Industry Odisha Bureau, Jul 20: FIFA Men’s World Cup-2026 has reportedly reasserted dominace of football as the world’s biggest international sporting event, while cricket is not far behind even though revenues of the International Cricket Council (ICC) are reportedly only about one-fourth in comparison to the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA).
International media quoting opinions of analysts said that, “Football remains the financial benchmark centred around countries. To gauge the financial strength of a sport is through the revenues of its global governing body at a global level.”
Notably, “FIFA represents 211 member associations across six continents, which include countries and territories responsible for developing and governing football within their regions. This number exceeds the 193 United Nations member states because FIFA historically allowed non-sovereign territories and constituent countries to join. There are 26 FIFA members that are non-UN or not UN member states. However, new memberships are now limited to sovereign nations.”
International media quoting arguments of analysts added that, “Set up in 1904, FIFA has 211 member countries, while ICC, set up in 1909 has 110 member countries as of 2025, including 12 full members and 98 associate members. FIFA’s revenues are nearly 3.75 times that of the ICC’s, while ICC firmly secures the second-place spot among nation-centric sports, with $2.7 billion in revenues over a four-year cycle.”
Notably, “The ICC is estimated to have a net worth of approximately $3-4 billion in 2025, while most of its income comes from major cricket events as the ODI World Cup, T20 World Cup, and Champions Trophy, along with media reights and sponsorship deals.”
International media quoting arguments of analysts also said that, “FIFA’s four-year revenues are expected to rise from about $5.5 billion to about $14 billion driven by broadcasting and sponsorship. The broadcasting rights for the 2026 FIFA World Cup were reportedly sold for $4.3 billion.”
