The Most Profitable World Cup in History

Summary

Big Take Podcast Episode Summary

"Who’s Really Paying for This Year’s World Cup?"

Date: June 11, 2026
Host: David Gura
Featured Guest: Vanessa Perdomo (Bloomberg sports business reporter), Andrew Zimbalist (Smith College sports economist)

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Episode Overview

This episode investigates the true financial impact of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, the largest in history, hosted jointly by the US, Mexico, and Canada. The discussion focuses on who benefits most financially—FIFA or the host cities and countries—and at what cost to fans and local governments. The show scrutinizes FIFA’s revenue strategies, particularly dynamic ticket pricing, the immense burden on host cities, and broader implications for the future of mega-sporting events.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. The Scope and Scale of the 2026 World Cup

• 48 teams, 104 matches: The tournament expanded from previous formats, intensifying its scale, logistics, and revenue potential ([02:08]).
• Three host nations: Matches will be held across the US, Mexico, and Canada—a first for FIFA ([02:38]).

"It's by far the largest on a million different scales...104 matches instead of 60 or so. So on that scale, it is going to be the biggest sporting event the world has ever seen outside of the Olympics."
—Vanessa Perdomo [02:08]

2. Revenue Drivers for FIFA

• Record profits anticipated: FIFA expects to generate $11–13 billion, doubling the previous World Cup ([06:27]).
• Dynamic ticket pricing: This new model saw tickets reach exorbitant prices (finals tickets up to $20,000; cheapest tickets for popular matches in the four-figure range) ([07:33]).
• FIFA’s nonprofit status: The justification for the enormous income is under scrutiny. The stated aim is reinvestment in global soccer, but transparency is questioned ([06:41]).

"It's hard to say why a nonprofit needs to generate that much money."
—Vanessa Perdomo [06:27]

3. Fans' Backlash and Ticketing Crisis

• Fan outrage: Both US and especially European fans are shocked by the ticketing approach, which contrasts with capped pricing at other major football events ([08:28]).
• Secondary markets and investigations: Accusations that FIFA may be releasing large blocks of tickets onto resale markets have prompted political and regulatory investigations ([09:28]).
• US fan perspective: While high ticketing is not new for American fans (cf. Super Bowl, NBA Finals, big concerts), the prospect conflicts with purported goals of growing accessibility in the US ([08:28]).

"Oh, there was absolutely immediate outrage, especially immediate outrage from European fans who do not understand this ticket pricing...They have a very capped system in Europe."
—Vanessa Perdomo [08:28]

4. The True Cost for Host Cities

• Host city contracts: Cities must bear costs for security, sanitation, transportation, and fan zones—none of which are subsidized by FIFA ([13:41]).
• Federal US funding: $625 million in federal funds were allocated (approx. $60 million per US city), but total city costs can easily top $100–$200 million each ([14:40]).
• Net losses for hosts: With rare exception, host cities lose money; the economic "boon" is largely myth ([15:26]).

“If you have on one side of the ledger a cost of $100 million to $200 million, on the other side of the ledger you essentially have zero. Then that's the financial fallout. Some cities, like Chicago... turned it down because they realized they would be losing money on it.”
—Andrew Zimbalist [14:40]

• Why host? The prestige and notion of global visibility ("sports diplomacy") motivate cities and countries, despite expected financial losses ([15:45]).

5. Unique Challenges for Mexico and Canada

• Security concerns in Mexico: A major focus for Mexican organizers, amid a unique set of logistical and ticketing challenges ([16:28]).
• Perceived as a US-centric event: Canadian and Mexican participation feels overshadowed by the scale and attention the US commands ([16:28]).

"I have talked to people in those areas, and they feel like this World cup is thought of as the US's World Cup. And we're just kind of here being talked about a little bit, but not a lot."
—Vanessa Perdomo [16:28]

6. Immigration Policy and Attendance

• Visa hurdles: US immigration crackdowns have affected where teams camp (e.g., Iran staying in Mexico) and kept some international fans away ([17:28]).

