The scale of the financial damage wreaked by FIFA’s year of turmoil is starting to become apparent, with revenue from marketing rights to the World Cup, the governing body’s flagship tournament, down over $100 million (£69 million/€89 million) – or 29 per cent – in 2015 from the equivalent figure in 2011, the corresponding point in the previous four-year commercial cycle.
Interestingly, however, the carnage has not come at the FIFA Partnership level, the top tier, even though the world body has one fewer such sponsor in 2015 – five – than the half-dozen on board four years ago.
Between them, this quintet – Adidas, Coca-Cola, Gazprom, Hyundai/Kia and Visa – contributed exactly $180 million (£124 million/€159 million) in 2015, according to FIFA’s just-published financial and governance report.
This compares with $177.125 million (£122.211 million/€156.881 million) chipped in by Adidas, Coca-Cola, Emirates, Hyundai/Kia, Sony and Visa four years earlier.
This contribution remained constant through the subsequent three years running up to and including the Brazil 2014 World Cup.
This made for an overall contribution of $708.5 million (£489 million/€627.5 million), or an average of just over $118 million (£81 million/€105 million) each.
Assuming the current five FIFA Partners similarly pay $180 million (£124 million/€159 million) per annum right through to Russia 2018, this would make for an average of $144 million each (£99 million/€128 million)– in effect, a 22 per cent uplift in the ticket price for top-tier FIFA sponsorship.
It is not known whether each individual FIFA Partner does in fact pay the same amount to belong to the programme.
The picture turns bleak for FIFA only when scrutinising the sums raised from lower sponsorship tiers.
The FIFA World Cup sponsors category contributed only $44.5 million (£31 million/€39 million) in 2015.
This compared with $130.8 million (£90.2 million/€115.8 million) in 2011 – an annual total that was broadly maintained all the way through to Brazil 2014.
Companies falling into this category then included the likes of Budweiser, Continental and Yingli Solar.
The national supporters category generated a big fat zero in 2015, compared with $28.6 million (£19.7 million/€25.3 million) in 2011 – a total that increased to more than $40 million (£27.5 million/€35.5 million) in each of the next three years.
National supporters of Brazil 2014 included Apex-Brasil, Itaú and Liberty Seguros.
- By David Owen
- Republished with permission insidethegames.biz