In addition to the purely sentimental value and a sense of belonging to the Azzurro Jersey, the risk of not qualifying for the Qatar 2022 World Cup would mean enormous damage for Italy, especially in economic terms. The only qualification for the World Cup “gives you” 10 million euros, then the same rule applies to European club competitions such as the Champions League or the Europa League, the more you go on and the more money you earn. A move to the round of 16 would be worth a good 20 million euros in the quarter-finals, adding another four up to total revenue of 64 million, becoming world champions. Of that money (albeit to a small extent), the entire Italian football movement would benefit. Italy, champion of Europe, for example, brought in its coffers a good 28.25 million euros according to what was reported by the Gazzetta dello Sport.
In the field of TV rights, the situation is somewhat particular: even without Qatar, in fact, a drop in turnover would not be suffered because the contracts are armored and the TV rights guaranteed with a potential increase of 10%, from 140 to 150 million. As reported by the Gazzetta dello Sport even after the elimination from the Russian World Cup due to Sweden, football Italy has increased its turnover from 285 million in the 2015-2018 four-year period to 374 million in the 2018-2022 one. Why? “In the meantime, the choice not to turn to an advisor to sell the rights, giving up the guaranteed minimum but collecting everything. Then the diversification of activities and the involvement of sponsors beyond the simple visibility of the brands”.
Despite the 2018 Russia flop, the FIGC has not seen any reduction in its partners (sponsors) who have continued to focus on the national team (given how it went to the European Championship they did well). The only certain revenues missed, are those related to qualifying for Russia 2018. Now we must be careful because some sponsors will renew (or not) their contracts between March and December 2022: in the event of a flop, therefore, some excellent contracts could be lost permanently.
For the future turnover, “I’m not worried. Our project is not to win the European Championship or the World Cup and it does not end in Belfast. We have doubled the commercial value even in low times, giving an important image of Italian football”, he says. the president of the FIGC, Gabriele Gravina. The “serenity” is also due to the higher takings of technical sponsors such as Puma and Adidas (92 and 140 million respectively). Greater uncertainty about commercial and supplier ones because, if the World Cup were lost, a few precious million euros would also be lost. Today, our national team has a value of around 93 million a year, from 2023 it will rise to 102 but it could be even higher by going to Qatar.
Naples Football City 