#广场预测世界杯赢40000U World Cup: The Twilight Celebration of Old-School Business Giants

Currently, the World Cup is in full swing, and each tournament is not only a football competition but also a stage for commercial rivalry. In the latest issue of The Economist, an article titled "World Cup: The Twilight Celebration of Old-School Business Giants" caught my attention. This article steps beyond the football itself, using a sharp, satirical perspective to dissect the capital logic behind the World Cup, pointing out that this nationwide event is essentially a stage for aging, declining companies to temporarily maintain public exposure. A must-read.
The article begins with a focus on team jerseys on the field, noting that once-dominant sports brands like Adidas, Nike, and Umbro are now clearly in decline: leading brands' market values have shrunk significantly, new jersey designs are bland, and fit and craftsmanship have flaws, with product innovation lacking, no longer holding the industry dominance of the past. The upstream and downstream industries closely tied to the World Cup face similar challenges. The beverage industry, which should boost sales through expanded tournaments, is hindered by the ongoing trend of young people abstaining from alcohol; beer sales are projected to grow very little. Beverage sales are highly linked to team performance; early elimination of popular teams can lead to serious inventory backlog.
Traditional TV stations pay high prices for broadcast rights, but viewers are increasingly shifting to streaming platforms and Spanish-language channels, with advertising effectiveness falling far short of expectations.
The lottery industry faces a more unique dilemma: the higher the tournament's popularity, the greater the risk of losses from uncontrollable match results.
The author also sharply exposes the real intention behind FIFA’s addition of water breaks: seemingly caring for players’ heatstroke prevention, but actually serving as advertising windows for broadcasters. Rule changes are all designed to benefit commercial profits. All companies dependent on the World Cup for survival are passively subject to the tournament’s outcome and consumer trends; only FIFA, which holds the industry monopoly, remains unaffected—regardless of which team wins, they profit.
The entire article uses the World Cup as a vehicle to reveal the era dilemma faced by traditional, old-brand companies: the continuous loss of young consumers, the diversion of market share to emerging sectors, forcing them to rely on the quadrennial football event to temporarily sustain their popularity.