Attendance at World Cup Fan Fests and Public Viewing Areas has been hard hit by Mzansi’s cold temperatures and the clashes of less popular teams.

With temperatures over the paste 17 days of the World Cup dropping to below freezing – various fan sites have had to resort to beefing up their entertainment line-up to attract the crowds.

This is the first year that FIFA have introduced Fan Fests into countries other than the hosting nation – with Rome, Paris, Sydney, Mexico, Rio and Berlin all in on the action.

The Football Governing body has hailed this as a success – with the likes of Berlin drawing in a total of over 385 000 viewers to the city’s Big Screen area.

This is a far cry from the number of people that have braved South Africa’s colder inland venues to catch the games at the likes of Innes Free Park in Sandton – or the Elkah stadium in Soweto.

The biggest Fan Fest turn-outs for Mzansi have been at the warmer coastal towns of Durban and Cape Town – so far drawing in a total 375 000 and 300 000 viewers respectively

The 2006 Germany World Cup pulled in a total of 8 million viewers to the country’s fan fests – but despite FIFA having 16 sites around the world for the 2010 World Cup – the total at day 18 sits at 3 million.

It remains to be seen whether the recently added entertainment line-ups at Mzansi’s viewing areas will be reason enough for fans to ditch their heaters and blankets at home – for a spot on the grass at one of SA’s 10 FIFA fan fests.