FIFA promises $1B in prize at Men’s Club World Cup

FIFA has promised $1 billion in prize money to the 32 teams participating in the Men’s Club World Cup in the United States.

The long-awaited confirmation follows a broadcast deal subsequently being agreed with streaming service DAZN backed by Saudi Arabian money.

Clubs in Europe with 12 entries in the inaugural lineup, including Real Madrid, Manchester City, Bayern Munich, and Paris Saint-Germain, had sought promises from FIFA that they could earn tens of millions of dollars from the month-long tournament. FIFA gave no details of the prize money formula.

FIFA’s financial report for 2024 stated that the first edition of the four-year club event will generate a total revenue of $2 billion and include funding payments.

FIFA’s report said ticket and hospitality sales of $500 million are expected across the 63 Club World Cup games being played across 12 American cities. Teams qualified through four seasons of winning titles, or through consistent results, in soccer’s continental club championships through 2024. FIFA gave Inter Miami and Lionel Messi a host-nation entry for the team’s record in the Major League Soccer regular season.

Club World Cup money is on target to raise the soccer body’s budgeted four-year income to $13 billion through the 2026 World Cup, which will be co-hosted by the US, Canada, and Mexico.

FIFA books its income from broadcast deals and most of its sponsor deals in the year a tournament is played. The financial report published early in 2027 will detail the whole picture of its finances.

Coldplay, FIFA Combine for 1st ever W/Cup Halftime Show

Coldplay vocalist Chris Martin is working with FIFA to curate the first Super Bowl-style halftime show at the World Cup final next year.

The MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, known as New York New Jersey Stadium for the World Cup, will host the final on July 19, 2026.

FIFA will also stage what its president Gianni Infantino called a “takeover” of Times Square for the tournament’s final weekend, which Mexico and Canada will co-host.

“I can confirm the first-ever halftime show at a FIFA World Cup final in New York, New Jersey, in association with (advocacy organization) Global Citizen. This will be a historic moment for the FIFA World Cup and a show befitting the biggest sporting event in the world,” Infantino posted on Instagram recently.

“I also want to thank Chris Martin and Phil Harvey of Coldplay, who will be working with us at FIFA to finalize the list of artists who will perform during the halftime show, as well as at Times Square,” Infantino wrote.

Although he didn’t clarify whether Coldplay would perform, he did say that Martin and Coldplay manager Phil Harvey would be involved in booking other artists.