Blog
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The FIFA World Cup is far more than just a sports game; it is a complex business model of entrepreneurial innovation where the line between business and sport is constantly being crossed. The 1966 and 1994 games are clear examples of the FIFA business model in use. The 1966 game introduced new rules for licensing, merchandising, media, and broadcasting. The 1994 game brought viewership and a new use of commercialism for the World Cup. The game of 1966 also introduced the use of a “swarm theory,” which, in this context, means that each stakeholder (such as…
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Mexico’s 1970 World Cup was for many firsts First in The World Cup in Mexico proved the success that soccer can have globally. It was the first World Cup to broadcast in color, allowing millions of viewers around the world to watch the sport in the new, vivid and colorful way, allowing it to grow more popular around the world. Like I mentioned before, it was the first time yellow and red cards were introduced, which gave the referees a more clear way to communicate warnings and expulsions to players and fans watching. Substitutions also became…
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The 1962 World Cup in Chile is usually remembered by sports fans as a “boring” tournament. The star player Pelé got injured early on, the games were often violent, and there weren’t many goals. However, historian Brenda Elsey shows us that behind the scenes, this was actually one of the most clever political maneuvers in sports history. At a time when the world was split between the US and the Soviet Union (the Cold War), Chile managed to bring everyone together by playing both sides perfectly. What makes this story so cool is how Chile won…
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The article “Diamonds in the Rough” by Brian Phillips is a masterclass in how to weave together the scientific, the surreal, and the deeply cynical. What struck me most was the author’s ability to take the cold, hard chemistry of carbon and turn it into a metaphor for the commodification of a human being. The fact that we can now use $60,000$ times the standard atmospheric pressure of Earth to bake a pound of human ash into a blue-tinted gemstone is a feat of engineering, but as Phillips points out, it is also a bizarre “peripheral…
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There is no denying across this course that the World Cup is a tremendous social, political, and economic opportunity for the host nation. The governments of Mexico (1970) and Argentina (1978) benefited greatly from having the contest inside of their borders. “In comparing Mexico 1970 to other World Cups via images, it’s clear to see it had more in common with the 12 editions that came after it, than it did with its eight predecessors.” Mexico 1970 was arguably the first “modern” world cup. The first contest featuring color TV (a fact that helped Mexico secure…
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Let’s face it, decisions made by FIFA come down to one thing: money. Revenue being a key factor in making said decisions explains why FIFA has selected certain countries to host the World Cup, for better or worse. The 1966 World Cup is really considered the start of the business model that FIFA would use for World Cups to come. With deals made with the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), whose members included the BBC, this was the first World Cup that was widely televised. It was also the first World Cup to introduce a mascot (Willie),…
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The article “While the World Watched” looks into the connection between Argentina’s victory in the 1978 FIFA World Cup and the violence of the country’s military at the time. Argentina was ruled by Jorge Rafael Videla and the military responsible for the Dirty War, a period which had kidnappings, torture, and the disappearance of thousands of citizens. While the world focused on football, the government used the world cup to improve its international image and distract everyone from the truth. The government presented Argentina as unified, strong and independent, stadiums were filled with fans, representing national…
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The World Cup isn’t just about soccer, it’s also a way for countries to show off a certain image to the world. Both Brenda Elsey’s chapter on the 1962 World Cup in Chile and Wright Thompson’s ESPN article “While the World Watched” show that governments often use the tournament to make their country look united, modern, and successful, even when there are serious problems at home. The main idea in both readings is that the World Cup can create national pride, but the reality behind the scenes is usually way more complicated. For example, in Argentina’s…
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“The rulers made the tournament slogan a pun of the phrase ‘human rights’ — roughly, We are human and we are right — mocking the international community fighting the kidnapping and torture of political enemies.” -Wright Thompson in While the World Watched FIFA has a patten of supporting controversial regimes. This behavior is not outright – the organization isn’t standing on rooftops and screaming their support – rather, it’s a support shown in what they don’t do. Actions speak louder than words, and FIFA’s decisions to allow nations with egregious human rights abuses to host the World Cup…
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In the span of just eight years, the two World Cups of Mexico 1970 and Argentina 1978 told different stories about the power of sport. 1970 showed us a significant leap into modern football, while 1978 exposed how the same tournament could be used to mask terror. The 1970 tournament in Mexico felt like the birth of the modern era of football. It introduced color television broadcasts, referees giving out yellow and red cards for fouls, in game substitutions, and the iconic Adidas Telstar ball. Watching the world’s biggest stars in color transformed the global experience…
