The opening match between Brazil and Croatia will kick off two weeks from tomorrow. But there seems less anticipation leading up to the Cup on whether Brazil will reign supreme ...

This BBC story has a number of figures on the costs and revenues of staging this year's World Cup in South Africa.  Among them (in British pounds): FIFA's expected revenue:  ...

Skip called attention to a op-ed I published in the LA Times. An upshot of the piece, and similar ones in other papers, was that I received an email from ...

After goals not given, diving, low scoring, reds for nothing, penalties overlooked, ... of the World Cup, arguably the strongest overall team won the event.  Although not totally one-sided, Spain ...

For all those economics professors and tutors out there who struggle to explain the crucial concept of ‘selection bias’, a nice illustration can be found in FIFA World Cup finals ...

With the dust settling on the World Cup Final last Sunday, we are still debating various aspects of the game and the tournament itself, such as those raised by Brian ...

Here at TheSportsEconomist, we're not just sports economists but also sports fans, and therefore there was a healthy degree of rivalry between our American and English bloggers prior to last Saturday's ...

The 2011 Rugby World Cup has now progressed past the Pool Stage, with the Quarter-Finals to be played this coming weekend. Hosts New Zealand look to be in ominous form ahead of their ...

2-2 vs. Slovenia, and whew!  That was the most thrilling tie in American history.  We're still alive!! As for the commentary, Ian Darke's performance in the booth validated ESPN's decision to ...

Most of the commentary following FIFA's award of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups to Russia and Qatar has focused on the voting process, the objectives of FIFA, and potential ...

I think hosting the World Cup in South Africa may be too large a burden for a smallish developing country:  population 49 million, with per capita income $10,000.  With $6 billion invested ...

South Africa has spent at least $6 billion in preparations for this summer's World Cup. How can a poor but developing country like South Africa afford to host such an ...