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The World Cup; a win for everyone

by
Juan Camacaro
Quantfury Product Communication Team
The World Cup; a win-win for everyone

Sports have conquered the interest of human beings since ancient times. Being one of the methods of entertainment, and even means of life, from many years ago until today, evolving greatly over the centuries. Millions of people around the world have their favourite sport, but everyone knows what is considered the king of sports; soccer.  

Soccer is the most-watched sport worldwide, filling a large part of the world’s population with joy, excitement and strength. The Soccer World Cup is the most important event of this sport, held every 4 years, with the participation of 32 countries from the 5 continents. A total of 64 matches are played, where only one team will be consecrated as the best in the world, taking this triumph home to celebrate with the fans.  

The Qatar 2022 World Cup will be the 22nd edition of the Men’s World Cup organized by FIFA, and will be held at the end of 2022. The World Cup is not just another sports tournament; it has become a very lucrative business model that includes the sale of television rights, marketing, the hospitality of the host country or countries, and improving the infrastructure of the host country considerably. Generating jobs and even talent hunting for future stars for the most important and powerful clubs in the world. 

How profitable is it for the organizing body (FIFA) and for the host country? FIFA expects a turnover of 4.6 billion dollars this year, taking advantage of the commercial boost from the World Cup season. For television rights, it has guaranteed 2.6 billion dollars, representing 56% of the total.

Sponsorships would contribute some US$1.3 billion for the time being, representing 29% of the bill, with major companies such as Coca-Cola Co (NYSE: KO), Adidas AG (BATS: ADS), Visa Inc (NYSE: V), McDonald’s Corp (NYSE: MCD), Anheuser-Busch InBev (BATS: ABI), among others. Ticket sales and hospitality are estimated to bring in US$500 million while licensing fees will bring in US$140 million.  

The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) expects to reach a record revenue of US$ 7 billion after the Qatar 2022 World Cup. Gianni Infantino, FIFA president, announced during the annual congress held in Doha, the Qatari capital, that in March 2022, they had already reached their revenue target of 6.4 billion dollars for the 2019-2022 financial year and that by the end of the year they would reach almost 7 billion dollars.

In relation to tourism, Qatar expects around 1.5 million visitors during the tournament. The Supreme Committee organizing the World Cup signed an agreement with a hotel group to avoid the construction of hotels that would not be used for the country’s regular tourism. The agreement was signed in Doha in the presence of Sheikh Khalid bin Khalifa bin Abdulaziz Al Thani, Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior of Qatar, and the Committee’s Secretary-General, Hassan Al Thawadi, together with Sebastien Bazin, President and CEO of Accor SA (BATS: AC), establishing the agreement that the hotel giant “Accor” will provide personnel in this operation, the largest in the world in the area of real estate with services.

In addition to having a range of top hotels, such as Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc (NYSE: HLT), Marriott International Inc (NASDAQ: MAR), and InterContinental Hotels Group (NYSE: IHG), among other first-class hotel groups.

On the other hand, the Arab country’s Minister of Finance, Ali Bin Ahmed Al Kuwari, assured that the multi-million dollar investments for the celebration of the World Cup have not been expenses “for the Cup” but “for the country.” He said there is no doubt that this great event helps all sectors of the economy, construction, logistics, food, hospitality … all benefit and will continue to benefit even beyond the World Cup, expecting to generate a boost of $ 20 billion for the country’s economy.

And what do the participating teams receive?

Just for qualifying for the World Cup, each of the teams will receive around US$ 2 million dollars, and regardless of whether they reach the group stage, they will be able to earn more than US$ 8 million for placing 17th to 32nd. Of course, all eyes are on the ultimate prize, leaving a juicy purse for the team that emerges victorious in Qatar 2022, who will pocket an amount exceeding US$41 million, taking home the trophy and glory that comes with it. 

Who will win the Qatar 2022 World Cup? We may not know the flag yet, but what is certain is that the real champions are the fans, the host country and soccer worldwide.

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