Billions of Dollars for Billions of Viewers

Few sporting events capture the attention of the world in the way the FIFA World Cup does every four years. Thanks to the truly global nature of the sport, billions of people follow the World Cup, making it a very lucrative event for the organization behind it, FIFA.

According to the global footballing body's latest financial report, it expects to earn $3 billion selling TV rights in the ongoing World Cup cycle, i.e. the four-year period leading up to this year's tournament in Russia, the lion's share of which (more than 95 percent) can be attributed to World Cup broadcasting rights. The 2014 World Cup in Brazil was broadcast in 207 territories across the globe for a total of 98,000 broadcasting hours, which translates into more than 11 years of World Cup coverage and earned FIFA roughly $2.5 billion.

In general, the FIFA World Cup is a highly profitable event for FIFA. After the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, FIFA's surplus amounted to $2.6 billion.