The FIFA World Cup is the most viewed sporting event in history. The 2018 edition saw a staggering 3.57 billion viewers. The upcoming 2022 edition in Qatar is predicted to have over 5 billion viewers. Yet, despite the impressive numbers, the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar does not seem to be gaining much momentum among football fans.
Football fans already battered by inflation woes
The 2022 edition is not the first time a World Cup is being held during a global recession. The FIFA World Cup in South Africa 2010 faced similar issues as well. The mid-2000s was the era of the housing bubble crisis in the United States that famously saw Lehman Brothers file for bankruptcy. There were significant concerns that viewership for the World Cup in South Africa would be affected as fans struggled with the financial crisis. Though concerns were somewhat eased as slightly under 1 billion people tuned in for the World Cup final in South Africa.
Despite the optimistic turnout in South Africa, Qatari officials are concerned about the impact inflation and enormous economic uncertainty will have on viewership for the tournament slated to start in end November 2022.
In a mid-2022 Blackbox survey, 91% of respondents in Singapore shared that they felt the impact of inflation on their day-to-day expenses. The then-inflation rate in May 2022 was approximately 5.6%. The latest figures for September 2022 indicated a 7.5% inflation rate, a 14-year high for the city-state!
With inflation rates soaring, football fans in Singapore and elsewhere have been impacted as well. A 7-night stay in Doha during the World Cup is expected to cost around USD 5,000 (excluding plane tickets), a significant sum for any fan looking to watch the games live. Meanwhile, the online streaming package offered (includes all 64 games of the tournament) in Singapore on the SingTel and StarHub platforms costs SGD 118, an increase from 2018’s SGD 112.35.
In a recessionary climate, fans will undoubtedly hesitate to pay such high prices for what amounts to a month-long tournament. Some fans have even discussed using illegal streaming sites (piracy) to watch their games for free while many residents in Northern Singapore are hoping to tune in for the games on Malaysia’s RTM channels (This part of Singapore is close to neighbouring country, Malaysia). RTM will be broadcasting the World Cup games for free in Malaysia and it is worth noting that the Malaysian broadcaster had even taken measures to block Singapore-based viewers from their channels during the 2018 World Cup.
The roundabout tactics football fans around the world are taking to watch the World Cup are indicative of the impact rising costs have on consumers.
Fans are looking at Social and Environmental Costs too
Aside from the numerical costs of attending or streaming a World Cup match, football fans have also voiced their concerns over the social and environmental costs of hosting such large-scale sporting events. Fans of the Singapore Grand Prix in September were critical of the organisers’ attempts to reduce the environmental costs of the night race, even calling it greenwashing attempts.
The World Cup is no stranger to social and environmental criticism. The 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil was marred by videos of entire communities, typically of lower-income groups, being evicted to make way for World Cup infrastructure. The Qatari World Cup also has its critics, ranging from accusations of human rights violations against migrant workers forced to build infrastructure in dangerous Middle Eastern weather conditions to bemusement over proposed air-conditioned stadiums to protect fans and players from the Qatari heat. Environmental groups have already criticised Qatar’s pledge for a carbon-neutral World Cup given that the tournament is expected to generate 3.6 million tonnes of Carbon Dioxide (CO2) equivalent of emissions, compared with 2.1 million tonnes of emissions generated in the previous edition of the games in Russia in 2018.
Non-financial concerns are likely to become important factors for future tournaments and other large-scale events. A Blackbox survey among Southeast Asian travellers found that there is a growing trend of would-be travellers being more environmentally conscious, placing emphasis on sustainability and environmental protection. 90% of Southeast Asians surveyed placed emphasis on cultural and natural environment preservation as part of their travel decisions.
For organisers of Canada/Mexico/USA 2026, mitigating the social and environmental concerns of fans will become a major factor.
Do countries benefit from hosting a World Cup?
Hosting a World Cup is an expensive proposition. Stadiums, training facilities, carparks and hotels are but a few of the multitude of facilities that need to be built or redeveloped.
Relatively cheaper tournaments such as those held in Italy, USA and France benefitted from having established football-related infrastructure in the countries. Costs were incurred to refurbish and expand the seating capacity of older stadiums, build new leisure and hospitality facilities, and public transportation, among other things. Brazil and Qatar, meanwhile, needed to build brand new purpose-built football stadiums among other infrastructure, hence the exorbitant costs. Qatar 2022 is set to be the most expensive World Cup tournament ever, incurring an approximate cost of USD 220 billion!
There are numerous benefits to hosting a large-scale sporting event. Temporary jobs due to infrastructure improvements will provide short-medium term employment. Cities hosting tournaments also benefit from improvements in public transportation, housing (many athlete villages during tournaments are converted into housing for city dwellers post-tournament), and new hospitality facilities. Non-tangibly, host nations and cities of sporting events benefit from the international prestige a World Cup or Olympics Games brings. To date, World Cup 2002 and 2010 remain the only tournaments hosted by an Asian and African country respectively.
While certain industries such as tourism stand to benefit from large-scale sporting events, hosting these tournaments has its risks. Brazil’s Arena da Amazonia stadium was built in the middle of the Amazon rainforest for the 2014 edition. It, like several other stadiums, has since been abandoned and reclaimed by nature. Several facilities from other tournaments such as the Beijing Olympic Games 2008 suffered the same fate. There are concerns that Qatar’s new stadiums might end up being white elephants though the nation’s Ras Abu Aboud Stadium has the unique feature of being the first 100% Temporary World Cup Stadium, a stadium built for the World Cup but can be easily deconstructed for other purposes.
The World Cup is by far one of the most exciting tournaments to watch. But even then, it is not immune to cost, environmental, and social concerns. To learn more about how rising costs and changing consumer preferences might impact your tournaments or businesses, get in touch with us at connect@blackbox.com.sg.
Author: Blackbox Research Team
Comments