4 ms·

What's new? I thought it has been known as a big-money thing for some time now.

skywhopper 3mo ago
FIFA has announced they plan to officially sell off everything to private investors, dropping all pretense of being a steward of a common good.
glitchc 3mo ago
FIFA made $~15 billion USD this World Cup, roughly double what they made in Qatar in 2022. There are many low-hanging fruit that can be optimized to increase that revenue by 10x.
- haunter 3mo ago
  The difference that FIFA ran the whole tournament now. There was no Local Organizing Committee (LOC) like with every single previous event.
  - ahartmetz 3mo ago
    I have never before seen "FIFA World Cup" used so much and I guess that's why. Do you enjoy watching FIA F1 or IOC Olympics? It's pushy and inconsiderate self-promotion that nobody wants to hear.
    - ascagnel_ 3mo ago
      I also wonder if it's a trademark thing -- there are other world cups, but there's only one FIFA capital-W world capital-C cup. Just off the top of my head, the last decade has had cricket, rugby, basketball, and ice hockey world cups.
- overfeed 3mo ago
  I didn't realize the commercial-block-sized "hydration breaks" were that profitable. For a second, I thought the Americanization[1] of fùtbol would be done gradually and no one would complain as we'd be slowly boiled. I'm glad the corrupt bastards got greedy/impatient and took a big swing. 1. Sports primarily as a business, catering to owners first, sponsors second, broadcasters third, and then lastly, fans. IMO non-profit sports organizations are the best model for fans, who I identify the most with.
  - glitchc 3mo ago
    Per-ticket prices were a big factor too. By turning it into an open bidding process, every ticket sold at close to its market value, and many above that.
    - skywhopper 3mo ago
      And they took a 15% commission on both sides of every aftermarket transaction. I’ve never seen such an overtly avaricious “marketplace”.
      - tremon 3mo ago
        Off in the distance, an app store rings its 30% bell.
    - herdrick 3mo ago
      Above? I don't know anything about these particular auctions, but how could any auction arrive at a price above market value?
    - ginko 3mo ago
      That one I can't be too mad about. Better FIFA gets the profits instead of ticket scalpers.
  - notahacker 3mo ago
    There were 40% more games than the last World Cup, which is a lot of extra broadcast rights and ticket revenues...
  - ifwinterco 3mo ago
    It is absolutely outrageous that FIFA unilaterally changed the structure of a football match (that’s been the same since the nineteenth century) with no consultation, just so they could show ads
    - throw1234567891 3mo ago
- lossolo 3mo ago
  > There are many low-hanging fruit that can be optimized to increase that revenue by 10x. The $15 billion figure is for FIFA's ENTIRE 2023-2026 revenue cycle, so not just this World Cup. But the obvious "low-hanging fruit" was making the tournamenta lot larger (104 matches instead of Qatar's 64), so a lot more tickets, hospitality sales, ads etc Also two 3 minute hydration breaks per match, giving broadcasters additional advertising windows. That's your "optimization".
  - notahacker 3mo ago
    Yeah, I can see them doubling that revenue by being even more extortionate with ticket prices and adding another 16 teams (as already planned to happen) to add more games. But the only way they 10x is to start running more FIFA competitions, and that's when they encroach on UEFA's cash cows...
  - throw1234567891 3mo ago
    Some good thoughts here. I could see a stretching break and maybe a rolling competition between halves.
jimbokun 3mo ago
The new thing is trying to take the organization from a non-profit to a corporation. Mainly so the executives can increase their already large compensation apparently. Interesting parallels to OpenAI.

FIFA has announced they plan to officially sell off everything to private investors, dropping all pretense of being a steward of a common good.

glitchc 3mo ago

FIFA made $~15 billion USD this World Cup, roughly double what they made in Qatar in 2022. There are many low-hanging fruit that can be optimized to increase that revenue by 10x.

haunter 3mo ago
The difference that FIFA ran the whole tournament now. There was no Local Organizing Committee (LOC) like with every single previous event.
- ahartmetz 3mo ago
  I have never before seen "FIFA World Cup" used so much and I guess that's why. Do you enjoy watching FIA F1 or IOC Olympics? It's pushy and inconsiderate self-promotion that nobody wants to hear.
  - ascagnel_ 3mo ago
    I also wonder if it's a trademark thing -- there are other world cups, but there's only one FIFA capital-W world capital-C cup. Just off the top of my head, the last decade has had cricket, rugby, basketball, and ice hockey world cups.
overfeed 3mo ago
I didn't realize the commercial-block-sized "hydration breaks" were that profitable. For a second, I thought the Americanization[1] of fùtbol would be done gradually and no one would complain as we'd be slowly boiled. I'm glad the corrupt bastards got greedy/impatient and took a big swing. 1. Sports primarily as a business, catering to owners first, sponsors second, broadcasters third, and then lastly, fans. IMO non-profit sports organizations are the best model for fans, who I identify the most with.
- glitchc 3mo ago
  Per-ticket prices were a big factor too. By turning it into an open bidding process, every ticket sold at close to its market value, and many above that.
  - skywhopper 3mo ago
    And they took a 15% commission on both sides of every aftermarket transaction. I’ve never seen such an overtly avaricious “marketplace”.
    - tremon 3mo ago
      Off in the distance, an app store rings its 30% bell.
  - herdrick 3mo ago
    Above? I don't know anything about these particular auctions, but how could any auction arrive at a price above market value?
  - ginko 3mo ago
    That one I can't be too mad about. Better FIFA gets the profits instead of ticket scalpers.
- notahacker 3mo ago
  There were 40% more games than the last World Cup, which is a lot of extra broadcast rights and ticket revenues...
- ifwinterco 3mo ago
  It is absolutely outrageous that FIFA unilaterally changed the structure of a football match (that’s been the same since the nineteenth century) with no consultation, just so they could show ads
  - throw1234567891 3mo ago
lossolo 3mo ago
> There are many low-hanging fruit that can be optimized to increase that revenue by 10x. The $15 billion figure is for FIFA's ENTIRE 2023-2026 revenue cycle, so not just this World Cup. But the obvious "low-hanging fruit" was making the tournamenta lot larger (104 matches instead of Qatar's 64), so a lot more tickets, hospitality sales, ads etc Also two 3 minute hydration breaks per match, giving broadcasters additional advertising windows. That's your "optimization".
- notahacker 3mo ago
  Yeah, I can see them doubling that revenue by being even more extortionate with ticket prices and adding another 16 teams (as already planned to happen) to add more games. But the only way they 10x is to start running more FIFA competitions, and that's when they encroach on UEFA's cash cows...
- throw1234567891 3mo ago
  Some good thoughts here. I could see a stretching break and maybe a rolling competition between halves.

jimbokun 3mo ago

The new thing is trying to take the organization from a non-profit to a corporation. Mainly so the executives can increase their already large compensation apparently. Interesting parallels to OpenAI.