FIFA president Gianni Infantino has organised an emergency briefing with global television executives for Friday as he attempts to drum up interest in the FIFA Club World Cup, with the world governing body so far failing to announce a single broadcast deal for the tournament.
Multiple industry sources, who spoke anonymously to protect business relationships, say the president’s personal involvement signifies the level of concern that has gripped the organisation before the inaugural revamped 32-team Club World Cup, which is scheduled to take place in the United States between June 15 and July 13, 2025.
At this stage, however, FIFA is yet to announce broadcasters, venues, training bases or sponsors for the tournament, which is nine months away.
Clubs competing in the 32-team tournament — including Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Manchester City, Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea — are also yet to be told formally the participation money or prize money that will be available at the competition. The Athletic has been told Europe’s biggest clubs have budgeted for an anticipated windfall in excess of $50million (£37.6m), and in some cases significantly more, yet it is increasingly unclear how FIFA will fund this.
FIFA was previously in discussions with Apple over a global streaming deal to broadcast the tournament but that deal was not completed, meaning FIFA had to then open up a tender in July this year to attract broadcast sponsors from around the world to take on the first two editions of the Club World Cup in 2025 and 2029.
Two months on, however, and FIFA is still to announce any deals, with sources within the broadcast industry stating FIFA’s financial expectations are wildly different to the value currently perceived by TV networks and streaming platforms, with the final weeks of the tournament also clashing with big-ticket events including the women’s European Championships and Wimbledon next summer.
The broadcasters have misgivings over the audience’s familiarity with the Club World Cup, while there are also concerns that some of the world’s most popular teams, most notably Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool, Barcelona and AC Milan, have failed to qualify for the competition.
Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al Nassr have also not qualified, while the involvement of Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami is in the balance, with FIFA still to announce how it plans to allocate the final host (U.S.) place for the tournament. The expectation is it will go to the winners of this season’s MLS Cup.
The Athletic previously reported that one major U.S. media company with a significant sports portfolio was so unconvinced about the merits of the competition that it estimated the North American rights to be worth around $30million.
This week, The Athletic asked David Berson, the president and CEO of CBS Sports whether it is looking at the Club World Cup, given it already has a $1.5billion deal over the next six years to broadcast UEFA club competitions including the Champions League, Europa League and Conference League, as well as the Italian Serie A and English Football League (EFL).
He said: “We will look at all the properties that come up. I’m not trying to avoid it, but it’s going to be on a case-by-case basis on the value of that. The reality is we now have marquee European football content almost all year long. So we have to see what the incremental value is for that period of time.
“And I’ll tell you the new format for UEFA (club competitions) is even longer. It’s close to 50 per cent or so more matches. It’s more of the big teams against each other. So there’s a lot of volume there. So we are determining whether or not the incremental content that you’re referring to would be worthwhile and add value. But we’re thrilled with the portfolio that we have.”
FIFA president Infantino is now holding a briefing call for global broadcast executives on Friday, where he will be joined by the Paris Saint-Germain president Nasser Al-Khelaifi, who will be present in his role as the chairman of the European Clubs Association (ECA). The ECA is essentially a lobbying organisation that represents the interests of clubs who compete regularly in major UEFA club competitions. The ECA previously signed a Memorandum of Understanding with FIFA in March 2023, after which Al-Khelaifi said, according to the FIFA website: “FIFA and ECA will also now establish closer working practices on a future new Club World Cup, including finalising the sporting and commercial aspects for the 2025 edition, and working together on future editions including on potential structures for managing the commercial rights going forward.”
Infantino said “close collaboration with clubs in Europe, and the rest of the world, will be essential for the success of those events”.
Yet almost 18 months on, clubs have been profoundly frustrated by FIFA appearing to seek to do much of the work in-house without informing them regularly of progress or what to expect when the tournament comes around. Al-Khelaifi’s presence at the call on Friday is an indication that FIFA is now attempting to bring the clubs into the room after failing so far to strike the necessary deals.
FIFA’s struggle to get the tournament off the ground has been encapsulated by the fact the organisation has even changed the official name of the tournament, first marketing it as the Mundial de Clubes FIFA, including on official statements on its website, but now changing the trademarked name to the anglicised “FIFA Club World Cup” to try and ignite sponsorship and broadcast interest.
FIFA also has continuing challenges to drive sponsorship interest in the tournament, firstly because sponsors want to know the venues for the tournament — which are moving closer, but yet to be announced — as well as the broadcast arrangements for the tournament, both of which will define the level of exposure associated with the competition.
The Athletic has also previously reported that FIFA has experienced challenges from existing sponsors, who argue they have already acquired the rights to “other FIFA tournaments” through their sponsorship of the international World Cup, while FIFA believes this should be treated as an entirely new competition and subject to fresh sponsorship arrangements and additional payments.
The broadcast and commercial income would appear to be key to driving the necessary revenue in order to appease major club sides who have an extra month added onto their season in order to play in the competition. This has created concerns for clubs, who are wondering how FIFA will provide the necessary revenue in order for clubs to take the competition seriously, leading many to wonder whether a funding partner may come in, or if FIFA itself may have to self-fund the first tournament as an investment and hope that it leads to future growth down the line.
FIFA is also facing legal challenges from three of the biggest player unions in European football after they described the new Club World Cup a “tipping point” in the demands placed upon its members. The English Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA), the Italian players’ union (AIC) and their French counterparts, the Union Nationale des Footballeurs Professionnels, argue the rights of players are being violated under EU laws after FIFA added its new 32-club competition on to the end of the 2024-25 season. FIFPro, the global footballers union, is also supporting the case with action beginning at the Brussels Court of Commerce.
FIFA declined to provide a formal statement but a spokesperson insisted that progress is being made and FIFA is looking forward to sharing further details in due course.
(Top photo: Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)
