Qatar’s $200 Billion World Cup May Be the Last of Its Kind
Mega-events like the Olympics and World Cup have found it harder to attract hosts given their money-losing reputation. Now some big changes are afoot.
Business of Sports: Why Qatar's $200 Billion World Cup May Be thee Last of Its Kind
While Qatar has reportedly spent $200 billion or more on the 2022 World Cup, other nations and cities have become increasingly unwilling to spend a fraction of that on money-losing mega-events—such as the World Cup and the Olympics. The International Olympic Committee and FIFA, soccer’s governing body, have been scrambling as more cities turn down the chance to spend billions of dollars they’ll never get back.
On this episode of Bloomberg’s Business of Sports, we explore how the financial realities of hosting huge sporting events—and a history of overpromising and the financial debacles that result—has triggered a major rethink of how such mega-events will be held in the future.