The Football World Cup is the single-biggest sports event in the world. It is bigger than the Olympics. It is bigger than the Super Bowl. The average global TV viewership for the World Cups historically has been north of half a billion people. Comparing that to the most recent Super Bowl (which pulled in 140 million viewers) really puts the massive scale of the football sport in perspective. It is perhaps the only sport in the world that can be termed as truly global. The entirety of Europe considers football to be its bread and butter. Almost all of the African nations are also high on the football fever. It is the fastest growing sport in the continent of Asia. South-America is perhaps the continent which produces the most talented footballers for the world to see. Even in North-America, the sport (despite being called another name) is definitely growing at an exponential rate.
History of The Glamor Associated With The World Cup
The glamor of the biggest sport in the world is truly something else. Gods are made in the arenas of this sport, and they are truly remembered for all times to come. Pele lifting the World Cup at the tender age of 16 is an image that is deep-rooted not just in the history of the game but also in Brazilian culture itself. Messi and Ronaldo are perhaps the two most popular people on the entire planet when it comes to being recognizable. If you make it in this tough arena, then it means that a life full of the greatest luxuries is going to find you. Living in villas in the poshest areas of town, driving the most expensive cars money can buy and flying around on private jets because you are too recognizable to just fly commercial.
Naturally, the biggest festival of this sport, the world cup, attracts commercial activity like no other. Countries spend billions in order to host the tournament. The cost of hosting the tournament is usually quite easily overcome by the amount of jobs produced due to the World Cup and the foreign capital that flows into the country as a direct result of that. Historically, many of the most famous people in the world have flown into the country hosting the World Cup. Usually, Gulfstreams, Bombardiers, and Embraers are parked in airports, with parking space becoming scarce all over the cities that are hosting the World Cup.
The 2022 World Cup
The 2022 World Cup is unique in many aspects. The hosts of the World Cup, Qatar, are the smallest nation to have ever gotten the opportunity to host the World Cup, which is an achievement in and of itself. The gulf nation has one of the highest GDPs per capita in the world, with a monarchy that is determined to hold the biggest sports competitions in the world. As expected, the World Cup has attracted high net worth individuals flocking from different nations to attend the matches in their VIP seats. There is unprecedented demand in countries like India, where air charters have been completely booked. In fact, the fastest 30-seater charter plane has been booked by Indian individuals. This is not just the case in India, but across the whole world. Despite all-time high costs to charter aircraft mainly due to the Russia-Ukraine crisis, the demand for watching World Cup matches has not wavered at all, with record attendances also being seen at the matches.
The World Cup in Qatar is more akin to a festival than anything else. It brings people together of different creeds in the support of unity. As of right now, Qatar are doing a great job of hosting the World Cup, sparing no expenses for everyone from high net worth individuals to people who have barely scraped enough money for a return-ticket.
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