FIFA Looking to Raise Up to $2 Billion for Streaming Service

Vinicy Chan and Gillian Tan, Bloomberg News

(Bloomberg) -- FIFA is seeking to raise as much as $2 billion for the expansion of FIFA+, the free streaming service launched by football’s global governing body to offer live coverage of matches, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

FIFA is working with UBS Group AG to raise $1 billion to $2 billion to expand the service, said the people who asked not to be named as information is private. A formal fundraising process is expected to kick off in July, targeting mostly financial investors from the US and the Middle East, the people said.

Deliberations are at an early stage, and details such as timing and fundraising size could change, according to the people. The investment would be for a minority stake in FIFA+, the people added, who asked not to be named discussing confidential information.

Representatives for UBS and FIFA declined to comment.

The organizers of both golf and domestic football leagues have been spinning off media rights in order to raise capital, with investors receiving future advertising and broadcasting revenue.

FIFA+ was launched in April 2022 as a free, ad-supported streaming service, that planned to stream 40,000 live games a year, with at least a quarter coming from women’s matches.

So far, FIFA+ has offered live streaming in smaller broadcast markets, with last year’s Women’s World Cup predominantly offered for free in countries where it hadn’t sold TV rights. FIFA+ is currently streaming the men’s Oceania Football Confederation tournament, where New Zealand are set to play Vanuatu in the final on June 30.

FIFA has previously attempted to raise capital on multiple occasions over recent years, focusing on funding new tournaments beyond its flagship World Cup tournament.

Back in 2018, a $25 billion deal led by SoftBank Group Corp. planned to invest in a joint venture to fund two new competitions. The investors would receive revenue from FIFA’s gaming and merchandise businesses. The attempt was shelved after opposition from European members.

In 2020, FIFA once again attempted to raise $1 billion to launch its revamped Club World Cup, working with Raine Group to find investors. The tournament, planned to start in China in 2021, was scuppered by the pandemic.

FIFA is currently struggling to find a major broadcaster for next year’s Club World Cup, now set to be held in the US next year. The current, far smaller version, was previously streamed on FIFA+.

FIFA was recently in talks with Apple Inc. for worldwide television rights earlier this year for the Club World Cup. However the discussions have stalled, with FIFA now considering selling the rights to the tournament to regional broadcasters, Bloomberg reported last week.

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--With assistance from Hugo Miller.