Press Review - January 2023

  The Qatar 2022 World Cup year brought $5.769 billion for FIFA, an increase of 24% compared to 2018. FIFA paid out $3.404 billion, two-thirds of which was for the organization of the 2022 World Cup and other FIFA events.

  “The net result for 2022 came to $2.368 million, which offset the structurally negative results in the first three years of the cycle, leading to a net result of $1.187 billion for the full 2019-2022 cycle, which was more than 11 times higher than the budgeted net result”, FIFA underpins in its Annual Report 2022. “The resounding success of the FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar has been key to the organization’s ability to fulfil its mission in relation to our member associations and the world of football, despite the multiple challenges we faced during the past cycle, not least the COVID-19 pandemic”, FIFA president Gianni Infantino said.

  FIFA’s total assets are $6.796 million made of cash and financial products. Regarding FIFA’s reserves, they reach $3.971 million, an increase of 45% compared to 2015-2018 cycle’s results.

  With €835 million spent, English clubs alone accounted for 57.3% in the worldwide total spending in January. This is notably due Chelsea's staggering recruitment of over €300 million. France was the second highest spending nation, with €122.5 million invested.

  The number of transactions also broke records for a winter transfer market, with 4.387 international moves recorded. At the end of January, FIFA had already published its global report on transfers for the year 2022, observing a post-Covid rebound in the market with €6 billion spent, including two billion for English clubs alone.

  Having presented a joint bid in response to the IOC’s call of tender, launched on February 2022, the EBU and Warner Bros. Discovery have acquired all media rights across 49 territories in Europe for the XXV Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026, the Games of the XXXIV Olympiad Los Angeles 2028, the XXVI Olympic Winter Games in 2030, and the Games of the XXXV Olympiad Brisbane 2032, as well as all the Youth Olympic Games in the same period. 

  According to this deal, the Olympic Games will be free-to-air broadcasted on the EBU’s network of public service broadcasters on television and digital platforms. Every EBU member will have rights of showing more than 200 hours of coverage of the Olympic Summer Games and at least 100 hours of the Olympic Winter Games on TV. In the same time, Warner Bros. Discovery will be able to continue streaming the Olympic Games in their entirety on its streaming and digital platforms such as Discovery+, as well as holding full pay-TV rights for the Olympic Games, with linear TV broadcasting on its Eurosport channels.

  “We are delighted to have reached a long-term agreement with two of the world’s leading media companies. The EBU and its Members provide unparalleled broadcast expertise and reach across Europe, and Warner Bros. Discovery, through the recent combination of Warner Media and Discovery, represents one of the world’s largest media and entertainment companies across all programming genres and platforms. It demonstrates the ongoing appeal of the Olympic Games across Europe. As the IOC redistributes 90 per cent of the revenues it generates, this long-term agreement also provides critical financial stability to the wider sporting movement and ultimately supports the athletes themselves”, Thomas Bach, IOC president, said.

  The first matches in the new agreement this weekend include Paris Saint-Germain vs FC Toulouse and Olympique Marseille vs OGC Nice in Ligue 1, as well as the Milan derby from Serie A. The rights to further international leagues and competitions will be added to the partnership “in the near future.” Matches will cost €3.49 or €4.99 depending on the level of the fixtures.

  “DAZN and OneFootball are a great fit as brands, as we both aim to innovate the way fans discover and watch their favourite sport. At DAZN we want to enable all football fans to watch their favourite sport the way they like it best. Therefore, we have already made our unique and diverse football offer available in the past via partners to address specific audiences and increase accessibility. Now, we offer fans even more flexibility and watch individual matches via PPV thanks to this cooperation with OneFootball”, Alice Mascia, CEO of DAZN DACH.

  Moreover, OneFootball has a mobile-first strategy and has built a global audience of more than 100 million monthly active users, 75% of whom are between 17 and 34 years old. “We have a lot of admiration for the platform and the brand DAZN has built and how they’ve scaled to reach and engage so many sports fans around the world… We can’t wait to see how football fans engage and see how we can build a long-term relationship between our two organisations. This is a really important first step towards us and DAZN bringing even more live and affordable football to our fans all over the world”, Lucas von Cranach, founder and CEO of OneFootball, said.

  This is the third academy of this type for the Parisian club, after those opened in Miami (USA), and in Saly (Senegal). The objective of this program is to train future talents by proving them with sporting training as well as academic education. To date, PSG has established academies in 19 countries with a total of 163 training centers.

  “With the opening of a third Paris Saint-Germain Academy Pro, the very first on European soil, our programme of academies is entering a new stage in its development. Thanks to this establishment in the heart of Europe, the Paris Saint-Germain methods will radiate even further, via our historical partner Ravy Truchot. The club is making even more of a commitment to young people by once again giving budding footballers the tools to embark on a career in sport”, Nadia Benmokhtar, PSG’s head of brand development, said.

  “Over the last 4 years, we have set up an ambitious international project in this region, and this partnership will enable us to offer an unparalleled international programme by teaming up with a world-renowned club and brand. As well as validating our project, this will boost the local region’s influence and drawing power”, Ravy Truchot, president of Strive Football Group, added.