Qatar 2022 'could be a car crash' for TV rights holders

With millions of euro at stake, television stations have to weigh up the odds carefully when bidding for sports events

Four presidents graced the podium at Moscow’s Stadion Luzhniki last Sunday as France lifted the 2018 World Cup. Putin, Macron and Grabar-Kitarovic all got wet in the downpour, but for FIFA president Gianni Infantino, it was all sunshine – commercial sunshine.

Revenues for this World Cup will have beaten all records. FIFA are the empire on which the sun never sets. With over $2.4 billion in TV rights and $1.5 billion in sponsorship ...