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Football is the most watched sport in the world. More than 3 billion people watch sports during the time of world cup. The Qatar world cup is going to be no different. The football governing body i.e FIFA will is keen for the world cup to be a huge success and the 28-day long tournament will for sure bring them billions of dollars. A world cup is always a fruitful event for them due to their importance to the world and the revenue they bring will also come from all around the world.

FIFA is dependent on one event for its revenue. According to financial statements, 83% of its revenue during the four-year cycle from 2015 to 2018 was attributed directly to the 2018 FIFA World Cup. Qatar World Cup 22 is estimated to be the record World Cup in terms of Revenue for FIFA. Many business insiders predict that Qatar’s world cup will break the all-time high revenue of 5.4 Billion dollars set by Russia in 2018. Fifa Estimates that they will be around 6.5 billion dollars in revenue from the world cup in Qatar. That’s one billion dollars more than the world record.

How are 5.4 Billion Dollars generated?

If you can say the answer in a single word, the word will be ‘Fans.’ Without the fans, FIFA won’t even generate a penny. 

FIFA has pre-sold the broadcasting rights for the world cup. Every country has its broadcaster, though it depends on broadcasters to distribute it free to the audience or charge them. Broadcasting rights makes up a huge amount of revenue for FIFA. It is estimated almost 1.85 billion US dollars were made from selling broadcasting rights all around the world.

Since the world cup is in Qatar a fairly small nation with not many citizens and is a lot away from Europe and South America which means traveling by road transport was not an option for them. It meant many hotels were booked out and almost 240000 hospitality packages were sold out to the fans. The Hospitality package is another source of revenue for the world cup.

There will be 64 total games played at the world cup and millions of tickets have already been sold. According to FIFA, they have already pre-sold three million tickets, 2.89 million to be exact. With tickets, only FIFA might cross one billion dollars in revenue. And let us not forget about the sponsorship that FIFA will get during the world cup. Big companies like Adidas and Coca-Cola are some of its major sponsors. Sponsors are not just for balls and stadiums instead every accessory in the world cup will be sponsored. The drinks, the hoarding boards, or even the stands. Everything is sponsored. Those sponsors have surely played millions if not billions to FIFA to have their name during the Display of the tournament.

The revenues for FIFA are not limited to this. FIFA is also earning money from the hosts. For a country to host a tournament, they need to first be involved in the bidding war and whoever wins the vote, gets to host the tournament. FIFA has also set up some Fan-Parks in various places in the world. They also make for a very good revenue source. 

Fans don’t only buy the tickets, do they? Fans have to fly to Qatar to see the games. So, Fans’ expenditure is all of FIFA’s revenue for the cup. FIFA also gains a little from the national team’s jersey sales. Some countries like Brazil, Argentina, Portugal, and England register millions in the sale of jerseys. Even the little amount gained from the jersey sales may result in huge profits for FIFA. FIFA also has a stack of boots and other merchandise for sale.

FIFA also has managed some stores outside of the world cup venues to sell their merchandise and national team jersey’s as well.

Not only FIFA but Qatar also expects to grow its economy by more than 17 billion USD as they welcome millions of tourists from all around the world, who will bring them a lot of revenues. Qatar has built a lot of stadiums and facility areas. Although some might have to be broken down, some will be helpful in the future. When you are hosting something as prestigious as the world cup, your name is heard by the world. This will hugely increase tourism in Qatar.

Revenues During the Previous World Cups since the 21st century

• Korea/ Japan 2002: 1.6 Billion USD
• Germany 2006: 2.6 Billion USD
• South Africa 2010: 4.2 Billion USD
• Brazil 2014: 4.8 Billion USD
• Russia 2018: 5.4 Billion USD

We can see how much revenue has improved for FIFA if we compare the 2018 edition to the 2002 edition. It is on an upwards train and if it goes as per the predictions of the economists the trend will continue in this world cup as well. According to renowned economists, the 2022 rendition of the FIFA World Cup, can generate up to $7 billion in revenue.