Every two years, the main sporting events alternate as the richest in the world. The expectation is that the values of each will exceed US$10 billion in the next cycle.
To analyze the revenue of each of them, it is necessary to consolidate the revenues of the IOC (International Olympic Committee) and FIFA (International Football Federation) during the Olympic cycles and the World Cup (both 4 years). In fact, the two entities also present their results and projections considering this criterion.
It is clear that each of them has its own particularities, since the IOC’s figures also include revenues from the Winter Olympics, for example, and FIFA includes revenues created for the Club World Cup and the Women’s World Cup. But there is no doubt that the Olympics and the World Cup are the main events and responsible for most of the numbers.
Since the Olympics were postponed from 2020 to 2021 due to a pandemic, a longer period of five years was taken into consideration, making the draw in the final cycle of each event especially important. Conversely, though, there was no audience present for the competitions.
If the previous cycle of the Olympics was 5 years, the one in Paris will be only 3 years (from 2022 to 2024). Despite this, there are projections indicating that total revenue for the period will exceed the US$10 billion barrier.
Regarding FIFA, the entity published a budget of US$11 billion for the 2023–2026 cycle. With ticket sales and hospitality totaling (+US$2.6 billion), revenue growth is the primary projection. This is primarily due to the competition’s expansion from 32 to 48 teams as well as the strength of the North American market on the renowned matchday, or departure day.
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