By Rory Carroll
July 30 (Reuters) - FIFA's proposed sale of a private stake in its tournament business, including the World Cup, reflects the expanding reach of U.S.-style sports finance, including private equity, into global football, Roger Bennett, the CEO and founder of the Men in Blazers Media Network, said.
The plan has triggered a major confrontation with European football less than two weeks after a World Cup held primarily in the U.S.. UEFA's 55 member associations voted unanimously on Thursday
to boycott FIFA tournaments if the proposal proceeds, saying the World Cup "cannot be treated as an investment product."
Bennett said the dispute offered a stark early test of football's emerging "American century," as U.S. capital plays an increasingly influential role across the sport.
"Going into this World Cup, it was talked about how football is entering its American century as a global enterprise," Bennett, one of the most prominent voices on soccer in the U.S., told Reuters.
"The amount of American investment in every facet of the game is going to shape it. And for this to happen within two weeks of the end of the World Cup, I'd say is an epic test of that. I've always said that's for good and for bad."
FIFA BLINDSIDED
The proposal illustrates the collision between the commercial logic common in U.S. sports and the political structures of global football, Bennett said.
He said world soccer's governing body FIFA had appeared to underestimate the influence held by European counterpart UEFA, whose members include many of the game's strongest national teams including world champions Spain, France and England.
"To have miscalculated and been blindsided by the leverage that UEFA has in the 55 nations - it's an astonishing thing to witness," he said.
"It's a global game, but we saw in this World Cup, when it got down to the business end, the last eight, how many of them came from UEFA (six). To miss that leverage, to not think that leverage through, is astonishing."
Sports M&A topped $8 billion globally this year through July 13, according to LSEG data, while PitchBook said that over a third of clubs in Europe's Big Five soccer leagues now have private-equity, venture-capital or private-credit backers.
FIFA's proposed new commercial subsidiary would be valued at around $20 billion. Thrive Eternal, a fund run by Joshua Kushner-founded Thrive Capital, is expected to lead the proposed investor group, FIFA said. Joshua is the brother of Jared Kushner, U.S. President Donald Trump's son-in-law.
"BACK IN THE MUCK"
The row came soon after a World Cup that Bennett said briefly replaced anxiety about the sport with a shared emotional experience.
"For 39 sweet days, the emotional replaced the rational," he said. "Then the football stops and boom, we're back in the muck."
"The World Cup is the people's World Cup," Bennett added.
"It has this power to make us feel so alive. And then it is so quickly replaced by the obverse, which is power struggles that make 'House of Dragons' seem like a rom-com in comparison."
Bennett said the tournament also showed the increasingly two-way exchange between American and global football cultures.
Players were impressed by the scale of U.S. stadiums, while U.S. sports executives encountered the intensity of international fan rituals.
"American sports fandom is 10 out of 10," he said. "But at times during this World Cup, I think we looked over and said: 'Oh my God, there's an 11 out of 10.'"
(Reporting by Rory Carroll; Editing by Ken Ferris)
