Every four years a worldwide competition is held to trump all others. It draws more viewers and supporters than any other competitive sport and arguably has more history.

It’s the World Cup.

This year, Cristiano Ronaldo, David Beckham and Ricardo Kaka will all be participating in the 2010 tournament, which will take place in South Africa. If you’re as unfortunate as I have been, you will be stuck watching from a couch or a bar. However, due to technological advances, that may not be such a tragic thing.

Soccer’s world governing body, FIFA, announced at the end of last year that 25 World Cup matches would be broadcast in 3-D. South Africa, Ronaldo, Beckham and Kaka just got a whole lot closer.

Sony, an official FIFA sponsor, is largely responsible for this advance. Sony and FIFA signed a media rights agreement concerning this endeavor. In a press release, Sony Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer Sir Howard Stringer stated, ‘Sony is the only company with expertise in every part of the 3-D value chain,’ which essentially makes the company the Donald Trump of 3-D technologies.

Sony and FIFA unveiled the 3-D broadcast plans earlier this month, revealing that the June 11 match between South Africa and Mexico will be the first World Cup match to be broadcast in the third dimension.

Not to rain on anyone’s parade, but just because this is being broadcast in 3-D does not necessarily mean you’ll be able to see it in 3-D. In order to capitalize on this close and personal view of soccer, viewers will need a 3-D television, along with those really stylish 3-D glasses. Good thing I kept my pair from ‘Avatar.’

Luckily, Disney’s ESPN, which will be broadcasting the games in the U.S., was one of the first to sign with FIFA and Sony for 3-D viewing rights. For citizens of countries that do not support 3-D broadcasts, a handful of the matches will be broadcast in cinemas and other large venues around the world. Arun Media, which holds exclusive rights to the 3-D airing of the World Cup outside of television, is planning to host screening events in 26 countries.

However, if you landed an internship or plan on traveling during the summer, sitting down and watching the matches might not exactly be an option for you. The good news, though, is that all you really need to enjoy these matches (sans 3-D action) is a phone. This is the first year in the history of the World Cup that stations and news outlets will stream live match footage to phones.

The British Broadcasting Company reportedly has plans to implement its iPhone app to stream live matches to audiences. ESPN is reportedly planning to offer 56 matches of the World Cup on ESPN Mobile TV and VCAST Mobile TV.

Don’t have a phone? First, welcome to 2010 — get one. And second, it is likely that match footage will be offered for online viewing.

Technology is making classic, cherished events like the FIFA World Cup more accessible to people around the globe at an exceedingly quick pace. Now the only thing missing is scratch-and-sniff screens. No, I’m just kidding. I’m sure Ronaldo doesn’t smell anywhere near as good as he looks.

Jessica Smith is a sophomore information management and technologies and television, radio and film major and the technology columnist. Her column appears weekly, and while she’s sad this is her last column, she is glad she’ll have more time to watch Cristiano Ronaldo in 3-D. She can be reached at jlsmit22@syr.edu.

Published on April 28, 2010 at 12:00 pm