Russia 2018 World Cup: costs and insurance

The budget for the 2018 World Cup

With more than four billion fans, football is by far the most popular sport. The budget dedicated to the World Cup organized by Russia testifies to the importance of this event.

Initially set at 10.23 billion USD, the budget has been revised upwards twice. Two additional fund injections totaling 549 million USD were made in 2015 and 2017. Today, this budget has reached 10.78 billion USD.

This record will not last long. It will be largely beaten by Qatar, the host country of the football 2022 world cup estimated at 15.7 billion USD that is, an increase of 46%.

In Brazil, where the 2014 World Cup took place, the final budget was 9.4 billion USD. The one dedicated to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa did not exceed 5 billion USD.

The insurance cover of the 2018 World Cup

For an event like the 2018 World Cup, nothing is left to chance: stadiums, International Football Federation (FIFA), sponsors, players, national teams, television channels and the various other players underwrite insurance policies to get covered against the various hazards that may arise.

The cancellation coverage of the event following any loss: boycott, attack, cyber attack, is estimated at 1.5 billion USD, including TV rights, sponsorship, advertising and ticket refunds.

In terms of cyber-risk, the ticketing companies and the organizers of the sports event run a considerable risk. They hold the personal and financial data of several hundreds of thousands of supporters. According to Beazley, a Lloyd's syndicate underwriting agency specializing in this type of risk, the insured sums under the single ticketing is estimated at 200 million USD.

For TV channels, data piracy can cause loss of revenue and lawsuits. For a global broadcaster, the insured amount is over 100 million USD.

Terrorism also raises concerns of the World Cup organizers . For this type of risk the subscribed capital is about 250 million USD. The risk coverage for lone wolf shooters is 100 million USD.

Kidnapping is also a risk to consider in Russia. Footballers, their families and loved ones are at risk. The sums insured per team to cover kidnapping is 25 million USD, or 800 million USD for the 32 qualified teams together.