A look ahead to 2023-2026
Revenue growth to significantly boost global football development
FIFA’s 2023-2026 budget is aligned with its strategic vision, the aim being to increase football development funds and allow FIFA’s international tournaments to flourish.
FIFA’s budgeted revenue for 2023-2026 is an unprecedented amount that is mainly driven by the expansion of its flagship tournaments, the FIFA Women’s World Cup™ and FIFA World Cup™. This growth in the commercialisation of rights will deliver a significant cycle-on-cycle increase in football development funds and reinforce FIFA’s commitment to putting its revenues back into the game.
The budget for 2023-2026 has been prepared on the basis of the International Match Calendar valid at the time of its preparation. The FIFA Council’s endorsement in December 2022 of several key strategic principles relating to the International Match Calendars and competitions for both men’s and women’s football occurred after the budget had been prepared.
The 2023-2026 budget and detailed budget for 2024 were approved by the FIFA Finance Committee in November 2022 and the FIFA Council in December 2022, with final approval due to be provided by the FIFA Congress in March 2023.
This section focuses on the highlights of the 2023-2026 budget.
2023-2026 revenue
Compared to the previous budget cycle, the 2023-2026 budget assumes a substantial increase in revenue of USD 4,560 million to a total of USD 11,000 million.
This growth is the result of increased revenue from TV broadcasting rights (up by USD 964 million) and marketing rights (up by USD 927 million). Additional revenue of USD 66 million is planned from licensing rights and there is an increase in the budgeted income from ticket sales and hospitality rights of USD 2,589 million. Other revenue and income is expected to rise by USD 14 million.
The total budgeted revenue from the sale of television broadcasting rights amounts to USD 4,264 million. With North American time zones offering favourable coverage across the globe for the FIFA World Cup 2026™ plus an expanded match schedule, there is a solid platform for the commercialisation of rights, with 43% already contracted for the cycle.
The total budget for marketing rights sales is USD 2,693 million, of which 21% had already been contracted as at 31 December 2022. FIFA’s new global commercial partnership structure and range of packages offer more options and flexibility for companies to connect with global football and the biggest cultural events on the planet, enabling brands to take up dedicated partnerships in connection with women’s football or esports/gaming. FIFA’s first Women’s Football Partners, Visa and Xero, are supporting the continued growth in the women’s game. FIFA continues to explore commercial opportunities and expects new sponsors to be signed for the upcoming FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023™. In relation to the men’s commercialisation programme, there is great anticipation ahead of the expanded FIFA World Cup in 2026.
The licensing rights budget amounts to USD 669 million for the cycle, mainly in the area of brand licensing, where FIFA receives royalty-based income payments. In addition, FIFA is expanding its global presence with an enhanced licensing programme that includes a 365-day e-commerce and digital marketplace presence. It is expected that licensing rights targets will exceed the previous cycle budget.
Hospitality and ticket sales amount to a record budget level of USD 3,097 million. The FIFA World Cup 2026 will be co-hosted by Canada, Mexico and the USA across 16 Host Cities and in state-of-the-art stadiums. Hospitality sales are largely driven by the strategic model in operation, which has moved away from the rights fee model, under which FIFA’s hospitality services were outsourced. With the attractive hospitality features already imbedded in the modern stadiums, fans from all around the world will be able to experience the various packages available.
The other revenue and income budget is USD 277 million and will be generated from the FIFA Quality Programme, the Olympic Football Tournaments, the sale of video rights, the FIFA Museum, penalties and appeals, and rental income and other sources of income.
2023-2026 investments
The investment budget for the 2023-2026 cycle has increased to a similar extent as the revenue budget, totalling USD 10,900 million, producing a result before taxes and financial result of USD 100 million.
Competitions & Events
The FIFA World Cup 2026™ will be the biggest event in the 2023-2026 cycle. For the first time, the competition will be co-hosted by three countries and expanded to 48 teams.
Investment budget for the FIFA World Cup 2026™ (USD million)
At the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023™, the world’s top players will compete from 20 July to 20 August for the greatest prize in women’s football. The expanded format will now feature 32 teams, and the tournament will also be the first to feature hosts from two confederations. The event budget amounts to USD 435 million. The FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 will be the first tournament hosted under the new operational model, with a local, FIFA-owned subsidiary on the ground. Despite the challenging regional and global conditions imposed by the pandemic, the new model has had the benefit of ensuring that FIFA’s preparations can continue unabated.
At its meeting on 16 December 2022, the FIFA Council endorsed several key principles related to the international match calendars and competitions for both men’s and women’s football. These changes will all have a budgetary impact and may require a budget revision at a later stage:
A budget of USD 167 million was included for youth tournaments and will form the base of the proposals to revise FIFA’s youth tournament inventory.
For women’s football, the current international match calendar structure will remain unchanged until 2025 and is included in the present budget. The creation of a new FIFA Women’s Club World Cup™, a new FIFA Futsal Women’s World Cup™ and the expansion of the Women’s Olympic Football Tournament from 12 to 16 teams are not considered in the current version of the budget.
For men’s football, an expanded 32-team FIFA Club World Cup™ is set to begin in June 2025 and will take place every four years. Furthermore, FIFA will launch friendly tournaments - the FIFA World Series. Both tournaments are not included in the current version of the budget, neither for revenue nor expenses.
