This year’s FIFA World Cup takes place in Qatar from November 20th until December 18th. Despite disrupting this year’s European soccer season and getting marred by controversy.
The start of the tournament is likely to be another spectacle and will be followed by millions of fans across the globe.
A look at various aspects of business in 2022’s FIFA World Cup, from sponsors to prize money and costs and attendance figures for stadiums.
FIFA has several sponsorship levels. They include FIFA Partners, FIFA World Cup sponsors, and regional sponsors. The FIFA governing body is adopting a new structure with four levels.
By separating the women’s and sports branches from the men’s, FIFA hopes to increase the overall revenue from sponsorship.
German sportswear manufacturer Adidas is a FIFA Partner,
There are currently seven FIFA Partners with worldwide rights. And can make use of FIFA’s brand during every tournament in all branch offices:
- Adidas (sportswear)
- Coca-Cola (beverage)
- Wanda Group (conglomerate)
- Hyundai/Kia Motors (automotive)
- Qatar Airways (airline)
- QatarEnergy (oil and gas)
- Visa (financial services)
The second level has made up of World Cup Sponsors. They have worldwide rights and are restricted only to World Cup tournaments (in preparation and actual tournaments).
FIFA is home to Seven World Cup Sponsors:
- Budweiser (alcoholic beverage and part of the Anheuser-Busch InBev)
- Byju’s (educational technology)
- Crypto.com (cryptocurrency platform)
- Hisense (electronics & home appliances)
- McDonald’s (restaurants and real estate)
- Mengniu Dairy (dairy products)
- Vivo (consumer electronics)
In the current setup, FIFA has between six and eight slots for FIFA Partners in addition to World Cup Sponsors. In the future, there will be an additional tier between the two, which gives the rights to all tournaments within the specific branch (the women’s, men’s, or sports).
The 2022 FIFA World Cup also has Regional Sponsors. These companies also have rights to the tournament but are limited only to one (or several) out of five areas. FIFA can only have four organizations per region.
- GWC (supply chain solution) | Africa and the Middle East
- Ooredoo (telecommunications) | Africa and the Middle East
- QNB Group (financial services) | Africa & Middle East
- The Look Company (visual engagement solutions) | North & Central America
- Frito-Lay (snack food) | North & Central America
- Algorand (blockchain) | North America & Europe
- Claro (telecommunications) Claro (telecommunications) South America
- Nubank (financial services) | South America
- UPL OpenAg (agrochemical) | South America
The FIFA World Cup is the main event of the governing body and generates income. The total revenue forecasted for 2022 (World Cup year) is $4,666 million.
The figure has comprised of five major revenue categories. The sale of broadcasting rights is the most significant contributor making up 56 percent of total revenue, and is worth $2,640 million.
Revenue from sponsorship (marketing rights) is second with $1,353 million and accounts for 29 percent. Ticket sales and rights to hospitality license rights and other income and revenue total $673 million.
In terms of cost, the total investment budget for 2022’s FIFA World Cup Qatar is $1,696 million. It’s a drop from $1,824million of expenses incurred during this year’s FIFA World Cup Russia.
Nine different kit brands are the sponsors of all 32 World Cup teams. Nike is the biggest supplier of nations with 13. This has been followed by Adidas (seven countries) and Adidas, a FIFA Partner.
In addition to being a technology provider, National federations also team with other corporations. However, the strict guidelines of FIFA to safeguard their brand and revenue stream makes it challenging for the companies to advertise their brands around the World Cup.
FIFA has announced an overall prize money payout of $440m, including the tournament champions winning $42 million.
The prize money for the 2022 FIFA World Cup
| Place | Prize cash |
| Winners | $42 million |
| Runner-up | $30 million |
| 3rd place | $27 million |
| 4th place | $25 million |
| 5th-8th place | $17 million |
| 9th-16th position | $13 million |
| 17th 32nd | $9 million |
Addition to the prize pool of $440 million cash prize. There’s the sum of $48million ($1.5 million per nation participating) in preparation funds available. Therefore, each country participating will earn a minimum of $10.5 million.
2018 World Cup in Russia, the prize money was $400 million. The champions France received $38 million, and second-placed Croatia took home $28 million.
The contrast from the 2018 FIFA Women’s World Cup, with an overall prize fund of $30 million, with the winner winning 4 million dollars, is significant.
Five cities will host eight stadiums. Will be hosting 64 games, with the final being played in Lusail.
The Lusail Iconic Stadium is home to a capacity of around 80,000. In addition, the Al Bayt Stadium in Al Khor has the second-highest capacity of 60 000. Doha, Al Rayyan, and Al Wakrah each have two stadiums capable of 40 and 45,000.
Stadiums are expected to be redesigned following the World Cup, with excess seats going to other countries or utilized to host the 2030 Asian Games.
Stadium 974 will be dismantled entirely after the World Cup, making it the first stadium that is not a permanent one ever in World Cup history. The stadium is constructed of recycled shipping containers of 974 (974 is an international code for Qatar’s dialing), and the components will be donated to less developed countries after the tournament.
Every stadium has cooling systems to control temperature. This was initially necessary because of the extreme heat of Qatar’s summers; however, in December and November, temperatures can reach highs also.
To date, the four highest attendance numbers during the FIFA World Cup were all in the 1950 World Cup in Brazil. The stadium with the largest attendance was the Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Uruguay defeated Brazil in front of an estimated 173,850 fans. A previous match between Brazil and Spain at the same venue was attended by 152.772.
The fifth and sixth-highest attendance numbers (both at 114,600) did not occur at the 1950 tournament. However, they were in a group game and the final match in Mexico City in 1986.
The biggest attendance total at a sporting event was in 1994’s FIFA World Cup USA. Greater than 3.5 million spectators were present for 52 matches.
