For the Game, for the World

The World Cup has existed since 1930. This tournament brings together the best soccer teams all across the world. The World Cup is really one of the only events that bring most countries together. That is what makes it so special. The world cup isn’t just soccer games; it is a celebration of the world. What or who is in charge of making it all happen? How is it paid for? I will give brief details to answer these two questions.

First, since 1930, the Federation International of Association Football (FIFA) has sponsored the games. Every four years they are responsible for making sure that the Cup takes place. FIFA uses the World Cup to generate a lot of money which they do through media marketing. In the 2010 South Africa World Cup FIFA generated $3.7 billion in sales. $2.4 billion came directly from television sales. The other $1.3 billion came from marketing and sponsorship sales. With this revenue, FIFA is able to create a reserve which funds its activities for the next four years until the next World Cup.

The World Cup is hosted in a different country every four years. And in more cases then not is very harmful to hosting country. Because of the high demand of bringing in teams from all over the world and their loyal fans, hosting countries have to build new stadiums, remodel old ones, fix airports, build hotels, and fix roads. Depending on how outdated the country is, this could be a very expensive event. Most countries go into extreme debt and through the games and tourism make only 10 percent back of what they put into it. This dramatic occurrence is called the “World Cup Effect.”

While there may be many negative aspects to the World Cup, the positive side always outweighs. The unification of the world for the short period of time is very addicting. The World Cup has made the world a better place to live in.