Development & Education
The new FIFA Forward 3.0 will increase the funds currently available under Forward 2.0 by a substantial 29%. The total investment for the benefit of FIFA’s member associations, the confederations and zonal/regional associations amounts to USD 2,250 million for the full cycle. This next stage of the programme represents an almost sevenfold increase in football development investment compared to the development programmes in place prior to 2016.
On top of the increased FIFA Forward funds, the FIFA World Cup 2026 will provide FIFA with excess revenues available for additional football development. This excess cash flow will be accessible in 2026 and beyond. Consequently, the 2023-2026 budget anticipates a dedicated Football Development Fund of USD 660 million. The objective of this fund is to strengthen FIFA’s vision to make football truly global by supporting all of FIFA’s member associations and the confederations in their endeavours to develop football in all its forms and at all levels – in line with their individual needs and the overall parameters of Forward 3.0.
A total amount of USD 102 million across the cycle will be dedicated to technical development programmes, which are tailored to each member association with the goal of increasing competitiveness around the world.
The FIFA Foundation will have an available budget of USD 38 million in 2023-2026 to help promote positive social change around the world and raise support for the recovery and reconstruction of damaged or destroyed sports infrastructure worldwide.
In order to achieve Goal 8 of FIFA’s 2020-2023 vision – to accelerate the growth of women’s football – FIFA will invest USD 71 million in women’s football development programmes across the world, in addition to those funds allocated under Forward and other development programmes.
Investment budget for Development & Education for 2023‑2026 (USD million)
Football Governance
The football governance budget for the 2023-2026 cycle of USD 167 million covers judicial bodies, preventing match manipulation and the transfer matching system (TMS).
FIFA Governance & Administration
These expenses are closely monitored by means of firm cost control. The planned legal costs for the full cycle are significantly lower than in previous years due to the fact that certain legal cases are drawing to a close. Given the lower impact on travel as the COVID-19 pandemic recedes, FIFA is planning four on-site Congresses for all member associations to gather together and take decisions on the future of football.
Marketing & TV Broadcasting
The expense allocation for Marketing & TV Broadcasting mainly focuses on commercialising the marketing, media and TV broadcasting rights for the FIFA World Cup™. The main operational changes are a fully insourced media sales force to deliver significant efficiencies and the utilisation of resources that can better serve FIFA’s commercial obligations. In addition, continued enhancements to FIFA’s digital and esports landscape are on course to be delivered during the cycle.
Budget for the year 2024 and the full cycle 2023‑2026 (USD million)
| in TUSD | 2,024 | 2023-2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue from television broadcasting rights | 15 | 4,264 |
| Revenue from marketing rights | 137 | 2,693 |
| Revenue from licensing rights | 75 | 669 |
| Revenue from hospitality rights and ticket sales | 0 | 3,097 |
| Other revenue and income | 66 | 277 |
| Total revenue | 293 | 11,000 |
| FIFA World Cup United 2026™ | 0 | 3,839 |
| FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023™ | 0 | 435 |
| FIFA youth tournaments | 36 | 167 |
| Other tournaments and events | 98 | 395 |
| Value in kind and other | 39 | 330 |
| FIFA Club Protection Programme | 41 | 150 |
| Personnel expenses | 68 | 287 |
| Depreciation of property and equipment | 4 | 15 |
| Competition & Events | 286 | 5,618 |
| FIFA Forward Programme | 456 | 2,250 |
| Football Development Fund | 0 | 660 |
| Technical development | 25 | 102 |
| Refereeing | 15 | 55 |
| Development offices, Executive Football Summits and other projects | 23 | 146 |
| Digital development services | 45 | 193 |
| Other Development & Education programmes | 55 | 218 |
| Personnel expenses | 50 | 202 |
| Depreciation of property and equipment | 25 | 97 |
| Development & Education | 694 | 3,923 |
| Football governance bodies and third-party services | 19 | 78 |
| Personnel expenses | 21 | 85 |
| Depreciation of property and equipment | 1 | 4 |
| Football Governance | 41 | 167 |
| Legal and governance costs related to investigations | 9 | 34 |
| Annual FIFA Congress and committee meetings | 26 | 103 |
| Communications | 12 | 49 |
| Information technology | 28 | 106 |
| Buildings and maintenance | 7 | 31 |
| Other (including finance, Executive Office, ERP costs, insurance and auditors’ fees, VIK) | 28 | 146 |
| Personnel expenses | 91 | 367 |
| Depreciation of property and equipment | 4 | 14 |
| FIFA Governance & Administration | 205 | 850 |
| Broadcasting and media rights | 12 | 63 |
| Marketing rights | 8 | 56 |
| Licensing rights | 5 | 21 |
| Sales commission and other | 8 | 82 |
| Personnel expenses | 28 | 114 |
| Depreciation of property and equipment | 2 | 6 |
| Marketing & TV Broadcasting | 63 | 342 |
| Total investment | 1,289 | 10,900 |
9,708 0,000
Total 2019-2022 investments in football activities (in USD million)
660 000
Investment in new Football Development Fund (in USD million)
11,000 00,000
+4,560 versus cycle revenue budget 2019-2022 (in USD million)
2,250 0,000
+29% in Forward investments for 3.0 versus previous edition (in USD million)