"The World Cup could give Brazilian clubs €134m boost over five years" (Bastien Drut)

"We believe that the surplus income for Brazilian clubs in the five seasons following the 2014 World Cup will be around €134m," French economist Bastien Drut told News Tank on 22/05/2014. These data come from a study co-written with English economist Stefan Szymanski (University of Michigan) entitled "The Private Benefit of Public Funding: The FIFA World Cup, UEFA European Championship and Attendance at Host Country League Football" published in April 2014.

Clubs' attendance increases by 15 to 25% over the five years following a competition, according to the study. "We can already see the initial effects. The average attendance of the Brazilian Championship has grown from about 13,000 fans per game for the 2012 season to almost 15,000 in 2013. One thing could disrupt our theory, however: a very rapid increase in ticket prices in recent years, which may keep Brazilians away from stadiums," said Drut.

"The benefits to the public sector are highly uncertain and it is very likely that, as with all other World Cups, we will find that they are much lower than public investment," warned…