Soccer World Cup or Miss Universe. This Is the Costs to Organize a Mega-event

Mega-events are any type of tournament, ceremony, or contest that attracts the eyes of the planet. Whether it is to generate global recognition and positioning or to boost tourism, hosting a World Cup or a Grand Slam is a great way to attract the world's attention.

However, each of these mega-events has its cost. To organize a soccer world cup, the investment seems to increase exponentially every 4 years. The last World Cup cost $220 billion. This because the infrastructure had to be made almost from scratch.

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Soccer

Aside from the mega-event in Qatar, every World Cup has cost more than $2 billion since this century. The cost of the next world cup (United States – Mexico – Canada 2026) will also have an astronomical cost, since the number of participants will increase to 48 teams, which means more stadiums. The firm The Boston Consulting Group stated in Forbes that by 2026 the host countries will spend 2 billion dollars, a price less than 200 billion for Qatar and 15 billion for Russia or Brazil.

For a women's world cup, the investment seems to be less. Although both Australia and New Zealand have modern infrastructure and no major investment is needed, renovations still need to be done. The New Zealand government plans to invest close to 11 million dollars in adaptations of 30 sports facilities for this year's World Cup. A fraction of what Qatar invested in 2022.

Olympic Games

The cost of a few Olympic Games is also great. Paris, the next venue for the games, announced that it will review the initial budget of 4 billion dollars and may adjust it to 4.5 billion.

Tennis

To organize tennis tournaments endorsed by the ATP, several costs must be paid, in addition to adapting the facilities in the stadiums with minimum capacities and a minimum number of courts. But, for example, the ATP must also be paid some fixed charges: 60 thousand dollars for an ATP 1000; 50 thousand for an ATP 500 and 12.5 thousand for an ATP 250, which must be paid 6 months before the tournament. Additionally, insurance of no less than 10 million dollars for the ATP 1000 or 5 million dollars for the ATP 500 or 250 must be paid. If the prizes to be distributed are greater than 100 thousand dollars, a guarantee of 1 to a million dollars; if it is less, 500 thousand must be shown.

Motoring

The costs that any city or country that wants to organize a Formula 1 Grand Prix must incur will depend on the venue. There are circuits that only pay 5 million euros for their historical importance, such as Monaco. Others pay up to 66 million, like Abu Dhabi. In Latin America, Mexico in 2019 paid 35 million euros; but Brazil paid 27.

Not Sporting Events 

Now, if we move away from the sport, there are a series of events that can also attract the attention of thousands or millions of viewers in the world. One of these is the Miss Universe. The beauty pageant that El Salvador will organize next year also has a striking cost. According to 2017 figures, the Philippines spent 15 million dollars to host this contest. According to the New Yorker newspaper, Russia invested 20 million in 2013 and Brazil, 17 million in 2011.

Another big event that rotates its venue is Eurovision. The most important music contest in all of Europe has a cost of between 10 and 20 million euros. In 2014, Copenhagen spent 25 million euros, but Stockholm only allocated 14.

Many times, the cost of the event exceeds the income to the country. For example, tourism does not cover the costs of investment. However, the investment in the future image can generate enough money to cover the costs of the host.