Qatar WC: Revenue expected to surpass all previous records

With the formal kicking off of the once-in-a-four-year and much-awaited FIFA World Cup, football fever has gripped all across the globe.The biggest extravaganza of football started on November 20 in Qatar and will be held till December 18. Eight stadiums across Qatar will be hosting the 64 matches of this showpiece event.As global audiences set the stage for memorable sporting achievements on the field, off the field there are commercial and reputational opportunities across the entire technology, media and telecommunications sector, according to a new analysis by global financial information and analytics services provider S&P Global Market Intelligence.Based on its analysis, it pegged that Qatar is expected to generate USD 6.5 billion, surpassing all previous tournaments and at four times the figure seen in Korea and Japan in 2002.The federation FIFA operates as custodian of the game, with all income distributed back into the sport. Expenses consist of event-related costs, development payments to member nations, governance and other administration costs.During the 2018 football world cup in Russia, revenue worth USD 5.2 billion was generated, it said in its analysis report.”Analysis of the last complete four-year World Cup cycle that led up to Russia 2018 shows that just under half of FIFA revenue came from broadcasting rights fees,” it said in the report.