For NFL teams hosting World Cup matches, is the juice worth the squeeze?
· Yahoo Sports
They have to install playing surfaces that meet exacting standards. They have to change the names of the facilities. They have to shut down all other business (such as major concerts) for the duration of the World Cup.
Given the hoops through which the 11 NFL stadiums will have to jump in order to placate FIFA, it's fair to ask whether it's worth it.
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Ben Volin of the Boston Globe recently took a look at that question. Said an NFL official from a team that won't be hosting any of the World Cup games, "I know more than a few teams weren’t disappointed to lose the bid."
That could be sour grapes, because those who won the right to host the matches are crowing about it.
“Can’t sleep,” Cowboys owner and G.M. Jerry Jones said recently, per Volin. “This is a great chance to associate with the worldwide love with soccer, and lets us put a little notch on our belt and share it with what soccer’s about, too. They’ll never be able to take away that we held those games in that stadium."
Cowboys executive Stephen Jones echoed the sentiment: "We’ll be shut down all summer. But it’s worth it. I mean, this is about brand and, you know, being a part of something special."
The Joneses wanted to host the matches badly enough to give up their suite for the matches.
“I think I’ve got to go someplace else, but that was a part of it,” Jerry Jones said. “We did a lot of things to make this work.”
The Cowboys, Patriots, Falcons, Texans, Chargers/Rams, Giants/Jets, Chiefs, Seahawks, 49ers, Dolphins, and Eagles will be hosting World Cup games in their stadiums.
The total revenue is projected, per Volin, to be roughly $11 billion. FIFA will pay rent for the stadiums, while keeping the revenue from sponsorships, tickets, suites, merchandise, concessions, and parking.
So how much will the teams get for hosting the World Cup? Per Volin, the terms "have been kept under wraps."
Given that folks like Jones are not known for doing bad deals, they'll surely be making more money to host the World Cup matches than they would have made in a normal summer.
Still, it's a headache. Extra work, extra expenses, extra hassles.
Not to mention the P.R. bruise that comes from the perception/reality that NFL owners who are giving FIFA the surfaces it demands while stubbornly refusing to do the same for pro football players.