Fifa’s sales strategy includes more tournaments and debt

Fifa’s sales strategy, detailed in a 25-page sales deck produced by JP Morgan, aims to persuade member associations to approve the sale of the World Cup’s commercial rights, which emphasizes increasing financial growth through additional tournaments, raised ticket prices, and debt financing. The document, entitled "Fifa Forward Enterprise Member Materials", proposes the establishment of a new commercial operations company, 20% of which would be sold to Joshua Kushner, a US investor and brother of Jared Kushner, who is Donald Trump’s son-in-law.

The prospectus suggests that Fifa's financial growth will also include a sign-up payment of $20m (£15m) extended to all 211 member associations, slated to be available as early as January. Additionally, it forecasts that the four-year Fifa Forward payments will rise to $24m for each member association by the 2035-39 cycle. According to JP Morgan, this financial expansion will stem from "a growing tournament portfolio," supplementary capital and debt sources, and prioritizing "high yield" partnerships and events. The possibility of more than doubling the global tournaments held annually from 200 to 450 is also mentioned; this shift could heavily impact player workload.

Raising revenue through more frequent World Cup tournaments is a central proposal, as Gianni Infantino had suggested making the World Cup biennial five years ago. Furthermore, the plan discusses potential TV coverage for major events like the World Cup being marketed to subscription channels or streaming services, aiming to enhance media rights monetization. Despite claiming that Fifa is "undermonetized," JP Morgan draws revenue comparisons to private sports leagues, highlighting that Fifa’s annual $3.6bn revenue lags behind that of the NFL, which stands at $21.2bn, Major League Baseball at $13.1bn, and the NBA at $12.5bn.

The document was distributed to all 211 member associations on Wednesday evening and sparked immediate concern. One prominent figure questioned why Fifa, which has approximately $4bn in cash reserves and $15bn in accumulated revenue over the current four-year cycle, would pursue debt. Another criticized the unusual comparison between a governing body and independent leagues, while details regarding the investor group, including their identities and potential returns, were notably absent. Equally significant was the complete lack of mention of women’s football throughout the 25 pages. Fifa did not respond to requests for comment.