"...Fans of certain countries like Iran and other countries are not allowed. They're simply not allowed. And they didn't really change that for fans."
—Vanessa Perdomo [17:28]

7. The World Cup Model Going Forward

• Future tournaments: Likely to replicate this expanded, revenue-generating model in subsequent World Cups, especially in markets willing to support aggressive ticket pricing ([18:59]).
• Different markets, different rules: Europe’s capped pricing rules mean future tournaments hosted there will revert to more accessible pricing ([18:59]).

"There's no way FIFA's going to go back to $5 billion in revenue after generating over $11 billion."
—Vanessa Perdomo [19:51]

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Memorable Quotes & Timestamps

• [02:08] Vanessa Perdomo: “It's by far the largest on a million different scales...the biggest sporting event the world has ever seen outside of the Olympics.”
• [03:39] Vanessa Perdomo: "...the main thing we're going to see is more games, is more revenue. FIFA takes all the revenue from every single game that happens, so it’s hard to say that’s not the end goal there."
• [06:27] Vanessa Perdomo: “This World cup is expected to generate anywhere between 11 and $13 billion. And it's hard to say why a nonprofit needs to generate that much money.”
• [07:33] Vanessa Perdomo: “Dynamic ticket pricing basically is a fluctuation system, right?...When you have 500 million people saying they want those tickets, the prices skyrocket..."
• [08:28] Vanessa Perdomo: “There was absolutely immediate outrage, especially...from European fans...They have a very capped system in Europe.”
• [14:40] Andrew Zimbalist: "...if you have on one side of the ledger a cost of $100 million to $200 million, on the other side of the ledger you essentially have zero. Then that's the financial fallout."
• [15:26] Andrew Zimbalist: "...virtually, with universal agreement, found that hosting the World cup games is not a boon to the local economy either. In the short run, in the long run."
• [16:28] Vanessa Perdomo: “...they feel like this World cup is thought of as the US's World Cup. And we're just kind of here being talked about a little bit, but not a lot.”
• [17:28] Vanessa Perdomo: “…Fans of certain countries like Iran and other countries are not allowed. They're simply not allowed. And they didn't really change that for fans.”

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Segment Timestamps

• [01:47] World Cup kickoff and personal excitement
• [02:27]–[03:53] Scale of the tournament and FIFA’s motivation
• [05:07]–[06:41] FIFA’s expansion rationale and expected revenues
• [07:30]–[09:52] Dynamic ticket pricing, fan backlash, policy scrutiny
• [13:15]–[15:41] Financial burdens on host cities, the myth of economic benefit
• [16:17]–[16:47] Experiences in Canada and Mexico as co-hosts
• [17:14]–[18:47] Immigration and attendee restrictions
• [18:47]–[20:05] Outlook for future World Cups

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Conclusion

This episode of Big Take provides a critical deep dive into the economics of the 2026 World Cup. While FIFA stands to record unprecedented profits, the financial and logistical burden largely falls on host cities and fans, sparking widespread criticism. Expansion, dynamic ticket pricing, and complex geopolitical factors paint a picture of a tournament that is bigger—and more exclusive—than ever before, with lessons and precedents likely to shape the future of global sports mega-events.

Transcript

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[Andrew Zimbalist]

the

[David Gura]

2026 FIFA World cup kicks off today in Mexico City.

[Andrew Zimbalist]

Oh my God,

[IBM Representative]

the biggest world.

[Vanessa Perdomo]

I never thought that I would actually be going to FIFA World Cup. The World cup is in my backyard. In one way or another, I am

[Chase Bank Representative]

going to be a part of it.

[David Gura]

The tournament is expected to be historic.

[Vanessa Perdomo]

It's by far the largest on a million different scales. Right on this fact that there's 48 teams instead of 32, 104 matches instead of 60 or so. So on that scale, it is going to be the biggest sporting event the world has ever seen outside of the Olympics.

[David Gura]

Vanessa Perdomo covers the business of sports for Bloomberg. She says this year's cup also marks the first time FIFA's matches will be spread across three host countries, Mexico, Canada

[Interviewer]

and the United States.

