PART IV - To Rank or Not to Rank, That is the Question

Exploring the business side of the 2018 FIFA World Cup

IInternational Football Business Institute & The Royal45 Group sharing the same vision went to explore the business side of the 2018 FIFA World Cup and thankfully to Martijn Ernest - Head of Research & Development alongside, Jos Verschueren (Mechelen, 1964) the Director Sports
Management at Vrije Universiteit Brussel - Faculty of Physical Education and Physiotherapy and Simon Van Kerckhoven (Mol, 1992) the manager of the program and entrepreneur in heart and soul here is a comprehensive business report about the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.

1. And the winner is…
   Finally, it is time to announce the winner of the 2018 IFBI Football Business World Cup Ranking. Taking into account different parameters on the business side of football, we were able to point out our World Cup winner. Is it this year’s favorite, Brazil? Or will the golden boys of France bring back home our, virtual, cup? Or maybe outsiders like Belgium, or Argentina, or even Spain? Find it out here.
   Methodology
   The 2018 IFBI Football Business World Cup Ranking is based on the off-pitch performances of all World Cup teams.
   Being an academic institute (part of Vrije Universiteit Brussel) dedicated to the business side of football, we made our own ranking based on our own parameters:
   Social media followers, total team value, national coach salary, national stadium capacity and average qualifiers attendance.
   After extensive research upon these 5 determinants for success off the pitch, we were able to come up with a winner.

   The team with the highest number for each parameter gets 32 points, the team with the lowest number gets 0. The total sum of points for each team, gives them their place on our 2018 IFBI Football Business World Cup Ranking. Pretty straightforward, no?!
   If you compare the IFBI ranking with the FIFA World ranking, you will see some clear changes. Nevertheless, comparing the on-pitch performance and Football Business numbers, we clearly see that many big football nations did pretty well in our IFBI Football Business ranking.

   Give it up for…

2. Scoring the highest on our 2018 IFBI Football Business Ranking and therefore our champion of the 2018 FIFA World Cup

   ENGLAND

   

3. Conclusion
   When talking World Cup, we agree with Clint Smith, American poet, saying: “The beauty of the World Cup is that while thirty-two countries get to cheer for their respective teams, the event also affirms a global pluralism - it is as much a festival of cultural multiplicity as it is a competition featuring some of the best athletes in the world.”

4. The next month we will be able to enjoy the best players in the world fighting their way towards the final. One month of joy, pride, disappointment, but most of all, excitement. This is what football is all about; bringing together millions of people to celebrate on and off the pitch. We hope you enjoyed our, alternative, report on this year’s FIFA World Cup.

5. We realize that when later today the tournament kicks off, these numbers will not matter much. But, nevertheless we hope to have shown you with this report that Football, Marketing, Sponsoring, Fans, Infrastructure and Entertainment lift this festival of football to an even higher level.

6. Best of luck to all participating teams; let’s make it a great tournament!

7. Interested in knowing more about the business side of the 2018 FIFA World Cup, interested in collaborating on future projects, or interested in joining IFBI?