The True Cost and Benefit of the World Cup
With the FIFA 2010 World Cup under-way, it is interesting to note exactly what this tournament has done for the African nation. The amount of money being pumped into the tournament is one thing, but there are many different aspects to the game that often get overlooked. The amount of people coming into the country will be instant tourism and the amount of money each person spends will help the economy. Entrepreneurs will have a great time selling their wares and boosting their businesses and increasing the reach of their products. Despite all this positivity there are several problems that are being discovered as the tournament starts.
South Africa has been a troubled nation for many years. Being crippled by Apartheid has left it with deep divisional scars. The biggest advantage to the 2010 World Cup will be the fact that it will bring social cohesion with it and all the people of the country will unite as one to celebrate the game. The World Cup will bring a huge amount of money into the country as well. The sheer number of ticket sales that have been sold has been almost 400,000 and the revenue generated from this sale is huge. "The World Cup is expected to deliver a gross national income of about 9 billion Euros, most of it spent by the government on improved infrastructure. Economists say the tournament will boost economic growth by 0.5 percent and much of the income will be realised after the competition ends."
The sheer amount of people coming to the country as sport tourists will help the economy of South Africa in many ways. Local hotels and Bed & Breakfasts will get a huge boost and have probably increased their prices in the wake of the tournament. The same article also states that, the average football fan is expected to stay for 18 days and spend about 3,000 euro’s, for a total of about 1.1 billion euro’s. Most of this revenue will be spent to recoup the huge investments already made in the up-gradation of roads and building of stadiums. It isn't clear if South Africa will make a profit at the end of the day. The amount of money that the African nation as already spent on building new stadiums, organizing the whole event, putting together concerts and improving the infrastructure of the country has been massive and it seems they were looking for a bit more people to show up to watch the tournament and buy tickets. It will still be a huge boost for the country as almost 400,000 people will arrive and will spend money and experience the culture and make happy memories of Africa that they will take back with them.
FIFA's strict rules on copyright aren't going down too well with local entrepreneurs though. The only way for a vendor to sell something that has the words FIFA, South Africa 2010, WC 2010 or the logo or any combination of them is to become a licensed FIFA vendor. Since becoming a vendor costs more than the average street hawker can afford in South Africa, they really won’t be getting the full benefit of the tournament. Sponsors are another issue, because the whole tournament is sponsored by some big company or the other, no outside food or drink or merchandise can be sold except for those goods that are produced by the sponsoring companies. So if a little food stall owner wanted to sell hot dogs near the stadium he or she wouldn't be allowed to because FIFA has really clamped down on this aspect of the game. It is a bit of a shame that the small guy won't feel the full benefit of the tournament while the massive corporations make more and more money.
The overall boost that the country will experience will be a lot more than can be measured in mere monetary terms. The first World Cup to be held on African soil will be a talking point for years to come and the amount of jobs that were created because of it must have greatly helped out people who were struggling after a horrendous worldwide recession. FIFA and South Africa have come together to create magic, so what if a little money was lost in the process.
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