GENEVA - FIFA's President Gianni Infantino said world football's governing body is targeting US$1 billion revenue for the Women's World Cup, with all the money to be put back into the growth of women's football, Xinhua reported.
The 2023 Women's games hosted in Australia and New Zealand generated more than US$570 million in revenue and the 2027 edition will be held in Brazil.
Infantino said there is huge potential for the sport to generate revenue outside Europe.
"The global football GDP (gross domestic product) in one year today is around US$270 billion, of which about 70 per cent is produced in Europe," he said at the Saudi-US Investment Forum in Riyadh on Wednesday.
"If the rest of the world, in particular Saudi Arabia or the United States, would do just 20 per cent of what Europe does in soccer, we [could reach an amount of over] half a trillion or more of GDP impact. The potential for football is huge."
The FIFA Council had decided to expand the 2031 Women's World Cup from 32 to 48.
Infantino said the 2034 FIFA World Cup offers huge opportunities for investment in the host nation Saudi Arabia.
"The opportunities are huge. Football is a game followed by five billion people around the world. We need to find a way to connect these five billion people, because that's what they are watching: a (FIFA) World Cup, 104 games in one month, 104 Super Bowls in one month," he said.
He appeared with the official match ball for the 32-team 2025 FIFA Club World Cup, which will take place in the United States from 14 June to 13 July.
"Football is magical because it is the most loved sport in the world, with nearly five billion fans, and events like the FIFA World Cup, which this great nation will host in 2034, provide significant economic upsides," Infantino posted on Instagram. - BERNAMA-XINHUA