FIFA raked in $2.6 billion in profit from the 2014 World Cup
That's not revenue — that's pure profit.
FIFA, soccer's global governing body, took in $4.8 billion on last year's World Cup alone, the BBC reports, and incurred only $2.2 billion in expenses:
About $4 billion of FIFA's revenue came from sponsorships and broadcasting rights. Ticket sales only totaled $527 million.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
So where did this mind-boggling profit go? "FIFA re-invests the majority of its revenue but it does hold on to a proportion of any profit to create a cash reserve," the BBC says. The reserve — which ballooned to $1.5 billion last year, from $350 million in 2005 — is meant to protect the organization in case the World Cup is canceled. By contrast, the $150 million that top FIFA officials allegedly accepted in bribes looks like just a drop in the bucket.
For more on FIFA's finances, head over to the BBC.