[Vanessa Perdomo]

I think they like being able to say we have the biggest tournament in the world. This is the biggest sporting event ever. I think the way they will try and frame it is that we're getting more people involved, but I think the main thing we're going to see is more games, is more revenue. FIFA takes all the revenue from every single game that happens, so it's hard to say that's not the end goal there.

[David Gura]

But that increase in revenue could come along with headaches for fans.

[Vanessa Perdomo]

There is growing backlash tonight over the cost of ticket prices for the World Cup.

[Public Investing Representative]

Why are the World Cup 2026 tickets so expensive?

[Vanessa Perdomo]

Flights expensive. Yeah. Hotels expensive. Food expensive. And then Fif said, wait, let's make the tickets crazy, too.

[Andrew Zimbalist]

Some of the ticket prices for the final match at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey just outside of New York City, some of them are going now for 15 or $20,000 per ticket.

[David Gura]

That's economist Andrew Zimbalist. And the countries hosting the matches also face some big hurdles. Who stands to profit the most? And with ticket prices for marquee games in the tens of thousands of dollars, who is the people's game for?

[Andrew Zimbalist]

Well, there's this mythology out there that FIFA uses and that the IOC uses for Olympics. And the mythology is that since the entire world is fascinated by the games and people around the entire world will be watching the games, streaming or on television, that there's a tremendous amount of exposure that your city gets from hosting the games. If there are a couple of billion people around the world who are tuned in to the game, then those couple of billion people will learn something about your city. Well, they might or they might not.

[David Gura]

I'm David Gura and this is the big take from Bloomberg News today On the show, FIFA's big bet to turbocharge the 2026 World cup to make it the most profitable World cup in history. Who's getting rich and who's footing the bill? So the World cup is here.

[Interviewer]

I'm curious if you're going to go and if there are any matches that are like top of mind for you that you're most excited about?

[Vanessa Perdomo]

Well, I am going to go. I'm going to the first match in Philadelphia this weekend, which I'm really excited about. But also the first match at MetLife against Brazil. Morocco, I think is going to be one of the best big games of the group stage. It's going to be amazing.

[David Gura]

This year's World cup is FIFA's biggest ever, with 50% more teams and more than 60% more matches. I asked Bloomberg's Vanessa Perdomo for her read on why FIFA decided to expand this year's tournament.

[Interviewer]

Why did they make those changes? Is it just purely opportunistic, like they could add more games, more participants, or was there a need to kind of do that this time around?

[Vanessa Perdomo]

There definitely wasn't a need for it. You know, I don't think anyone in the soccer landscape had asked for it. The players certainly hadn't asked for it. The federations didn't ask for it either. You know, you already have players who are. Their seasons are really long anyway. International soccer is a huge timeframe, so it wasn't needed. A lot of people liked the way the last few tournaments work, but this isn't the first time we've seen an expansion. We see expansions throughout time. And I think that it was just an opportunistic thing where they thought, let's add more people in. And there's both sides to it. Now you're letting in new nations, teams who have never been here before, which is really exciting. And I think that's part of what the World cup is about. But it was really opportunistic from FIFA to decide we want to expand the tournament. This is what we're seeing. With the club World cup added last year, it's just adding more tournaments to add more revenue for FIFA.

[Interviewer]

FIFA saying this is going to be the most profitable World cup yet. How much money is this tournament expected to generate?

[Vanessa Perdomo]

That's a very interesting question. And you know, this World cup is expected to generate anywhere between 11 and $13 billion. And it's hard to say why a nonprofit needs to generate that much money.

[Interviewer]

Which FIFA is.

[Vanessa Perdomo]

Which FIFA is a nonprofit. The last World cup generated about 5 to 6 billion dollars. So I think that what they will say is this goes into soccer federations around the world, and it's about growing the game around the world, and particularly when you come into the US Market, which they need to do a lot of growing the sport in the US to try and bring it up to

[Interviewer]

the rest of the world as A

[David Gura]

nonprofit for FIFA's stated mission is to promote the development of soccer around the world. The organization makes money in all kinds of ways, from marketing and licensing rights to valuable broadcast deals with companies like Fox and Telemundo. But another big way FIFA makes money is from ticket sales. And this year, FIFA introduced what they call variable pricing, a system that sent ticket prices through the roof.

