Why FIFA Is Over-Commercializing This World Cup

Happy World Cup Day! 

The FIFA World Cup has officially returned to the U.S. after 32 years – with the Final happening right here at MetLife New York/New Jersey Stadium.

Despite the novelty of having the World Cup in our backyard, the American press and government officials have been highly critical of FIFA, especially around its approach to “over-commercializing” this World Cup in particular. 

You’ve seen the headlines: ticket prices are outrageous, hospitality packages still available, and as we approach kick off, tickets still have not sold out.

But as the most commercially potent sporting event in the world –  and one that only happens every four years – there’s a deeper reason why FIFA, under President Gianni Infantino’s leadership, has leaned so aggressively into commercializing the World Cup and its surrounding assets.

FIFA is using North America as its ultimate commercial stress test: premium-izing the live product, expanding the tournament inventory, and building a broader distribution engine around one of the world’s most valuable sports IP.

Strategically for Gianni, the juice could be worth the squeeze.

This year’s World Cup has operated a bit differently than previous editions.

And it all comes back to the money.

While the criticism is that FIFA’s commercialization push has come at the expense of fans in the U.S., the broader strategy is tied to a much bigger promise: accelerating distributions to football federations around the world:

Effectively, this could turn FIFA into a patronage system.

But it also forces FIFA to operate less like a traditional non-profit and more like one of the most aggressive commercial engines in sports.

Since then, FIFA has positioned itself for this exact World Cup in North America through four major levers: 

The last point may be the most sustainable commercial lever FIFA is pulling.

FIFA’s 2023-26 budget guidelines foreshadowed all of this. 

Back in 2022, FIFA projected revenue would increase by ~$4.6B to $11B from 2023-26 cycle versus the 2019-22 cycle. Actual revenue is now expected to reach ~$13B. 

Infantino has said FIFA expects to “reinvest more than 90% of its budgeted investment for the 2023-26 cycle back in the game to significantly boost global football development.” The biggest piece of that strategy is FIFA Forward 3.0.

Across the 2023-2026 cycle alone, FIFA Forward 3.0 is expected to distribute ~$1.7B, including up to $8M to each of FIFA’s 211 member associations over the four-year period – crushing Infantino’s original promise a decade ago.

But the North American monetization window will be hard to replicate.

The 2030 World Cup will be hosted across Spain, Portugal, and Morocco – with less stadium capacity, more protected ticket pricing, and less lucrative media rights economics than the U.S. market. FIFA’s 2027-30 budget reflects that reality, projecting only a $1B revenue increase to $14B, with $2.7B distributed through FIFA Forward 4.0.

The 2034 FIFA World Cup in Saudi Arabia will likely continue that trajectory. 

That makes this World Cup an important inflection point. 

If FIFA can use North America’s commercial machine to send more money back to build out the global football infrastructure, it can help developing federations become functional enough to field competitive men’s and women’s teams, build youth football infrastructure, and properly fund tournament participation.

We’re already seeing early signs of what that could unlock. This year, Curaçao and Cabo Verde became two of the smallest countries ever to qualify for the World Cup.

With enough resources flowing through the system, don’t be surprised if FIFA eventually raises the count again in the next decade.

64 teams. 128 games.

That’s where the second half of FIFA’s strategy becomes important.

The criticism is easy to understand: many fans have been priced out of the in-person experience.

But FIFA’s bet is that the World Cup does not need to be democratized inside the stadium anymore. It needs to be democratized everywhere else – across streaming, livestreaming, gaming, social media, and immersive viewing.

In the U.S., FIFA’s primary broadcast and streaming partners are FOX, FOX One, Peacock, and Telemundo.

But FIFA understands that cord-cutting and high streaming costs have made live sports harder to access for younger fans.

So FIFA partnered with TikTok and YouTube.

TikTok became FIFA’s first-ever Preferred Platform through its FIFA World Cup 2026 hub, which will serve as a home for original content, fan coverage, and creator-led storytelling throughout the tournament. Broadcasters also now have another revenue stream by livestreaming parts of matches and posting curated clips on the platform – democratizing access to TikTok’s massive global audience.

A distribution strategy that The 4th Quarter has been bullish on for a long time: livestreaming through creators.

And FIFA agrees.

FIFA tested the model during the 2022 Qatar World Cup with Brazilian streamer Casimiro Miguel, who livestreamed 22 matches on his YouTube channel. The format was simple: informal, conversational, Twitch-style coverage where fans watched the match alongside the creator.

Now, FIFA has expanded its deal with Casimiro’s platform, CazéTV, making it the only channel – digital or traditional – with rights to all 104 games in Brazil for the 2026 World Cup.

For young fans who won’t experience a World Cup stadium atmosphere in person, this is the next-best version: watching the biggest tournament in the world through one of the biggest streamers in the world.

That creator-led strategy is now coming to the U.S. as well. FIFA and IShowSpeed have reportedly agreed to a $25M partnership for his upcoming “World Cup 26 Tour”, where he’ll bring his livestreams directly to World Cup venues across Mexico, Canada, and the U.S.

It was a major shock when FIFA ended its long-term relationship with EA in 2022.

Fast forward to today, FIFA officially launched its new gaming strategy “Digital Football”, using its IP across a multi-party ecosystem instead of locking itself into one exclusive console title. 

That means more partners, more formats, more mobile distribution, more free-to-play experiences, and more ways to activate fans around the FIFA brand.

Netflix Games just launched FIFA World Cup: Launch Edition, giving Netflix’s 325M+ members access to a game featuring all 48 national teams and 16 stadium venues across the U.S., Mexico, and Canada.

Compare that to EA Sports FC 26 which sold 12M+ copies.

This is a pure distribution play. FIFA is trying to activate as many user relationships to the World Cup brand as possible, and partners like Netflix can be the perfect vessel. Without an exclusive gaming partner, FIFA keeps its optionality wide open.

One of our favorite partnerships FIFA and FOX brokered is with COSM, the shared-reality venue company creating immersive sports viewing experiences.

COSM will showcase 40 matches throughout the World Cup across its venues in Los Angeles, Dallas, and Atlanta, distributing live matches through 87-foot-diameter, 12K+ LED domes that make fans feel like they are sitting behind the goal, at midfield, or inside the crowd.

The value proposition is simple: give fans an in-game shared experience outside the stadium at a fraction of the cost.

As of this writing, only six tickets were left for USA vs. Paraguay at COSM LA at a price of $552. While expensive, it is still less than half the price of a nosebleed ticket at SoFi Stadium.

It will be interesting to see if demand for COSM viewings holds throughout the tournament.

Our guess: it will.

FIFA’s strategy is a masterclass in monetizing every layer of the sports commercial stack.

The stadium product is becoming more expensive because FIFA knows the mass-market product can now live everywhere else – on TikTok, YouTube, Netflix, creator livestreams, immersive venues, and every screen where the next generation already spends time.

That’s the real unlock.

Fans may be priced out of the stadium, but they are not being priced out of the World Cup.

And if the stadiums are full, this becomes the clearest signal yet that the live experience still has the strongest pricing power in entertainment.

But if there are many empty seats, FIFA will have exposed the pricing ceiling.

We’ll find out once the show hits the road.

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