Until recently, the World Cup was the biggest event in the world, but was almost ignored in the biggest economy. As years go by, that is less and less the case. The US has become a much more important player since hosting the World Cup in 1994. It’s probably very related that the US team has also improved its general level since then and even reached the quarterfinals. That being said, you could argue that the World Cup is the biggest Sports event from a business perspective in the world, perhaps the biggest event  in any sphere in fact.

The numbers are staggering and there are many. The predicted $21.3 billion economic impact as well as the estimated 159,000 jobs created for Africa is incredible and something that will have a long term impact in many ways. Tourism is one obvious but many of the jobs created and dollars spent will have a lasting impact in Africa. Around the world, with audiences glued to their television, it is a golden opportunity for advertisers, pub and bar owners, betting & gambling institutions, etc.

International Stocks/Companies

Like the World Cup, stocks that compete in this major event are the biggest in the world. Companies that consider it a good investment to be seen around the planet are the biggest in the world. Most of them, even when headquartered outside of the US, are still traded on US exchanges. There are however a few exceptions that you will see here.

There might only be 1 World Cup winner but the fact is that many many others will come out as winners and we decided to take a look at some stock picks or companies that could do well. So by category, here they are:

Gambling

-Unfortunately, Americans are more limited in terms of gambling on the World Cup. If you live near a casino, you can of course go place your bets here. I wrote about how sports gambling on the internet might become legal soon in the US . In the meantime, non-US users can flow to either private companies such as Betfair or public ones which can be traded on European exchanges. Betfair is very transparent about everything going on and I just checked and saw that over $50 millions has been bet on Betfair alone for the overall winner. There will be many times that bet on individual games, groups, special bets, etc. This is a billion dollar business for such a big event and it is needless to say

TV

I don’t think I need to explain this one very much. It is when such big events occur that consumers around the world think about upgrading their electronics, mainly their tv. Watching a soccer/football game on a 50″ screen instead of a small tv makes a big difference. Not only will consumers be thinking about buying a big TV, but they will be very interested in hearing about the different brands out there. Sony is an official sponsor of the World Cup but there are others that could be solid investments too. Here are the main TV/electronic companies to consider:

Beer

Maybe even more obvious than TV is the beer battle as In Bev (which owns the Budweiser brand, official sponsor of the World Cup) takes on huge brands such as Heineken and Molson Coors. Surely no event will generate as much beer sales as the World Cup as Stadiums, Pubs and Private Parties all have a good time.

Sports Apparel

The other big battle, with very few very important players is for sports apparel. Adidas is the official sponsor, and also probably the most important sports apparel company in the world in the sport. But Nike has been making progress and continues to pour huge amounts to sponsor individuals, teams, etc. Just take a look at this incredible video that Nike set loose on the internet, which has been viewed by millions now.

Camera

Finally, camera producers are always major sponsors in  such big events. You can bet that we will see a lot of ads for Nikon, Canon, Olympus even though they are not official sponsors. Here are the main players:

Those are main battles that will take place although many others will be played out either in local markets or across the internet. You can also think of the airlines that will try to generate business towards South Africa, Safari tour operators and so many more. We are now just a couple of days away so if you have not done so, get your big tv, a few beers in the frige and get ready to enjoy the games!

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