With 2010’s World Cup costing ＄3.5 billion and 2014’s World Cup cost of ＄11.63 billion, the cost of hosting this years World Cup takes the cake with its near ＄15 billion price tag making it the most expensive World Cup yet.

This jump in expenses is a near 30% increase from the 2014 World Cup and a 329% increase from the 2010 World Cup. Another way to look at it is the 2010 World Cup costed on average ＄5,000 per seat, the 2014 World Cup Costed ＄6,500 per seat, and the 2018 Russian World Cup costed ＄11,500 per seat.

The cost of hosting the World Cup comes down to a plethora of items, however, one of the more prominent expenses is that of building or rebuilding stadiums. While FIFA only requires 8 stadiums, Russia opted to go all out and remodel or construct 12 stadiums for the World Cup.

This costed Russia approximately ＄5.324 billion. While another high cost, infrastructure, costed around 8 billion. An explanation to the increasing cost of hosting the World Cup could be attributed to a multitude of things.

Perhaps the GDP of each country correlates to its spending on the World Cup. South Africa had a GDP of ＄375.3 billion in 2010, Brazil had a GDP of ＄2.46 trillion in 2014, and Russia has a GDP of ＄1,326 billion in 2018. This data fits the hypothesis that a country with a higher GDP will spend more on its hosting of the World Cup.

<Brian Lee Diamond Bar High School 11th Grade>