Before the World Cup started, I read an article about the economic impact that winning the World Cup has on a nation. I found it very interesting to think there's more to football than playing to win.

It involves a bit of reading (bummer, I know!) but I just thought I'd share it.

"To say that World Cup soccer generates an economic impact is a great understatement. The impacts to the economy by the World Cup tournament are both direct and indirect in nature. The tournament directly impacts a country’s and affiliated city’s infrastructure, tax base, tourism stream and hospitality revenue generations. This does not take into account the indirect impacts such as marketing value, secondary and tertiary follow-on spending, and the increase in community pride that accompanies the tournament. Besides the economic impact, World Cup soccer can greatly impact nationalism, both in positive and negative aspects, as well as the world-wide economy with sponsors and other affiliated businesses, and also the perception of soccer with any outbreaks of violence, both on and off of the pitch (i.e. hooliganism).

While there are many differing studies into the economic effect that the World Cup develops, the majority agree that the tournament brings an economic prosperity along with it. Consider that 36 billion cumulative consumers watched the World Cup on television and that the Final between France and Brazil had 2 billion television viewers watching live, one can see the economic reality. The world-wide total sponsorship value increased from a 1984 value of $2 billion to a 1996 value of $16.6 billion. Furthermore, the main investment category for sponsorship is sport with 65% of the US market (1994 World Cup host), 63% in Germany (2006 World Cup host), 80% in South Africa (2010 World Cup host) and 61% in the UK (Schultz, 1999). As indicated with the majority of the sponsorship value in sport alone, one can see that the economic and secondary impacts associated are uncontestable in their value. This paper will attempt to delve into the main economic and secondary aspects of the World Cup and to show that hosting the World Cup tournament is both an economic gain to the community and country as well as a positive to the community and country in other aspects."

More at the source:

http://spectrum.troy.edu/~aisfm/world%20cup.htm

Anyway, I was reminded of that article because I  was reading this in today's 24 Hrs.

"Italy's win in the World Cup final is being hailed not only as a sports triumph but as a possible way to boost the country's sluggish economy.

Sunday's 5-3 victory over France in a penalty shootout could allow Italy to ease up on planned budget cuts by boosting consumer confidence and increasing gross domestic product, government officials said.

"We can certainly say it's worth more than half a point of GDP" said Economics Undersecretary Mario Lettieri, though he conceded, "we cannot make an exact prediction."

Effects from the morale boost appeared to be felt on the stock market, where top teams in the wake of a match-fixing scandal in recent weeks had taken a beating, particularly Juventus, once Italy's blue chip soccer club and the major league champion in the last two seasons.

The Agnelli family, of the Fiat SPA car empire, owns a controlling stake in Juventus, which risks demotion from Serie A along with three other clubs. On Monday, the team's stock was up 5.7 per cent at the end of the day."