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It is often said that money has ruined football. The Men’s World Cup, held mostly in America, a country that has produced so many great businessmen and very few good soccer players, was supposed to symbolize the triumph of big business over the beautiful game. True, ticket prices are exorbitant. And the tournament often feels like the Silicon Valley convention circa 2016: This year the referees have cameras strapped to their heads and each player has his own “digital twin,” whatever that means.

Yet despite the appearances of the tournament organisers, the business of World Cup football is simple and uncomplicated. The retailers, television stations, brewers and betting houses that make up capitalism’s starting XI are an aging and bruised group. For some, this may even be their last tournament.

The world’s biggest sporting event has become a carnival of slanderous companies, most visible on the field. On their left breast, players proudly wear their national badge; To their right are the logos of wobbly sports brands. Nike has drawn 12 out of 48 teams in this year’s competition, which is less than Adidas (14) and slightly more than Puma (11). The rest rely on faded giants (the Democratic Republic of Congo is Umbro’s only customer, a British brand that once outfitted more teams than any other) or local ateliers (Iran’s team is outfitted by Majid, a firm that shares its name with the country’s short-range missile-defense system).

Prices from all three big kit-makers are lower than in 2018, when France beat Croatia in the all-Nike final. Shares in the US firm, which has suffered a stunning decline from global cultural ubiquity in recent years, have fallen by three-quarters since their peak in 2021. Competition from companies such as On, a Swiss brand, and Asics, a Japanese brand, partly explains its demise.

Analysts say the lack of exciting new products is a major reason for the industry’s slowdown. It’s hard to disagree. In the “Trionda” Adidas have designed a truly forgettable football. It’s not as pretty as “Telstar” (Mexico 1970). Nor does it capture the essence of competition hosts like the over-engineered “Teamgeist” (Germany 2006). The players’ shoes this year are flashy, but surprisingly similar: most are pink. Of greater concern still are Nike’s new “aero-fit” shirts, some of which apparently don’t fit. The stitching on their shoulders makes the shirt’s material rise sharply, giving slim men who wear them a pixie-like look.

At the behest of FIFA, which has shown an extraordinary willingness to change the 19th-century rules of a game it regulates but did not invent, a game of two halves is now one of four quarters. Swiss-based administrators say the new breaks (also known as “powered hydration breaks”) are necessary due to the heat. Fans grumble that the pause allows television stations to show more commercials.

Perhaps the water break is a sneaky act of corporate charity. However could anyone in need be a recipient? Fox, which has the rights to broadcast the contest in the US, has generously packed the short breaks with commercials, most of which feature Sir David Beckham star. After rising last year, its shares have faltered. Other channels have seen better days. In France the games are being broadcast by M6 (whose shares peaked in 2000); Half is on ITV in the UK (2015); And many Spanish-speakers in the US are watching them on Comcast’s Telemundo (2021).

A tournament with many more games (104, up from 64 last time) must mean a lot of drinking. Yet brewers are also struggling. The ongoing wave of abstinence among youth in rich countries is the industry’s biggest problem. The World Cup might be the perfect antidote to this excessive prudence if the England team, historically known for their talented drinkers, weren’t so eager to encourage it. This year players can be seen wearing Whoop, a wrist-worn body-tracking device favored by over-sleepers and under-drinkers. The team captain, Harry Kane, advertises Aura Rings, another popular piece of deranged jewelry.

Some winemakers still consider the tournament a Hail Mary. The world’s largest companies expect this to increase the amount of beer sold this year by between 0.2% and 0.3%. Hosting the tournament will benefit American brewers. However according to analysts at Morgan Stanley, how much is ultimately drank depends more on which teams advance in the competition. Seen this way, the knockout games are also fixtures among the participating nations’ favorite beers. (However, unexpected exits can lead to massive unsold inventories, as happened when England crashed in 2006 and 2010.)

A similar logic applies to the gambling industry: the more exciting the tournament, the more money betting companies make. Investors hate them too. Flutter and DraftKings, two industry giants, can expect to see a record nearly $2.4 billion wagered by their customers in the US, according to Deutsche Bank. This year their shares have declined by one and a half and one fifth respectively. That said, unlike their cousins ​​in the liquor business, they have only themselves to blame for the threat to their existence posed by prediction markets.

off the bench

It is easier to see the demise of the old team of World Cup corporates than to predict who will replace them in the coming competitions. It’s anyone’s guess who will make the shirts if the big sportswear companies continue to slide into irrelevance. Kalshi and Polymarket, the largest prediction markets, are a good bet, so to speak. Like giant streaming players like Netflix and Amazon: it will eventually become impossible to bridge the gap between the size of events and the irrelevance of linear television. Much will depend on FIFA, which has a monopoly as opposed to corporate. No matter who is in the team, the manager remains the same.