Qatar and FIFA, an interesting ride
Wasn’t FIFA 2022 the perfect end to the year? COVID cases were decreasing, all activities were returning to normal, and we witnessed a fascinating tournament after a long time.
Qatar was awarded the right to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup in 2010, beating out bids from the United States, Australia, South Korea, and Japan. Qatar had to undertake significant preparation and development work to host the event.
A significant challenge for Qatar was the construction of new infrastructure to support the event. This included building several new stadiums and developing hotels, transportation systems, and other facilities to accommodate the thousands of fans who attended the tournament. To meet these challenges, Qatar invested heavily in its infrastructure. It worked closely with FIFA and other partners to ensure that the necessary facilities were in place in time for the tournament.
In addition to constructing new infrastructure, Qatar also had to address concerns related to the country’s size and population and the high temperatures that could be experienced in the region during the summer months when the tournament will be held. To address these issues, Qatar implemented several innovative solutions, including the use of air-conditioned stadiums and the implementation of a cooling system in the host cities. Overall, Qatar’s successful bid to host the FIFA World Cup required significant investment, planning, and the ability to address and overcome various challenges. However, the country’s efforts paid off, and it hosted one of the world’s most significant and essential sporting events.
Many business opportunities arose due to the world cup. Some of them were
1. Temporary businesses: The World Cup attracts millions of fans worldwide, many of whom will be looking for places to eat, drink, and stay while in town. To meet this demand, entrepreneurs could set up temporary businesses, such as food stands, bars, or hotels. One of the significant reasons the Qatar WC was scrutinized was the lack of accommodation for the fans, personnel, players etc. The World Cup was expected to attract more than one million visitors, but by March, Qatar only had 30,000 hotel rooms, 80% of which had already been booked by Fifa for football teams, officials, and sponsors. This allowed people to create a network of hostel accommodation facilities providing affordable stays.
2. Event-related products or services: Entrepreneurs could create products or services related to the World Cup, such as souvenirs, fan gear, or travel packages.
3. Partnerships and sponsorships: Entrepreneurs could also explore partnerships or sponsorships with World Cup-related organizations or companies. This could involve providing products or services or promoting collaboration with your audience. The highly dynamic environment of the FIFA World Cup offers companies a great platform to • run generic football promotions, engage with Sponsors in co-promotions, buy a license and produce FIFA World Cup products. $1.7 billion was the Total revenue generated from sponsors, with brands paying as much as $63.26m for rights in a 4-year cycle. Adidas, which has the longest-running involvement with the event since its participation in Mexico in 1970), Coca-Cola, Wanda Group, Hyundai/Kia, Qatar Airways, Qatar Energy, and Visa are all designated as FIFA partners, while Budweiser (sorry about the change in policy regarding alcohol), Byju, crypto.com, Hisense, McDonald’s, Mengulu Dairy and Vivo are designated as official sponsors within the 4-year cycle, according to GlobalData’s report, “Business of the FIFA 2002 World Cup”.
4. Tourism: During the German WC in 2006. the growth in this industry was as follows:
Tourism Industry = 19.3%
Hospitality Industry = 4% (€ 300 mil).
Prospectus people in business could also exploit the same. Agencies can be opened which take the fans on tours of the country.
5. Fanzones:
Although it was one of the safest and best world cups, the Qatar WC still had flaws.
One is the need for more liberalization to the fans, i.e. not allowing alcohol inside stadiums and disallowing PDA. This led to the opening of fan zones where matches were screened live on the big screen along with drinks, allowing fans to enjoy the way they wanted. These restrictions would make the fans desperate to pay whatever the costs to enjoy the way they wish to. During the WC, an average of 70,000 fans came to the fan zone in Doha daily, signifying the high scope of a good business opportunity in this area.
6. Media and TV:
Digital viewership was shot past TV for the first time in India during the FIFA World Cup 2022, which recorded over 110 million viewers on the JioCinema app, which streamed the tournament live for free. Globally too, this World Cup was the first time that digital viewership surpassed TV.
JioCinema was the most downloaded free app in India across iOS and Android during the World Cup, making the country one of the highest digital video markets for the football tournament in terms of viewers (added).
The app’s rapid rise is attributed to the ever-increasing preference of consumers to catch the action on smartphones and connected TVs (CTV).
