The international governing body of Football associations, FIFA on Sunday said that it earned revenue of 7.5 billion dollars in the four years of commercial deals tied to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. The announcement regarding revenue and financials was made by FIFA during a closed-door meeting of the representative from 211 national football associations.
Reports suggest that earnings of the international football federation shattered records with the entry of three more sponsors just hours before the kick-off of the world cup. American online video streaming giant, YouTube, Visit Las Vegas, and UAE Based Fine Hygienic Holding signed sponsorship agreements with FIFA. The three sponsors who signed deals at the last hour are in the third-tier category of regional sponsors. Sponsorships from YouTube, Visit Las Vegas, and Fine Hygienic Holding helped FIFA increase its income by more than 1 billion dollars when compared to the previous commercial cycle linked to the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
The decision of FIFA to conduct the 2022 World Cup in Qatar has helped the federation in earning more income through advertisement and sponsorship agreements as several companies in the gas-rich country are backed by the government itself. Qatar Energy joined as a top-tier sponsor, and new third-tier sponsors include Qatari bank QNB and telecoms firm Ooredoo.
Qatar Energy based in Doha is a state-owned petroleum business entity that operates all gas and oil activities in the middle eastern nation.
Apart from this, FIFA also signed second-tier sponsorship deals with the financial platform crypto.com and a blockchain provider. The federation is signing with an American sponsor for the first time in a decade.
FIFA’s reserves will rise to about $2.5 billion despite the COVID-19 pandemic. FIFA was prepared to use that cash to help members through uncertainty in 2020 when national team soccer and World Cup qualifying games were almost entirely shut down.
Broadcast deals for the 2018 and 2022 World Cup were signed in 2011 when Sepp Blatter was the president of the organization. The broadcasting deals include agreements with BeIN Sports from Qatar and Fox in the United States of America.
Current FIFA President Gianni Infantino had promised in 2016 that the federation will increase cash-outs to member associations if he is elected as the president. The international governing body also in March 2022 announced that it is increasing basic grants for member states by 33 percent to 8 million dollars in total from 2023-27. The announcement was made at a meeting of member associations which was held in Qatar.
