World Cup worth four times more to Australia than Sydney Olympics

By Duncan Mackay
British Sports Internet Writer of the Year

July 12 – A new study released today claims that if Australia is chosen to host the 2022 World Cup it will be worth $35.5 billion (£20.6 billion) for the country’s economy – more than four times the amount generated by the Sydney Olympics.

The study, released by IBISWorld, is a major boost for Australia’s bid as the campaign moves into a critical new phase following the end of the World Cup in South Africa.

“Football’s World Cup and summer editions of Olympic Games vie for the title of the biggest sports event on the planet,” said Robert Bryant, the general manager of IBISWorld.

“However, when it comes to spending, there is a clear winner.

“IBISWorld forecasts that the 2022 World Cup in Australia would, in real terms, generate four times more spending than the 2000 Olympics.”

The Sydney Games, considered to be the most successful in the 114-year history of the Olympics, was worth $9 billion (£5 billion) to the Australian economy.

The study estimated that 750,000 people would enter Australia during the course of the World Cup, compared to the 130,000 for the Sydney Olympics in 2000.

“While some of the infrastructure spending has been planned and would be brought forward should Australia’s World Cup bid be successful, much of it is dependent on Football Federation Australia (FFA) convincing a majority of the 24 members of FIFA’s executive committee to come play in 2022,” said Bryant.

The study comes on the back of figures showing that more than 500,000 people watched matches during the World Cup in South Africa at the Fan Fest in Sydney.

The city was picked by FIFA as just one of six Fan Fest sites across the world to screen live coverage on giant screens.

“Considering that most of the matches were on well after midnight in the middle of winter it is an amazing effort for fans to leave their warm homes to enjoy the atmosphere,” FFA spokesman Rod Allen said.

“The success would certainly be noticed by FIFA who was closely monitoring the sites – the first time that the official FIFA Fan Sites were held outside of the host country.

“They would do our bid for the 2022 FIFA World Cup an enormous amount of good by showing FIFA and the world just how much Australians love football.”

Sydney Fan Fest spokeswoman Nicole Browne said the turnout was pleasing.

“Given the time differences and other factors we probably expected about that number,” she said.

“Given Australia’s draw, the time differences, the weather, people having to work etc, we’re very happy with the numbers.”

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