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. 

The article is edited and translated from《世界杯的足球经济学》, source: The Beijing News, author: Liu Xiruo.