By David Owen
March 23 – World Cup ticketing income combined with a bonus from a well-subscribed hospitality programme to enable FIFA to shoulder a number of additional costs in 2014 without slipping into deficit or dipping into its rainy day reserve.
The world governing body’s financial report for the final year of its 2011-14 cycle, published on Friday, put the net result for the year at $140.7 million and total comprehensive income at $91.3 million. This was enough to nudge FIFA’s cycle-ending reserves – its cushion against the threat of postponement of its sole, quadrennial cash cow – to $1.52 billion, up from $1.43 billion at the end of 2013.
Income from the essentially sold-out 3.14 million ticketing programme for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil totalled $476.6 million and was the main factor pushing “other event-related revenue” to $537.4 million, more than five times the year-earlier figure.
Revenue from hospitality rights, meanwhile, more than doubled year-on-year to $110.6 million, after the programme’s “huge success” triggered an additional payment of $61 million. This was over and above the $120 million over four years for which FIFA granted hospitality rights to the 2014 tournament to Match Hospitality AG.
These items helped to create the space for FIFA to make extraordinary Financial Assistance Programme (FAP) payments of $261.5 million to member associations and confederations without eating into reserves.
FIFA also spent far more than originally expected on its great Brazilian showpiece – $2.22 billion versus $1.39 billion budgeted in figures published in its 2009 financial report. Then again, the initial revenue projection for the 2011-14 cycle was $3.8 billion, whereas in fact $5.14 billion in event-related revenue ended up gushing into the coffers. The biggest chunk of this came from broadcasting rights at $2.48 billion, with marketing rights contributing a further $1.63 billion. The net result for the entire cycle came to $337.4 million.
The report also revealed that short-term employee benefits of $39.7 million were paid to key management personnel – an increase of 9.4% from 2013. In 2012 I was told that there were 37 of these “key” staff members. I suspect their numbers may have edged up since then. Nonetheless, this implies average benefits of close to $1 million each.
Included in the costs of football governance, meanwhile, the new report reveals that costs on legal matters rose to $31.3 million in 2014. This compares with just $12.8 million in 2009. That is an increase of 145% in just five years.
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