Daily Archives: June 29, 2018

U.S. Young Adults’ Favorite Sporting Events

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Source: Statista.com

As everybody knows, American football, basketball, baseball and hockey are deeply rooted in North American sports tradition. The Super Bowl is followed by more than 100 million U.S. citizens and even the NBA Finals, as well as the World Series each attract an eight-digit number of viewers annually. But despite the fact that football is not a big deal in the U.S, it is surprisingly popular amongst young adults in the States.

Even though their national team failed to qualify, some 38 percent of all U.S. respondents in the age of 18 to 29 stated that they are likely to follow the FIFA World Cup anyway. This by no means reaches the share of potential followers of the Super Bowl, yet it hovers around the same rate of the NBA Finals and the World Series’ viewership in this age bracket.

Statista Infographic

The World Cup Is FIFA’s Cash Cow

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Source: Statista

The FIFA World Cup is not only one of the largest sporting events in the world, it is also a huge business. Mainly thanks to the sale of broadcasting and marketing rights, FIFA generates billions in revenue every four years and, as the following chart illustrates, enjoys a sizeable surplus after accounting for all costs.

Looking at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil for example, FIFA’s revenue amounted to $4.83 billion compared to just $2.22 billion in expenses. While TV rights ($2.43 billion) and marketing rights ($1.58b) were the biggest items on the plus side for FIFA, contributions to the local organizing committee ($453 million), TV production costs ($370m) and prize money ($358m) were FIFA’s biggest expenses for the 2014 tournament.

Interestingly FIFA set aside just $100 million for the FIFA World Cup Legacy Fund, which is meant to sustain the long-term impact of the tournament by financing infrastructure projects and other initiatives in the host country. Considering FIFA’s surplus of $2.6 billion, it seems like football’s global governing body could do even more to leave a meaningful legacy in the countries that set the stage for its biggest show.

World Cup Infographic