00:00Costs a little over $9 for a round trip to MetLife Stadium on the New Jersey Transit today.
00:05At the World Cup in a couple weeks, they're going to tax you $98.
00:09At this point, I just think I'm going to take the $150 Uber.
00:11I'm Randall Williams, a sports business reporter at Bloomberg News,
00:14and I'm taking you inside the world's biggest sporting events.
00:18Today, we are headed to the most-watched showdown on Earth, the FIFA World Cup.
00:28The 22nd FIFA World Cup will be hosted in three countries,
00:32the United States, Mexico, and Canada, across 16 cities, with 48 teams competing the most ever.
00:39And I haven't even mentioned the stars.
00:41Messi, Ronaldo, Mbappe, Lamin Amal, Erling Haaland, Harry Kane, and Captain America,
00:48Christian Pulisic, all leading their countries on the pitch as they battle for the world championship.
00:53Fans from across the globe will pour into North America, rooting for their home countries,
00:58packing out stadiums, spending big money in host cities,
01:02and it all starts on Thursday, June 11th in Mexico City.
01:06And this event is set to be bigger, grander, and more lucrative than any Super Bowl, World Series, or NBA
01:13Finals.
01:13The World Cup traditionally featured 32 teams in 64 total matches.
01:18This year, for the first time ever, there will be 48 teams in the field for a grand total of
01:24104 matches.
01:26Fox and Telemundo are paying FIFA more than $1 billion to air the tournament, with billions more tuning in.
01:33And the storylines for countries this year are endless.
01:36Can Messi and Argentina defend their title?
01:39And can France, Brazil, Spain, or Germany return to glory?
01:42And then there's the underdog question.
01:45Could Ghana, Panama, or even the United States pull off the kind of run that shocks the world?
01:51FIFA expects 5 million travelers for the World Cup,
01:55with those visitors projected to generate as much as $40 billion in economic impact across North America.
02:02There are also real stakes.
02:04TSA has warned that many of the agency's new hires may not be ready to staff checkpoints in time for
02:10an event of this size.
02:11And with ICE also expected to have a heavy presence,
02:14there are growing questions about whether Americans and even legal visitors could face detention,
02:20heightened scrutiny, or be removed from matches altogether.
02:23In Mexico, authorities plan to deploy 100,000 security personnel due to concerns pertaining to cartel violence.
02:30So while the World Cup promises tens of billions of dollars, it also comes with pressure.
02:35Can North America deliver a tournament without security failures or political drama overshadowing the games?
02:41If it all comes together, the 2026 World Cup won't just be the biggest in history,
02:46it could also be the most valuable.
02:48Now we're just waiting for the action to begin.
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