● From our sister site, TheSportsExaminer.com ●
The world football governing body FIFA announced last week in its annual report for 2024 that it had revised its revenue budget for the 2023-26 quadrennial from the already-amazing $11 billion U.S. to $13 billion U.S., now including expected revenue from the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup, to be played in the U.S. in June and July.
In contrast, outgoing International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach told a media roundtable last week that, as reported by the Chinese news agency Xinhua, that the IOC had confirmed revenues for the 2021-24 quadrennial – Tokyo to Paris – of $7.7 billion, a slight increase from the $7.6 billion it earned from 2017-20/21 (with the delay of the Tokyo Games), with the details to come in its annual report, out this summer.
So, this is all over, right? FIFA is now the unquestioned leader among the international sports organizations in revenue and the most powerful force in international sport, right?
Uh, not exactly.
First, let’s see where all that money is coming from (mostly the same places; IOC figures from 2017-20/21):
FIFA 2023-26: forecast $13.0 billion
● 32.8%: broadcast rights ($4.264 billion)
● 21.9%: sponsorships ($2.846 billion)
● 23.8%: tickets and hospitality ($3.097 billion)
● 15.4%: FIFA Club World Cup 2025 ($2.000 billion)
● 0.6%: licensing and other ($793 million)
IOC 2017-20/21: actual $7.6 billion
● 61%: broadcast rights (~$4.64 billion)
● 30%: sponsorships (~$2.28 billion)
● 9%: other (~$0.68 billion)
● 0%: tickets and hospitality
Check that last number, a zero for tickets and hospitality, because that’s where this story actually starts. Because FIFA and the IOC, for so long more or less in sync with their business models – like everyone in the Olympic sports universe – have diverged.
Following the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar and the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, FIFA dispensed with the traditional “local organizing committee” concept.
There isn’t one for the 2026 World Cup in Canada, Mexico and the U.S. FIFA does it all from its offices in Coral Gables, Florida and receives all of the revenue from broadcasting, corporate partners, tickets and all the rest.
The IOC, on the other hand, has retained the Host City model, although it’s more spread out now thanks to Bach’s Olympic Agenda 2020. The Olympic Host Contract is signed with a city or region, which stands up an organizing committee of thousands of staff – Paris 2024 had 4,200 – and tens of thousands of volunteers, all selected and trained locally.
So, the Olympic model splits its revenue with its organizing partners, taking in money from broadcast rights and some sponsorships, but leaving almost all of the ticketing revenue and single-Games sponsorships (and any government support) to the local organizers.
So, when an Olympic quadrennial revenue total is calculated, it has more parts than FIFA. For the 2025-28 quadrennial which includes the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Games and the 2028 Los Angeles Games, the total looks like this:
● $7.4 billion: IOC revenue commitments 2025-28 (now)
● $6.9 billion: Los Angeles 2028 revenue budget (now)
● $1.6 billion: Milan Cortina 2026 revenue budget (€1.5 billion)
That total is $15.9 billion, with the IOC’s revenue expected to climb further; for example, the commitments from new TOP sponsor TCL are not included in the $7.4 billion total shown. The eventual total will surpass $16 billion, about 23% more than FIFA’s stupendous $13 billion projected total.
Bach also noted that the IOC already has commitments for the 2029-32 quadrennial of $6.5 billion U.S., with the organizing committees for French Alps 2030 and Brisbane 2032 just starting up.
Olympic sharpies will quickly note that government expenditures for construction for the new hockey arena, sliding track and Milan Olympic Village are not included in these Olympic totals; quite true, and neither are the construction efforts required by FIFA to adapt stadia to its requirements for the 2026 World Cup, especially in the U.S., where fields need to be widened. These costs are borne by governments in some cases and private facility owners in others, who are banking on a financial bonanza from visitors to the event. However, this money is never seen by either FIFA or the IOC, or the Olympic organizing committees and thus is not shown above.
FIFA’s do-it-yourself approach will be interesting to watch in the coming years, as it takes the men’s World Cup to six countries for 2030 – with multiple stadiums to be built – and then to Saudi Arabia in 2034, with a half-dozen or more facilities to be constructed.
The IOC, under Bach, has moved in the complete opposite direction, insisting that no new venues be built unless part of a long-term plan for use by the community. No doubt, the IOC is watching FIFA’s experience closely, as the IOC itself has gradually taken over elements of the staging of the Olympic Games from local organizers, for example hospitality, results and sports registrations, with more coming.
But despite FIFA’s imposing $13 billion revenue projection for 2023-26, the Olympic Games is no laggard and continues to generate more revenue per four years.
But, as American sports watchers know, both FIFA and the IOC are paupers compared with the annual revenues of of the giant domestic club leagues, led by the National Football League at $19.2 billion annually as of 2023, Major League Baseball ($11.2 billion), the National Basketball Association ($10.6 billion) and so on.
Now that’s real money.
~ Rich Perelman
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