A 20% jump in income from its Asia and North Africa region "enabled FIFA to generate marginally more TV revenue from the 2014 World Cup than the previous edition in South Africa," according to David Owen of INSIDE WORLD FOOTBALL. This was in spite of a near 10% "decline in revenue from the key European region." Analysis of the governing body's financial reports since '07 reveals that "revenue from television broadcasting rights to Brazil 2014 crept ahead by just 0.9% compared with South Africa 2010" -- from $2.405B to $2.426B.
The advance "was attributable to increases from Asia/North Africa and also the Americas and the Caribbean." These offset "declines from Europe and the rest of the world." While the hefty 20% Asia/North Africa advance "might be considered mildly surprising, the pattern is otherwise as might have been expected, given the differing time-zones in which the two competitions were played."
Revenue from Europe dipped 9.5% from $1.289B to $1.167B. As a consequence, the traditional heartland of the game "fell below the 50% threshold in 2014, contributing 48.1% of overall TV revenue from the Brazilian competition, against 53.6% four years earlier, when the South African time-zone was more readily compatible with peak European viewing hours."
Revenue from Asia/North Africa climbed from $503.5M for '10 to $604M. North America and the Caribbean advanced 16% from $211.1M to $245.2M. Meanwhile, revenue from South and Central America rose from $329.3M to $355.8M -- equivalent to a surprisingly modest 8%, given that this was the '14 competition's home region (INSIDE WORLD FOOTBALL, 3/30).
