World Cup 2006 Blog

Sepp Blatter’s Magical Money Making Machine Posted: 23 Mar 2009 03:40 PM PDT If you’ve been reading the real world non-football news (and I don’t recommend it right now) then you’ll know there’s a whole world of economic bleakness out there. But in FIFA-land? All is sunshine, lollipops and big profits. FIFA announced their 2008 figures on Friday, and… ker-ching! Revenues are up and profits are good. Sepp Blatter and friends took in $957 million in 2008 (compared to $882m in 2007) and spent just $773m (compared to $883m in 2007) for a total profit of $184m. And while most financial institutions were either wobbling or collapsing at the end of last year, FIFA even did some smart financial stuff that I don’t quite understand: “FIFA even made a profit of $16 million in managing its assets last year. Its equity stands at $902 million, boosted by a successful policy of hedging foreign currency.” (Does that mean they dropped foreign currency in a hedge, and then came back a year later to find it was still there, and worth more than when they left it?) In a way, it’s good news that FIFA is doing well. Because if the governing body goes under, that would spell trouble for the beautiful game. But seeing FIFA - which is supposed to be a governing/administrative body and not a for-profit business - make out so well in 2008 while everyone else struggled is pretty remarkable. It basically underlines the idea/fact that FIFA is now a corporate monolith that makes a fortune selling TV licensing, merchandise and sponsorship. The estimated revenue for World Cup 2010 is apparently $3.2 billion. Imagine how many AIG retention bonuses you could pay with that?

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Sporting News Today: Which Sweet 16 players have NBA scouts drooling?

MAMUDU, Your March 24, 2009 issue of Sporting News Today is now available, please click here. Here are some articles in Today's Issue Our 12-man roster of the Tournament's top prospects Xavier has a major issue with 'mid-major'label NFL: Stafford gets stamp of approval from Hall of Famer Handicapping the playoff push in the NHL's Western Conference Is Schilling Hall-worthy? Two peers weigh in If you experience any problems with your issue, please click here to contact our customer service department. Know a friend who might like Sporting News Today? Just click here or email him/her the link: www.sportingnewstoday.com.     Trouble Viewing? If any of the above links do not work for you,   copy and paste this URL into your browser:   http://today.sportingnews.com/t=c/?1&37190&119787&13081&0000&1236447752&EIInjEOx9cS45     Please do not reply to this message. Questions may be submitted to Digital Support.   To stop receiving email notifications for digital issues of Sporting News Today,   click here.   Sporting News Today 120 West Morehead Street Suite 200 Charlotte, NC 28207