The "world’s most-watched sporting event" is considering a 50% expansion that "could unlock billions in revenue" for global football, media companies and sponsors, according to Eben Novy-Williams of BLOOMBERG. As part of a meeting focused on reform to FIFA, the organization’s exec committee on Thursday "again discussed enlarging the World Cup field to 40 teams from its current 32, and increasing the number of games to 96 from 64." A bigger tournament "would also last a week longer than the current, one-month schedule." The proposal reflects the sport's "rapid growth outside its traditional hotbeds." Significant money "is at stake." The month-long tournament generates "almost all" of FIFA’s revenue. In the four-year period that included the 2014 World Cup, FIFA earned about $5B, "nearly half of which came from the global media rights to the tournament." Marketing and sponsorships account for 29%, and "adding eight more home markets would increase visibility" for World Cup sponsors such as Coca-Cola and adidas, FIFA’s longest-standing corporate partners. Beijing-based LeTV Sports VP Yu Hang said that if the additional slots mean China makes the World Cup for the first time since '02, it would trigger about $1.56B in total spending within the country. A tournament that did not include the Chinese national team "would garner one-tenth of that, he estimated." More games could "also benefit" networks that already own the rights to the 2026 games, like Fox Broadcasting and NBCUniversal’s Telemundo in the U.S., which "this year negotiated an extension of their preexisting contract without bidding being opened to competitors." If FIFA approves the proposal, Fox and Telemundo could have 50% more games against which they can sell advertising -- "at no additional cost to the networks" (BLOOMBERG, 12/4).
