WORLD CUP TICKETS GENERATE REPORTED $5BN FOR FIFA

FIFA earned a reported $5 billion (£3.8 billion) from ticket and hospitality sales at this summer’s World Cup in North America. FIFA has not confirmed the ticket and hospitality figure. The tournament featured 104 matches, 40 more than the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. FIFA expanded the number of qualifying nations and added a knockout round. The reported sales figure exceeded FIFA’s forecast and formed part of reported overall World Cup revenue of $15 billion (£11.27 billion).

Ticket and hospitality sales at the Qatar tournament brought in $929 million (£697 million), according to the figures cited for that event. The reported North American total was more than five times that amount. FIFA president Gianni Infantino defended the prices charged for tickets during the tournament. England’s Football Supporters’ Association called the prices “scandalous”. FIFA says it operates as a non-profit organisation and uses its revenue to develop football around the world.

Infantino said FIFA earns money during the World Cup’s one-month run every four years. “The 47 months until the next World Cup, we spend that money,” he said. He said FIFA invests its revenue in organising the game across 211 countries. FIFA has not confirmed how much of the reported ticket and hospitality income it received from tickets alone.