Global soccer’s governing body was criticized throughout the men’s World Cup for its nakedly commercial ambitions and its close ties to U.S. president Donald Trump. Less than two weeks after the final, FIFA appears to be doubling down on both.
In perhaps its most brazen money-grab yet, FIFA announced Tuesday that it is looking to create a new entity, FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE), to house its revenue-generating activities like media rights, ticket sales, licensing and sponsorships. If approved by members, FIFA said it intends to sell up to 21% of FFE at a $20 billion valuation, which would produce about $4.2 billion in upfront cash.
While the announcement made no mention of potential investors, London’s The Times reported that the plan was discussed with Trump’s administration. Joshua Kushner, whose older brother Jared is married to Donald Trump’s daughter Ivanka and who served as a senior advisor in the first Trump administration, is in talks to lead the deal through his Thrive Eternal fund, the Financial Times reported. Thrive’s first sports deal was a recent investment in the San Francisco Giants, and Joshua Kushner is an investor in the Miami Heat.
This structure—roll commercial assets into a new entity, sell equity and profit-sharing rights into that entity—has become commonplace across major global sports in the past half decade. It’s what the legendary New Zealand All Blacks rugby organization did to source money from Silver Lake, as did Spain’s LaLiga and CVC. It’s how the University of Utah became the first major U.S. athletic department to take institutional money via a deal with Otro Capital, and major conferences like the Big Ten have considered similar capital infusions.
