Commentary: Soaring World Cup ticket prices could bring in US$15b for FIFA, but where will the money go?
In the 2023-26 cycle, the budget for competitions rose from US$2.45 billion to US$5.62 billion, about a 130 per cent increase, while the budget for development increased only 44 per cent, and its share of budgeted revenues dropped from 44 per cent to 36 per cent. FIFA could argue that maximum revenue is needed to cover costs of future events and fund football development, but that is not the whole story told by FIFA’s 2027-2030 budget. Total additional costs are set at around US$3 billion, with the main driver being competition and events. Crucially, for the 2019-2022 cycle, development was 44 per cent of the costs; for 2023-2026, it dropped to 36 per cent of the costs; and for the 2027-2030 cycle, it is budgeted to further decrease to 29 per cent of costs. Undoubtedly, these numbers will change, but they currently do not signal that FIFA is going to use its additional ticketing revenue to support broader football-related or social change investments. That is perhaps not surprising, as FIFA has faced governance challenges in …
