Soccer is the globe's most beloved game, and FIFA is looking for a fresh way to capitalize on that appeal.
A few big names are already circling. Joshua Kushner's Thrive Eternal - a new investment firm created in 2025 to acquire stakes in famous brands - has shown interest according to reports. JPMorgan Chase is working with FIFA to structure the deal. So is OpenEconomics, a consulting firm that is talking to potential investors.
The timing is no accident. The recent 2026 World Cup, hosted by the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, generated commercial momentum. Broadcasters and sponsors are currently showing intense appetite for top-tier live sports rights. FIFA wants to lock in that demand while it is hot.
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Gianni Infantino, FIFA's president, put it simply: "Football is the world's most popular sport and an extraordinary engine of human and social development." The idea is to turn that popularity into a hard number - a market value for its most valuable assets. By selling a minority stake, FIFA can put a price tag on its media rights without giving up control.
The income from this new venture is planned to go directly to national soccer federations via the FIFA Forward program, which funds football growth around the globe. The FIFA Forward program, launched in 2016, has already distributed over $2 billion to member associations for development projects. The new spin-off aims to accelerate this funding by leveraging the anticipated record revenues from the 2026 tournament, which will feature 48 teams for the first time.
The 2026 World Cup, featuring an expanded 48-team format and held across three nations, is expected to generate record broadcasting and sponsorship revenue. This anticipated windfall provides the foundation for the $20 billion valuation of FIFA's media rights portfolio.
Here is where this gets different from a typical investment. No checks every quarter. Instead, they make money only if the value of the company goes up over time, letting them sell their stake to someone else at a higher price.
That is more like buying a painting than buying a bond. You make your return when you sell, not while you hold it.
The catch: FIFA plans to keep full control by holding a majority of the board seats. So outside investors are essentially betting that FIFA's media rights will keep growing in value - but they have no control over how the organization runs the business.
For investors, that is a high-risk, high-reward bet. Live sports rights have been climbing in value for years. But any scandal, governance issue, or shift in how people watch soccer could hit the company's worth hard.
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