Money and the World Cup

Unless you've been hiding under a rock for the past several weeks you know that today is the first day of the World Cup (which is the world championship of soccer tournament for those of your really out of it.) I thought I'd share with you some interesting facts about money and the World Cup (as well as a few other tidbits) as we celebrate the kick-off of this great competition. Here goes:

Fun Money Facts

• As you might imagine, soccer players make a TON of money. Here's a list of the 10 highest-paid soccer players at the World Cup (FYI, the rest of the world calls them footballers) led by Lionel Messi (whose club team is Barcelona and who will be playing for Argentina in the World Cup.) Also to note, David Beckham would have been #1 or #2 (there are conflicting reports of how much he earns) but he's injured and won't play in the World Cup.
• FIFA (the organization that oversees world soccer) has set aside £250 million for World Cup prize money (that's roughly $500 million). The 2010 World Cup winners will receive £18million for becoming champions, the losing finalists will take home a miserable £14 million. Third and fourth will take home £12 million and £11 million respectively. Losing Quarter-Finalists will be awarded £8.5 million each while teams exiting in the second round will receive £5.5 million each, leaving teams who were knocked out in the first round to leave with their tale between their legs carrying £5 million each. In addition to that, each of the 32 teams on show will receive £600,000 each for expenses incurred during preparation for the month long tournament.
• Adidas is selling World Cup balls to fans for nearly $125 a pop. In 2006, adidas sold a reported 10 million units of the previous World Cup ball. This World Cup, both adidas and bitter rivals Nike expect to combine for nearly $4 billion in sales of associated merchandise (adidas is targeting $1.8 billion).
• Nike will pay (starting in 2011) $64 million a year for the rights to the French national team, four times what Adidas was paying. At this year's World Cup, Nike will sponsor nine teams including the United States, Holland, Portugal and Brazil.
• Sports-related participants aren't the only ones that will earn a ton of money from the World Cup. Imagine the airlines, hotels, restaurants, soft drink companies and on and on who will make a boatload off this event. And, of course, the musicians. Here's the (official?) World Cup song performed by Shakira (click here if video won't work):

Other Interesting Pieces

And if you're a newbie (or not so new and just want more information on the World Cup), here are some pieces you might be interested in:

• World Cup history - Who knew that Uruguay was so good at one time?
• 10 must-see group stage matches - I'll be watching almost all of these (via ESPN and ABC).
• 10 teams who can win the World Cup - Is your favorite here?
• National teams often place stars near the country crests on their shirts to indicate how many World Cups they have won.

So, who will be watching the World Cup? And who's your favorite? I like the US (of course) but they don't have much of a chance (though I do think they'll get out of the group stage) and England (most of the players I watch all year play for England), but if I was betting I'd go for either Spain or Brazil to take it all.

Comments

[Darin H]

I'll be watching!! The US team is the best we've ever fielded, and are in a good group. Much like last year, we have the chance to get on a run a make it deep into the tourney.

[guinness416]

With Ireland out due to the French mistaking the game for handball, I'm supporting Spain - even though I'm a Spurs supporter my love for Cesc knows no bounds - and of course anyone playing England. Would be nice to see some of the underdogs do something too - Serbia, Greece, Nigeria, whoever. And one advantage of working for an Irish-owned country is that the boardroom TV will be tuned to the matches and coverage all day long .....

[J H]

Your USD-GBP exchange rate needs tweaking. It is sitting around 1.5 these days.

Who am I rooting for? Go US! Go England!

[Joe]

I think I've lost my taste for Shakira. That dancing around while covered in mud (or whatever that was) is just strange.

[Emma]

Waka waka - song of 2010 easily!