FIFA President Gianni Infantino was criticized throughout the World Cup for his close relationship with U.S. President Donald Trump.
Whether it was the infamous call that resulted in the suspension of Flo Balogun’s red card before the Round of 16, Infantino giving Trump the first-ever FIFA Peace Prize, or the organization spending around $40,000 per month on an office in Trump Tower in New York City, which largely sat empty, critics have consistently accused Infantino of prioritizing profitability over the greater good of the sport.
Now, Infantino is telling us those critics may not have been harsh enough. That’s because FIFA announced yesterday that it intends to effectively sell the World Cup, creating a new for-profit entity that will give American investors direct exposure to the tournament’s commercial activities (and future growth).
Here is what we know so far:
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FIFA will create a new for-profit entity, FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE).
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FFE will house the World Cup’s revenue-generating activities, including the tournament’s media rights, ticket sales, licensing, and sponsorships.
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FIFA intends to sell up to 21% of FFE at a $20 billion valuation, implying the new for-profit entity will raise $4.2 billion in upfront cash from investors.
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JPMorgan and Greg Maffei (ex-Liberty Media CEO) are advising FIFA on the deal, and Thrive Eternal, a fund from Josh Kushner’s Thrive Capital (the brother of Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner), will serve as the lead investor.
FIFA says this deal will 1) provide $10 billion in immediate funding over the next four years, with each member association allowed to draw $20 million and 2) increase per-nation World Cup cycle payments from $8 million to $20 million, with payments then rising to $22 million for 2031-34 and $22 million for 2035-38.
But bringing on external investors for larger per-nation payouts is only half the story. The real story involves the inevitable Americanization of the world’s most famous sporting event and the selling of future revenue streams for upfront cash — a dangerous precedent that clubs like FC Barcelona have already tried.
So for today’s newsletter, we’ll explore everything you need to know about the potential deal. We’ll start by discussing what is actually happening and how the math will work. Then we’ll go into some of the more interesting details, including who is involved, why FIFA actually wants to do this, whether or not FIFA is even allowed to do this, and, most importantly, how a unique deal structure like this could eventually lead to hundreds of millions in profits for Infantino and others.
I’ve spent the last 24 hours digging into every detail of this deal and what I have uncovered could be one of the most consequential transactions in sports history.
Let’s go…
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