The most expensive World Cup football match in history officially started, but the landlord Qatar lost 0:2 to Ecuador in the first match, setting a shameful historical record for the first landlord country to lose in the opening match. Although Qatar has successfully become the center of global attention, the price it has paid has been very heavy.
The Most Expensive World Cup Ever
Statistics show that as the first ever World Cup to be held in the Middle East and Arabia, Qatar has spent US$229 billion to host this World Cup.
How much of an expense is this? In previous sessions, Russia spent 11.6 billion US dollars in 2018, Brazil spent 15 billion US dollars in 2014, South Africa spent 3.6 billion US dollars in 2010, Germany spent 4.3 billion dollars in US in 2006, South Korea and Japan spent a total of 7 billion US dollars in 2002. France and the United States in 1994 spent US$2.3 billion and US$500 million, respectively.
This means that the amount spent by Qatar is almost 5.2 times the amount spent in the last seven sessions.
It will be held for the first time in the northern hemisphere winter
There are many reasons for the need to spend so much money, but Qatar’s climate is the biggest factor.
Due to the tropical desert climate here, the maximum temperature may reach over 50 degrees Celsius in the summer from May to October, which makes this year’s first choice to be held in the northern hemisphere winter, but even in November, the average temperature in Qatar still reaches almost 30 degrees, and the huge temperature difference at night makes it difficult to hold the competition.
For this reason, Qatar installed air conditioners in the stadium for the first time and invested heavily in building hardware.
In addition, due to the conflict between match time and football seasons of different countries, Qatar had to resort to huge amounts of player subsidies and huge bonuses to attract players to participate. The reigning champion team will receive US$42 million in prize money, an increase of US$4 million over 2018 and a record high. The runner-up team will receive US$30 million and the third runner-up US$27 million.
Fortunately, the Qatari family is rich enough to help them maintain the position. Qatar is rich in oil, natural gas and related related resources, among which natural gas reserves rank third in the world, crude oil reserves rank fourteenth in the world, and helium reserves rank second in the world.
Total revenue is estimated at less than $5 billion
In addition, although huge losses cannot be avoided, football events are already highly commercialized, which can help them offset some costs.
Broadcast rights are the main source of income. The World Cup has the largest audience of any sporting event.
According to FIFA data, a total of 3.572 billion people watched the World Cup in Russia. Asia remains the largest viewing group, with 1.6 billion Asians watching the World Cup, accounting for 43.7% of the total viewing population. And China is the country with the largest number of people watching the World Cup in the world, 656 million people watched the World Cup in Russia, accounting for 18.4% of the total audience.
A sufficient audience will naturally help attract sponsors to participate. Statistics show that the total sponsorship of Chinese enterprises in the Qatar World Cup has reached 1.395 billion US dollars, ranking first in the world, and the United States is second with 1.1 billion US dollars.
On an annual basis, Chinese companies topped the list with US$207 million in sponsorship value per year, followed by Qatari companies at US$134 million and US companies at US$128 million.
FIFA estimates that the 2022 World Cup in Qatar is expected to generate total revenue of US$4.666 billion.
This also means that for the next month or two, Qatar has made great efforts for many years, and it may take many years in the future to prove whether this crazy huge investment is worth it.
