SPORT BUSINESS OBSERVATORY -
Member of the Sport Business Observatory, Marie-Eve Wilson-Jamin has been a journalist for ten years, between economics, football and children's literature.
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DOSSIER - The Sport Business Observatory
The World Cup begins this Sunday, November 20, 2022 in Qatar.
Will this 22nd edition be the biggest media event of all?
Will France retain their title?
Only two nations have succeeded: Italy had won its first two titles in a row in 1934 and 1938 and Brazil had won in 1958 and 1962. And, it is clear that few French people believe in this feat judging by the YouGov poll responses.
Only 6.6% of respondents see France winning the competition.
Most of them (18.2%) see the Blues of Deschamps stop in the quarter-finals.
For 13.2% the Habs will go to half.
Their favourite?
The Brazil of Neymar and Vinicius Jr for nearly 14% of those polled ahead of Germany (10.9%).
Only 6.6% of respondents see France winning the YouGov competition
This Sunday, Qatar and Ecuador will kick off a special football World Cup in more ways than one.
First by its media power because it will be the start of what is undoubtedly the biggest sporting event in the world.
In 2018, there were more than 3.5 billion viewers, including 517 million for the final alone.
Then, because it is the first time that such an event will be organized in the Arab world.
If the symbol is beautiful, it is not neutral from an organizational point of view since it was necessary to upset the world sports calendar bringing the opening of the tournament from mid-June to mid-November.
Finally, the many controversies linked to the organization of the competition by Qatar concerning the non-respect of human rights,
It is clear that they have purchased very little advertising space.
Like the broadcasters, they cross their fingers and hope that the France team will go as far as possible.
And for good reason, the price of an advertising page is 330,000 euros for 30 seconds if France is in the final, otherwise it will be "only" 180,000 euros.
As a reminder, in 2018, the France-Croatia final recorded an average audience of 19.3 million viewers on TF1 according to Médiamétrie.
At the final whistle, TF1 recorded its peak with 22.3 million viewers.
For 2022, the channel paid 130 million euros to acquire the TV rights, 50 million of which were sold to BeIN Sport.
A colossal challenge.
The Federation also hopes for a good sporting result from the Blues since 39.8 million
In 2018, there were more than 3.5 billion viewers, including 517 million for the final alone.
Statistics
One thing is certain, the French will follow the competition, despite the many controversies.
They are nearly 39.8% to declare wanting to follow the competition and 23.4% only the matches of the Blues against 15% to boycott.
And they will mostly opt for television (45.7%) as a medium for following the meetings (only 12.5% will go on the Internet).
It is also important to point out that 37.3% are not interested in football, although it is known if France are in the final, the enthusiasm will be such that many will end up watching.
Indeed, when Didier Deschamps announced the list of players who will participate in the World Cup, 7 million people were in front of their post.
His French will follow the competition, despite the many YouGov controversies
For many fans, the boycott should not be done now, but should have been done in 2010 during the award;
it is FIFA that must assume its choice of Qatar.
But the gain is too great for the sports organization.
Like the Summer Olympics for the International Olympic Committee, the football World Cup represents the vast majority of FIFA's income.
A large part of the revenue comes from the sale of television rights.
According to Sporsora, the FFIA budget should be 6.44 billion dollars, 3.5 of which will come from broadcasting rights.
viewers, with more than 1.1 billion people watching the competition worldwide.
On site, more than 1.2 million fans are expected.
Much of the revenue comes from the sale of Statista television rights
Whatever happens, this World Cup will also remain special because it is the most expensive in history with soaring costs due to expenses related to the construction of stadiums (eight enclosures for more than 6 billion euros) , a metro, a hotel park… so many projects for large French industrial groups.
But the political recovery and the legal affairs have made it a thorny subject that only a third star of the Blues to mitigate the bad buzz!