From Sleeping in Cars to a Global Cash Machine: How the World Cup Became a Business Giant

The World Cup began in 1930 as a modest football project, not a money-making spectacle. FIFA president and World Cup founder Jules Rimet hid the first trophy in his suitcase as a few dozen players, coaches, and officials sailed for about two weeks from Europe to Uruguay on the Italian luxury ship Conte Verde. Players improvised workouts on deck, and balls kicked too hard disappeared into the Atlantic. The tournament was meant to give football its own stage outside the Olympics, and, as Dr. Tomer Padalon of Tel Aviv University and INSS put it, early organizers thought only about the love of the game, not billions in broadcast rights and sponsorships.

Padalon says the competition turned into one of sport’s biggest business successes over the last 30 to 40 years, with FIFA now taking about 80 to 85 percent of its income from the World Cup. Revenue comes from tickets, sponsors, broadcasting, and merchandise. Yet most of the hosting costs fall on the host country or cities. That arrangement emerged after FIFA lost heavily in the 1929 Great Depression, forcing Uruguay to shoulder nearly everything for the first World Cup, and was reinforced in 1934 when Benito Mussolini hosted and built new stadiums in Italy.

He says cities and countries often host despite limited financial upside. Chicago skipped the 1994 World Cup because then-mayor Rahm Emanuel refused to accept the costs, and Padalon says promised tourism rarely offsets them. Because the tournament is spread across multiple cities, the economic burden and benefits are also dispersed. He adds that expensive tickets and flights mean sports tourists often do not spend much on hotels, restaurants, or shopping, citing fans sleeping on beaches in Brazil and in cars in Germany.

For 2026, the tournament will be held in the United States, Canada, and Mexico, with the field expanded from 32 teams to 48 to increase FIFA’s earnings. Padalon says the hosts already have solid infrastructure, so the main costs are upgrades, not new builds, unlike Qatar, which built everything from scratch, including a metro. But travel between host cities is expensive, with a New York, New Jersey trip that typically cost $12 rising to $150 before falling to $95. Ticket prices have also soared, from about $30 in 1994 to around $300 now, and final-match demand remains enormous, with about one billion viewers for the final and roughly four billion people reached overall.