FIFA wants to sell a slice of the World Cup. Is anyone actually surprised?
Infantino has unveiled plans for the FIFA Forward Enterprise, a new subsidiary that would bundle broadcast rights, sponsorship, ticketing and licensing across FIFA’s competitions, including the World Cup, and sell off a minority stake to outside investors. The plan would raise up to $4.2bn, with FFE valued at around $20bn. UEFA has called it a plan that has “crossed a line.”
I’m not here to argue why that’s a bad idea, most people already have a strong instinct on that. What I keep coming back to is a different question: is this a shock, or just the next predictable step in something that’s been building for a while?
Worth noting FIFA is officially registered as a non-profit under Swiss law. By its own account, revenues are reinvested into football development and support for member associations, the same justification Infantino used for expanding the World Cup to 48 teams. Whether people believe that motive is genuine, rather than a convenient frame for continued expansion, is really what this whole debate comes down to.
Zooming out, this isn’t a standalone story, it’s part of a pattern. There was the Super League attempt, which collapsed almost instantly under fan backlash. Then this summer’s World Cup introduced mandatory hydration breaks at the 22nd minute of every half, regardless of weather or stadium conditions, effectively splitting games into quarters and mirroring US sports ad structures.
Individually, each gets framed as a one-off. Together, they start to look like the visible edge of a much bigger financial logic already reshaping the sport. Football’s global economic value sits at around US$300 billion (£225 billion) annually, driven by a vast ecosystem of clubs, broadcasters, sponsors, commercial partners, and millions of fans worldwide. Transfer fees and wages keep climbing well past what used to feel plausible, and at some point, the maths only works if someone finds new ways to extract value from what’s already there.
So maybe the more interesting question isn’t “is this bad for football,” since most of us have already answered that. It’s whether this was ever avoidable in the first place. Once football is a multi-billion global commercial product, does something like FFE stop being a scandal and start being an inevitability?
Whether this specific proposal gets voted through by September 19 almost feels beside the point. If it fails, is that the last attempt, or just delayed until the next investor, the next “justified” moment?
Has the commercial horse already bolted, or is there still a version of the sport that can push back hard enough to change direction, the way fans arguably did with the Super League?
If you’re navigating decisions around the commercial side of the game, whether that’s athlete representation, partnerships, or advisory support, feel free to get in touch: zak.leech@arch.law or visit the arch.law sports page to find out more.
