowed, but the total amount collected will be huge.

“When you start to scale it against all the rest of the countries, it probably adds up to a billion dollars (£756m) from hydration break advertising around the world.”

Keeping an eye on products during in-game breaks does not, however, guarantee success.

“Will advertisers meet enough dissatisfaction with hydration breaks that it negates the value of advertising?” T. Bettina Cornwell, marketing major at the University of Oregon.

“It’s the case that when brands violate the expected experience, in this case game flow, fans can react negatively.”