FIFA ‘rake in £6billion with commercial deals tied to Qatar World Cup’
FIFA have pocketed a record amount of commercial revenue in the four years leading up to the Qatar World Cup.
The governing body revealed on Sunday that commercial deals tied to the tournament have earned them a whopping £6.4bn, over £1bn more than the period leading up to Russia 2018.
The numbers were revealed during a closed-doors meeting of more than 200 FIFA member federations, with three new sponsors, one of which was YouTube, being announced just hours before the opening game.
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Key broadcast deals were signed during Sepp Blatter’s presidency in two-tournament deals that included the Russia World Cup. They included deals with Fox in the US and Qatari broadcaster BeIN Sports that were sealed in 2011.
Revenues are expected to reach around £8.5bn for the next four years thanks to a new financial strategy for women’s footballer and the expanded 2026 World Cup in the United States, Canada, and Mexico – which will consist of 48 teams instead of the usual 32.
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FIFA is a non-profit organisation and invests most of its income back into the development of the game. Other than the World Cup, competitions like the continental championships (Euros, Copa America etc) and the FIFA Confederations Cup also bring in tons cash for the Switzerland-based governing body.
FIFA pledged to give more money to member federations when they gathered in Qatar in March, promising their basic grant would rise by 33% to £6.8m in total from 2023-27, with President Infantino insisting to voters after being elected president back in 2016: "It’s your money, not FIFA’s money."
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