FIFA's mission: Unite The World

The FIFA World Cup, arguably the world’s largest sporting event had a combined 3.5 billion viewers in 2018. There are a total of 32 national soccer teams that compete to be crowned the champions of the tournament that is held quadrennially.  The Federation International de Football Association (FIFA) is a non-profit organization who “exist to govern football and develop the game around the world.” (Fifa.com) FIFA’s mission revolves around three pillars: the development of football around the globe, tournament development and social and environmental benevolence. 

FIFA wants to reinforce the reasons why soccer is known as ‘The Beautiful Game’ all around the globe. We are going to use the SWOT analysis to determine how FIFA markets the World Cup to achieve profits while maintaining its social mission. The sport is admired all over the globe and can unite communities through fanhood for a certain team and being prideful of your national team. 

 

Strengths

 

The brand image of FIFA is one of their most powerful assets. They are constantly developing ideas to reflect their global mission, to unite people through the game of football and change the lives of these people for the better. FIFA also has its own saying, “For the Game. For the World.” This saying best describes their mission to expand football as well as completing their social mission. Unofficially being world’s most widely viewed sporting event creating an opportunity for FIFA to develop soccer in countries that are willing to host the tournament in their nation.

 

 Weaknesses

 

There have been allegations of corruption at FIFA that includes the World Cup: fraudulent dealings, racketeering and money laundering are a few examples. Some of the higher executive positions have been accused of committing these crimes. FIFA must reassure the public and shareholders what FIFA is truly representing. These cases negatively affect the reputation of FIFA, but by continuing to be focused on their mission they can retain their prestigious brand logo that representing credibility and authenticity.

 

Opportunities

 

Expanding the game will help with not only the mission that
FIFA aims to achieve, but by generating more viewership for when the next world cup takes place. The 2018 World Cup brought in a revenue of $5.36 billion, with expenses of $1.2 billion and having a total profit of $3.6 billion. The amount of people it reaches around the world allows the World Cup to be an incredible marketing partner. A key partner for the most recent world cup was Adidas who promoted its new plastic-recycled products that aim to have a more sustainable company. The company was able to see a percentage jump increase of 12% resulting in the net income of the brand reaching $460 million.  

 

Threats

 

A current threat to FIFA is corruption because of the amount of money the corporation generates. Match fixing raises tensions between fans and ruins the reputation of FIFA. teams, referees and even some FIFA executives have been accused of participating in match fixing to financially gain from in from betting on certain teams to win. FIFA ultimately has the people asking the company ‘preserve the beauty of the beautiful game.’ 

 

Overall, we understand that FIFA has valued its social mission to unite people while using the money it generates to further grow the sport. The reputation of the company has tanked in certain moments over the last century, but the company remains focused on creating a sport that everyone can enjoy and benefit from.

Check out this video to see what the power of football is!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZB4kl2w7RE

Citations:

The FIFA World Cup, Human Rights Goals and the Gulf Between. https://scholarship.law.umassd.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1212&context=fac_pubs. 

“More than Half the World Watched Record-Breaking 2018 World Cup.” Klimkova: My New Zealand Will Play to Win, https://www.fifa.com/tournaments/mens/worldcup/2018russia/media-releases/more-than-half-the-world-watched-record-breaking-2018-world-cup. 

“MSG Management  Study  Guide.” Effects of FIFA World Cup on the Economy, https://www.managementstudyguide.com/effects-of-fifa-world-cup-on-economy.htm. 

“Sentiment Analysis and Sponsors – a Look at the FIFA World Cup.” NetBase Quid, 21 Dec. 2020, https://netbasequid.com/blog/sentiment-analysis-and-sponsors-a-look-at-the-fifa-world-cup/. 

Soccer and World Cup Bring Worlds Together - Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_hX3sB3_N8. 

Sweeney, Peter Adams and Erica. “Adidas Sales Surge on Strength of World Cup Sponsorship.” Marketing Dive, 10 Aug. 2018, https://www.marketingdive.com/news/adidas-sales-surge-on-strength-of-world-cup-sponsorship/529807/.