Arsenal will be watching on anxiously after financial talks between FIFA and Apple stalled this week.
While Arsenal’s commercial and matchday income are consistently climbing, TV cash remains their biggest revenue driver.
They earned £191m in broadcast cash in 2022-23, the last financial year for which data is available. That was almost half of their overall annual turnover.
But Stan and Josh Kroenke are always looking for ways to push the envelope and FIFA’s proposals to expand the Club World Cup present an opportunity to do exactly that.
World football’s governing body has organised a 32-team version of the Club World Cup, which is usually a far more stripped back affair.
The tournament has proved controversial due to concerns for player welfare in, but it does have the support of Arsenal legend Arsene Wenger, now FIFA’s chief of global football development
The first iteration of the new format is schedule to take place in 2025, but the latest financial news has thrown a spanner in the works.
FIFA and Apple’s talks over TV deal stall
Arsenal and their peers in the so-called Big Six are all supporting the expanded Club World Cup, which they believe can reap big financial returns.
Mikel Arteta‘s side will not play in the inaugural edition of the quadrennial tournament in 2025, with Man City and Chelsea set to be the Premier League‘s representatives.
But the top brass at the Emirates are confident that, as one of the biggest names in football, their time will come and it will be extremely lucrative when it does.
However, that depends on FIFA securing a bumper TV deal for the competition.
As reported by Bloomberg on Thursday (20 June), talks about a potential broadcast deal between FIFA and Apple have hit a roadblock over FIFA’s financial demands.
The governing body want £3.2bn for the TV rights, while Apple are only offering around £800m, which has left clubs like Arsenal concerned about reductions to the prize money promised by FIFA.
This latest development represents an existential threat for the Club World Cup.
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Stan Kroenke wants a return on his Arsenal investment
Kroenke Sr. has pumped billions into Arsenal, having first become involved all the way back in 2007.
The club’s value has probably soared by 10-15 times what it was worth back then, but the Missouri-born billionaire is not ready to cash out just yet.
Kroenke’s sports empire encompasses nine sports teams worth north of £10bn, as well as a huge associated real estate operation that would likely double that figure.
He has not made his fortune by selling assets before they have reached maximum value, and his approach at Arsenal will be no different.
He, along with the owners of five other rebel clubs in the Premier League, missed the opportunity to do that after the European Super League breakaway plot failed.
But the TV revenue on offer in novel competitions like the Club World Cup will increase Arsenal’s enterprise value if they get over the line.
That is the ultimate goal for Kroenke, so it is not surprise that he and the rest of the Arsenal hierarchy are advocating for the controversial competition’s formation.