[Interviewer]

For the uninitiated, how does dynamic ticket pricing work?

[Vanessa Perdomo]

Dynamic ticket pricing basically is a fluctuation system, right? It's. They had 500 million people say they wanted tickets for stage one of the world cup entry round, entry round of tickets. And those tickets were said to be starting at 65, $69. And by the time you have 500 million people saying they want those tickets, the prices skyrocket because of supply and demand.

[David Gura]

That system has pushed the price of the cheapest tickets for some of the most popular matches into the four figures range. And the best seats are running at $10,000 or more. By contrast, a ticket to this year's Champions League final in Budapest was capped at €950, or roughly $1,100.

[Interviewer]

What has the reaction been like from fans to using this model? I mean, I feel like I got the first emails about tickets now. It was a long time ago, many, many months ago. But has there been kind of a slow boil? Was there immediate outrage? How have fans reacted to using this system?

[Vanessa Perdomo]

Oh, there was absolutely immediate outrage, especially immediate outrage from European fans who do not understand this ticket pricing. They do not understand what dynamic ticket pricing is. They have a very capped system in Europe. So there was a lot of people saying that they were planning on traveling over, but they can't afford it anymore because of, you know, the ticket pricing. Why would they go? So there was immediate outrage on that front. And then obviously, you know, us fans aren't happy either. You know, you, you'd thought you'd be able to take your family potentially to some of these games. The whole idea is that it's supposed to grow soccer in the US but if you can't take your family or whoever to games, you're kind of cutting people off there. But at the same time, when we look at tickets for the super bowl, when we look at tickets for the NBA Finals for a Taylor Swift concert, this is what we're used to in the US

[Interviewer]

have policymakers and politicians kind of put their finger on this, this outrage? Have we seen them react to this in any way?

[Vanessa Perdomo]

Oh, they definitely have. We've seen a lot of Congress people come up and step up and say we need to do something about the ticket pricing. There has been an investigation now into ticket pricing and we saw a report recently actually that someone had pointed out that there were huge groups of tickets available on secondary ticket pricing, which could be FIFA trying to sell them in a different way.

[Interviewer]

In a way, really, there is an

[Vanessa Perdomo]

investigation into it because, you know, they don't want empty stadiums. There is a risk that you are going to see stadiums and see the broadcast that they might not be empty, but they're not going to be as full as they would have initially thought.

[David Gura]

Skyrocketing ticket prices could mean additional revenue for FIFA, but what could it mean for host countries preparing for an influx of soccer fans?

[Interviewer]

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[David Gura]

For FIFA, expanding the World cup and introducing dynamic ticket pricing might seem like a pretty good deal, but for cities, it's less cut and dry.

[Andrew Zimbalist]

If you're a host city for the World cup, you sign a contract as a host city with FIFA, and that host contract requires the city to take care of all of these needs.

[David Gura]

Andrew Zimbalist is an economist and a professor at Smith College who studies the business of sports.

[Andrew Zimbalist]

Security is one of them. Transportation is another one. Sanitation is another one. Producing fan fests in the city is another major expense. So the host city agreement with FIFA says it's the city's responsibility to take care of all of this. FIFA is going to earn over this quadrennium, this four year cycle that the current World cup will take place in. FIFA's going to earn something like $13 billion. They're not sharing any of that loot with the costs of actual hosting.

[David Gura]

In the US the federal government has stepped in to help shoulder some of these costs. The Trump administration has made $625 million available to US cities hosting world cup games. It's an investment that comes after more than a year of FIFA courting the president directly. The organization has leased an office in Trump Tower, and FIFA's president bestowed on Trump the first ever FIFA Peace Prize.

[Andrew Zimbalist]

There are 11 host cities in the United States, so we're talking roughly about 60 million per city. That's a good chunk of money, but it's not nearly enough. On the cost side, the estimates are running between 100 million and $200 million per host city. I think some of those figures might be too conservative, but nonetheless, if you have on one side of the ledger a cost of $100 million to $200 million, on the other side of the ledger, you essentially have zero. Then that's the financial fallout. Some cities, like Chicago, were offered the opportunity to host games and turned it down because they realized they would be losing money on it.

