2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar: prize money, sponsors, attendance and more

The 22nd edition of the FIFA World Cup takes place in Qatar from November 20th to December 18th. Despite breaking up the European football season and being clouded by controversy from the get-go, it will likely be a spectacle once again and followed by billions around the world. 

A look at several business aspects of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, from sponsors to prize money and cost and from attendance figures to stadiums.

Who sponsors the FIFA World Cup 2022?

FIFA has several sponsorship tiers. There are FIFA Partners, FIFA World Cup Sponsors and Regional Sponsors. The governing body is currently implementing a new format with four tiers. By unbundling the women’s and esports branch from the men’s branch, FIFA hopes to increase overall sponsorship income.

FIFA Partners

Currently there are seven FIFA Partners, who have global rights and can use FIFA’s branding during all tournaments and across all branches: 

• Adidas (sportswear)
• Coca Cola (beverage)
• Wanda Group (conglomerate)
• Hyundai/Kia Motors (automotive)
• Qatar Airways (airline)
• QatarEnergy (oil & gas)
• Visa (financial services)

FIFA World Cup Sponsors

The second tier consist of World Cup Sponsors. These companies have global rights as well but are restricted to the World Cup tournament (in the build-up and during).

FIFA has seven World Cup Sponsors: 

• Budweiser (alcoholic beverage and part of Anheuser-Busch InBev)
• Byju’s (educational technology)
• Crypto.com (cryptocurrency platform)
• Hisense (electronics & home appliances)
• McDonald’s (restaurants & real estate)
• Mengniu Dairy (dairy products)
• Vivo (consumer electronics)

In the current set-up FIFA has six to eight slots for both FIFA Partners and World Cup Sponsors. In the future there is an extra tier between these two that gives rights to all tournaments in a certain branch (the men’s, women’s or esports).

Regional Supporters

The 2022 FIFA World Cup also has Regional Sponsors. The companies have the same tournament rights but are restricted to one (or more) of the five regions. FIFA has a maximum of four companies per region. 

• GWC (supply chain solutions) | Africa & Middle East
• Ooredoo (telecommunications) | Africa & Middle East
• QNB Group (financial services) | Africa & Middle East
• The Look Company (visual engagement solutions) | North & Central America
• Frito-Lay (snack food) | North & Central America
• Algorand (blockchain) | North America & Europe
• Claro (telecommunications) | South America
• Nubank (financial services) | South America
• UPL OpenAg (agrochemical) | South America

$4,666 million of revenue budgeted for 2022 World Cup year 

The FIFA World Cup is the governing body’s flagship tournament that drives income. The total revenue budgeted for 2022 (World Cup year) is $4,666 million. The amount is made up of five main revenue categories. The sale of television broadcasting rights contributes the most with 56 percent of the total income and amounts to $2,640 million.

Sponsorship income (marketing rights) comes second with $1,353 million and contributes for 29 percent. Hospitality rights and ticket sales, licensing rights and other revenue and income amount to $673 million.

The total investment, in other words cost, budgeted for the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar is $1,696 million. A decrease compared to the $1,824 million in expenses incurred for the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia.

Who sponsors the national teams?

Nine different kit brands sponsor the 32 World Cup teams. Nike supplies the most nations with 13. Followed by Adidas (seven nations), who are a FIFA Partner as well.

Apart from a technical supplier, national federations also partner up with other companies. However, the strict rules from FIFA to protect their brand and income stream make it difficult for these companies to promote their brand around the tournament. FIFA encourages companies and individuals to “use generic football or country-related images and/or terminology that do not incorporate any FIFA Intellectual Property”.

What is the prize money at the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar?

FIFA has set a total prize money purse of $440 million, with the tournament champions receiving $42 million. 

Prize money 2022 FIFA World Cup

In addition to the $440 million prize money purse, there is $48 million ($1.5 million per participating nation) in preparation money available. So, each participating country will at least earn $10.5 million.

During the 2018 World Cup in Russia the prize money purse was $400 million, with champions France receiving $38 million and runner-up Croatia earning $28 million. 

The difference with the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup, which had a total prize money purse of $30 million with the winner receiving $4 million, is substantial.

8 stadiums, including 1 temporary one

Eight stadiums across five cities will host 64 matches with the final taking place in Lusail. 

The Lusail Iconic Stadium has a capacity of 80,000. The Al Bayt Stadium in Al Khor has the second highest capacity with 60,000. Doha, Al Rayyan and Al Wakrah each have two stadiums, all with a capacity between 40,000 and 45,000.

The stadiums will be reconfigured after the World Cup, with excess seats being donated to other countries or used for the 2030 Asian Games. Stadium 974 will even be completely dismantled after the World Cup, making it the first temporary stadium in World Cup history. The stadium is made of 974 recycled shipping containers (974 is also Qatar’s international dialing code) and the elements will go to lesser developed nations after the event.

All stadiums have cooling systems in place to regulate temperature. Originally this was needed due to the extreme heat in Qatar’s summers, but in November and December temperatures can be high as well.

Attendance figures at the FIFA World Cup

So far, the four highest attendance figures at a FIFA World Cup were all during the 1950 tournament in Brazil. With the highest attendance at the Maracanã Stadium in Rio de Janeiro, where Uruguay beat Brazil in front of a reported 173,850 people. An earlier match between Brazil and Spain at the same stadium had an attendance figure of 152,772.

The fifth and sixth highest attendance figures (both 114,600 people) were not during the 1950 edition, but during a group match and the final in Mexico City in 1986.

The highest total attendance during a tournament was during the 1994 FIFA World Cup USA, where more than 3.5 million people watched 52 matches.

Attendance FIFA World Cup

Several interesting 2022 FIFA World Cup facts

• The 2022 FIFA World Cup is the first edition that is not held during the European off-season (May, June, or July), due to Qatar’s high summer temperatures. 
• It is the first time the World Cup is hosted by an Arab nation, and only the second time it takes place in Asia after the 2002 World Cup in South Korea and Japan.
• The 2022 edition is the last edition contested by 32 nations. During the 2026 edition in Mexico, USA and Canada, 48 teams will participate.

You can find the FIFA World Cup latest news and match schedule on the official FIFA website. For other sports events to attend you can have a look at our overview of sports events.