World Cup 2014

Today's blog was written by Tony Kim.  Tony is an intern with Play Like a Champion Today, a recent psychology graduate of Purdue University North Central, and an avid socccer fan. 

Eleven and a half billion dollars; let that sink in for just a moment.

Eleven and a half billion dollars is the reported amount spent on this Summer’s World Cup tournament in Brazil. And as the South American nation prepares to host those from nearly every corner of the footballing world, it faces its toughest task in handling the protesting citizens in outrage over the government spending for the tournament, rises in fares for public transportation, political corruption, and police brutality against the protesting citizens.  Though, the most visible issue today is perhaps the lack of consideration to use that money or an equivalent amount to improve the nations infrastructure.

The Brazilian protests are far from new occurrences. They truly began in 2013 with many of the issues previously discussed at the forefront while Brazil hosted the Confederations Cup—the prelude for the World Cup.  But with an event as extravagant and as famed as the World Cup, one would think that it would bring in an enormous amount of revenue for the host country which could hardly be protested. That notion, while sensible, is not always the case. Take, for instance, the data given by the study, “Tourism and the 2010 World Cup:Lessons for Developing Countries.” Although the money spent on the World Cup in 2010 attracted a number of tourists, the cost for each tourist amounted to a whopping $13,000. Not only that, but the economic impact that events such as the World Cup have on host nations are impermanent and rarely ever consistently positive.

So, with eleven and a half billion dollars being spent on the World Cup, the question of what it will yield still remains.  This enormous amount of money may also be part of restructuring for the 2016 Summer OlympicGames to be held in Rio, but in the end after all is said and done—will Brazil truly benefit? Will the citizens in protest today find any kind of resolution to the issues they stand and voice against? As seen by previous events as large as the World Cup or Olympic Games, the economic yield will most likely not be what is expected for the host country—thereby tagging the money spent on events such as these as borderline frivolous.

 

Eleven and a half billion dollars; hopefully not money down the drain.