[David Gura]

With the exception of Russia in 2018, every World cup since 1964 has lost money.

[Andrew Zimbalist]

Economists who have done independent scholarship on this question have virtually, with universal agreement, found that hosting the World cup games is not a boon to the local economy either. In the short run, in the long run.

[David Gura]

So ask Bloomberg's Vanessa Perdomo why a country would do this.

[Vanessa Perdomo]

I think for this tournament and for other things like the LA Olympics that are coming up, you want to be seen as, you know, the eyes of the world are on you. Which is really enticing. But I think it's the idea of, especially under President Trump, using sports as a beacon of light and a unifying hope, because it really is that. And I think it's just a way to be perceived better by the public.

[Interviewer]

Sports diplomacy.

[Vanessa Perdomo]

Sports diplomacy, exactly.

[Interviewer]

We've talked a lot about the us. How about Canada and Mexico? How are they. How have they been preparing for this World cup and thinking about how to maybe avoid massive cost overruns in those two countries?

[Vanessa Perdomo]

Mexico has been putting a lot of, you know, strain and thought into security for this tournament. Very big for them. But also I've heard in Mexico, they're also not happy with the way that things are being run and the way that ticket prices are being handled in Mexico as well, which is interesting because they actually have a completely different system, totally different than here, totally different than in the us. So I think fans across, you know, Mexico and Canada are also feeling the same sort of problems that we are, but they have a very different system because they have a lot less games. But I have talked to people in those areas, and they feel like this World cup is thought of as the US's World Cup. And we're just kind of here being talked about a little bit, but not a lot.

[Interviewer]

A backdrop to all of this is the Trump administration's crackdown on immigration. And I'm curious, sort of how that has affected who's been able to get here to play and watch games. Who might be affected going forward. What do we know about that?

[Vanessa Perdomo]

Well, we know that Iran has set up camp in Mexico instead of coming to play in the us. They have their games in the us, but because of the visa situation and because of the World cup, they decided to set up camp in Mexico and they're going to actually have to enter in and leave on the same day of. Of the game. You know, which is not something that's very common at all. Fans of certain countries like Iran and other countries are not allowed. They're simply not allowed. And they didn't really change that for fans. They have been more lenient about certain things. There is bonds that were put on countries for visas because one of the things they were worried about was people overseeing their welcome. That's very. That's been very apparent from the Trump administration. But they did take away some of the bonds for specific countries is $15,000 that people had to put up in order to come. But if you proved that you had a World cup ticket, you are now allowed to bypass that visa bond. But a lot of people who have been to every single World cup in their lifetime are not coming because they couldn't get visas on time or simply because they don't like the way this World cup is being handled. And I've heard that actually a lot some people aren't coming simply because they don't like the way this World cup is being handled by the US by FIFA.

[David Gura]

What is this World cup kind of

[Interviewer]

the way it's set up, the way tickets are allocated and priced. Tell you about the way this tournament's going to look going forward. When you look at future World Cups, how much is that going to be modeled over what we have here?

[Vanessa Perdomo]

I think they will keep the size of the tournament the same, at least for now. I think, you know, we'll see 48 teams again in 2030. Definitely in, you know, 2027 with the women's World cup is going to be the first time they have the expanded field there. We will potentially, hopefully, fingers crossed for me because I'm a big, you know, soccer fan. But in 2031, host the women's World Cup. I think we'll see a very similar model there. But the problem is in other places, like in 2030 when you have the World cup returning to Europe, they have different systems there and they are capped. You know, you're not allowed to run the tournament the same way with ticket prices there. So it'll probably end up being a lot more affordable. Then we'll see it go back to a similar system there. But I think they're not going to let up on the revenue they're generating from this World Cup. There's no way FIFA's going to go back to $5 billion in revenue after generating over $11 billion.

[David Gura]

This is the big take from Bloomberg News. I'm David Gura. To get more from the Big Take and unlimited access to all of bloomberg.com, subscribe [e-mail] podcastoffer thanks for listening. We'll be back tomorrow.

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