Hosting the World Cup - Essay Example

The Economic/Business Impact of a Country Hosting the World Cup Introduction The prestigious World Cup! Many countries would fall over each other or stop at nothing to get a chance to host this event in their country. Ever since the World Cup started in 1930, nations passionate about football have been doing their best to get the event hosted in their country. Today, the popularity of the game has grown so much that even populations which once had frowned upon the game are now vying with each other to send their teams for the event.

The live coverage of the matches, especially the nail-biting semifinals and grand finals are today watched with great enthusiasm the world over. The World Cup Finals is the most widely-viewed sporting event in the world, with an estimated 715.1 million people watching the 2006 tournament final.[1]With the rising popularity of the FIFA World Cup, fan clubs are being formed, merchandise carrying the popular team's logos is being sold like hot cakes, discussions among sports lovers and children too is centered around the World Cup.

As to hosting the World Cup, from 1958 to 1998, since countries from America and Europe had the maximum participation till recently, to avoid controversies, each continent was allowed to host an alternate event. Now, however, FIFA's Executive Committee decides the country which gets to host the game, depending on the members' votes. The popularity of the game has spread world wide, including Asian and African countries. The 2002 World Cup was jointly hosted by Japan and South Korea. This was the first time in its history that it was held in Asia and two countries hosted it jointly.

The 2010 World Cup will be hosted in South Africa, an African nation for the first time.ConclusionNeedless to say, the popularity of the World Cup is growing by the day. Not only football lovers, but intellectuals, housewives and children, irrespective of their age or nationality are interested in the game. With the world becoming a global village, fans are not restricted to any one country. There are fans of the Italian team all over America, Asia and Africa. Similarly, there are fans of the German or English teams, all over the world.

While the investment in infrastructure, media and other heads is quite huge and irreversible, it is worthwhile for any country to host the World Cup. The quantum of returns it brings back in the form of sponsorships from leading sports gear manufacturers, cell phone companies, lifestyle product companies are vast. Thus, no country can remain oblivious to the benefits of hosting this prestigious event in its country.References1, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FIFA_World_Cup2. www.fifa.com/worldcup/index.

html - 81k3. www.fifaworldcup.co.uk/4. www.uefa.com/competitions/worldcup/index.html5. http://www.holycross.edu/departments/economics/vmatheso/research/worldcup.pdf6. ww.worldcupblog.org