Why the World Cup half-time show may be a taste of things to come

But British football content creator Ellis Platten is “not a fan” of some initiatives at this year’s World Cup, including the half-time show or the hydration breaks.

The hydration breaks take place 22 minutes into each half and have been used to show adverts on some US networks.

“I get that it’s the World Cup final, but it’s the most-watched event in the world already and I don’t think you need to add these things to it,” he tells us.

“Being a football fan in a stadium, by the end of half time people are quite restless.”

Platten, 28, has been travelling around the host nations to watch World Cup games for the last month.

He says he is “curious to see how the half-time show affects the game in general”.

Ifab have previously rejected proposals to extend football half-times beyond 15 minutes, citing concerns over player welfare and the potential for injury after prolonged inactivity.

“You’d almost have to make a sub at half time because of player welfare,” Platten notes.

He adds: “They’re not thinking about that, they’re just thinking ‘oh we can have Justin Bieber on stage’ but Messi’s in a World Cup final – I think he’s slightly more important.”

Glover agrees and says she is “not sure football needs” a half-time show.

“The World Cup this year feels very American, I’m watching coverage in the US and you’ve got so many adverts, they barely do any analysis,” she says.