Gianni Infantino told FIFA's member associations on Saturday that the 2023-2026 commercial cycle had surpassed $15 billion in revenue. A year ago, FIFA was projecting $8.9 billion. That's not a rounding error — that's a complete transformation of what a World Cup is worth.
The expanded 48-team format was the engine behind it. More teams meant 104 matches instead of 64, broader global interest, and stadiums running at 99% utilization through the group stage. FIFA received over 500 million ticket requests from all 211 member countries and territories. Half a billion requests. For a tournament that was supposedly going to be undermined by sky-high prices and U.S. travel restrictions.
The most expensive World Cup ever — and fans still showed up
Group stage tickets peaked at $575, more than double Qatar 2022's $220 maximum. Dynamic pricing — used for the first time — pushed some group stage seats past $1,000. The average resale price for a World Cup final ticket on SeatGeek was $12,751. One ticket on FIFA's own resale platform was listed at $2.3 million.
U.S. lawmakers publicly pressured FIFA to lower prices mid-tournament. FIFA also drew criticism for taking a 15% cut from both buyer and seller on officially resold tickets. None of it slowed the money down.
TV numbers backed the commercial story up. The U.S. team's round-of-32 win over Bosnia drew 24 million viewers across Fox and Telemundo — the most-watched English-language soccer broadcast in U.S. history. Mexico vs. England in the round of 16 pulled 23.2 million on Telemundo and Peacock, setting the Spanish-language record. Those are NFL-adjacent numbers for a sport that spent decades being told Americans didn't care enough.
A 64-team World Cup is already being discussed
Infantino confirmed FIFA members are now debating whether to expand again — to 64 teams, 128 matches, nearly a third of FIFA's membership on the pitch. Mark Conrad, professor of law and ethics at Fordham's Gabelli School of Business, laid out the commercial logic plainly: more matches means more programming, more advertising slots, more target audiences globally. The 2030 edition also marks 100 years of the World Cup, which gives broadcasters and sponsors an additional hook.
Anyone expecting that financial momentum to produce cheaper tickets for 2030 is going to be disappointed. Conrad was direct: "Prices will likely continue to be high in the next World Cup." FIFA has found a pricing model that works — at least for their balance sheet — and there's no structural reason to change it.
At $15 billion and rising, the World Cup isn't just football's flagship event anymore. It's one of the most commercially valuable properties in global sport, full stop. Infantino said the tournament "opened a lot of doors." The question for 2030 is who gets to walk through them — and what it'll cost.
