(People's Daily Online) - Beijing, June 13 - The much
anticipated 2014 FIFA World Cup has kicked off in Brazil. For
soccer fans all over the world it is the top sports event,
happening every 4 years; while for the sponsor FIFA (Federation
international Football Association), it is a highly-profitable
commercial feast.
As the most popular sport in the world, soccer has incomparable
commercial value because of its worldwide audience and
strong-spreading power.
In the 1970s, along with the development of the media industry
and the process of globalization, the business potential of
soccer was exploited to an unprecedented level. And the FIFA
World Cup has taken the largest share of the soccer cake.
According to the evaluation of some foreign media, the Brazil
World Cup may create over 4 billion USD income for FIFA, 25
percent higher than the South Africa World Cup four years ago.
Television rights, commercial sponsorship and derivative
products make up the largest share of the total income of FIFA.
Around the Brazil World Cup, people will find the logos of
Adidas, Emirates Airlines, Sony, Hyundai, Coca Cola and other
companies.
For the host country, the World Cup can not only promote
economic development, but also bring opportunities for
diplomatic and cultural exchanges.
To host the 2010 World Cup, the domestic traffic infrastructure
of South Africa was given a huge boost. According to some
statistics, the event added 38 billion Rand (about 5 billion
USD) to the revenues of South Africa. Meanwhile, 1.3 million
jobs were created for the construction of the stadia and other
facilities, and in related industries like tourism.
The World Cup not only stimulates the economy of the host
country, but also greatly benefits the commercial sectors around
the world. Taking Germany as an example, during the 2010 World
Cup people spent over 240 million USD per day in bars when the
German team was playing. It was estimated that if the German
team reached the final, consumption in bars would exceed 840
million USD.
Besides the attraction of the sport, the FIFA World Cup also has
a profound influence on the fields of economy, culture and
politics.
Expenses and incomes of the three recent FIFA World Cups:
2006 in Germany: 1.6 billion USD was invested; the profit for
the host was 130 million USD and for FIFA 1.3 billion USD.
2010 in South Africa: 4 billion USD was invested; the host broke
even and FIFA made 3.2 billion UAD profit.
2014 in Brazil: 11.7 to 14 billion USD has been invested; the
profit of the host is still unknown, and FIFA is estimated to
have made over 4 billion USD profit.
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