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FIFA is the one sure-fire World Cup winner

The World Cup is set to generate a huge profit for Fifa, football's world governing body, potentially surpassing the $1.8b it made in 2010.
It expects the tournament to attract a cumulative global television audience of 30 billion - around seven times that of the Olympics. In China alone, 50 million people are expected to watch each game even though the country failed to qualify for the World Cup.

Fifa has raised $2.3b in marketing revenues, according to research company Sportcal Global Communications. This includes $1.3bn for the sale of TV rights and $151m to cover new media rights - an overall 34pc increase on the sums paid to broadcast the 2002 tournament.

A further $884m has been raised from sponsorship and hospitality, while ticket sales are expected to bring in a further $252m, although some observers think the figure could come close to $505m.

The event's 15 main sponsors are thought to have paid a total of $758m, or $50m each, for the right to be an "Official Partner". These include Adidas, Avaya, Budweiser, Coca-Cola, Continental, Deutsche Telekom, Emirates, Fujifilm, Gillette, Hyundai, MasterCard, McDonald's, Philips, Toshiba and Yahoo.

The $758m deal is thought to be higher than the sponsorship fees for the last World Cup and Euro 2004 put together.

Six national sponsors, including Deutsche Bahn, have each paid $16m for exclusive local marketing rights.

But Fifa has been accused of "advertising clutter" by having too many main sponsors. After the tournament, there will be just six top-tier partners - Adidas, Hyundai, Coca-Cola, Sony, Visa and Emirates - each paying more than €100m for a four year period.

For Adidas the price seems to be money well spent. In the first three months of the year net profits jumped by 37pc.

Adidas expects to sell $1.5bn in football equipment alone, including 15m World Cup replica footballs, in 2006. That should help deliver a double-digit rise in profits. Adidas is also thought to have paid $351m to be Fifa's official equipment supplier in an eight year deal starting in 2007.

Adidas is in a fierce battle with its arch rival Puma. The two firms, which were founded by feuding brothers Rudi and Adi Dassler, are each hoping to triumph by being the kit provider for the winning team. Adidas is supplying six teams but Puma leads the field with 12 and Nike has eight kit deals, including with favourites Brazil.

But sponsorship does not guarantee success. Toymaker Nici paid $31m for the exclusive rights to make the official World Cup mascot. Its creation, Goleo, a 2.5-metre tall lumbering lion, has been such a flop that Nici went bust last month. (source London Telegraph)

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