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Will Colahan's avatar

The World Cup brand question is really interesting. FIFA may be on track to break its revenue record, but that growth seems to be coming at a real cost to the World Cup brand itself.

The World Cup still occupies premium cultural space. However by, pushing everything back towards FIFA, they weaken the emotional value that makes the tournament so commercially powerful in the first place.

Carla Bilche's avatar

100% true. This tension is unavoidable: FIFA is trying to tighten its grip on the product, but the fans are the ones who actually create its meaning. And a fan's emotional connection to the World Cup is entirely different from their connection to FIFA. We'll see what happens.

Kwame Twumasi-Ankrah's avatar

Interesting article, Carla. I like the Sleep Tax chart you presented. It baffles me why a brand name will be covered and "Stadium" uncovered.

Carla Bilche's avatar

It's insane, isn't it? I read on Reddit that this also happened with other stadiums like Lumen Field, and they were laughing about the "Field" staying there.