The Invisible Value Powering Sport’s Multibillion-Dollar Industry and Why Africa Matters

With just weeks to the beginning of the World Cup, that will be jointly hosted by the United States, Canada, and Mexico, the world will be focusing on the pitch. However, almost everything that makes this multibillion-dollar business remains invisible to people.

Indeed, the real value of football lies in intangible assets and emerging markets such as Africa are central to this invisible economy, in which audiences, talent pools and commercial frontiers are included.

This growing influence will also be reflected on the field, with African nations such as Morocco, Senegal, Nigeria, Egypt, Algeria, and Ghana expected to be among the continent’s representatives in the 2026 tournament, reinforcing Africa’s dual role as both a competitive and economic powerhouse in global football. 

There is a huge contrast between what a football fan sees in the World Cup and what drives value to the business. A spectator will see the goals, the stadiums and the global stars. It will vibe with team they support and will see and feel the happiness or the frustration of the outcome of their team. However, media rights, trademarks, licensing deals and any other digital content are not visible. The real business happens behind the scenes.

This is where intellectual property takes the stage. Intellectual property is the framework that turns football into a scalable industry.

The main pillars of value that are invisible in football can be broken down as:

• broadcasting rights

• brands and licensing

• sponsorship and partnerships

• image rights and digital content.

Broadcasting rights relate to the rights that allow a tv network or a digital platform to show and distribute live or recorded content to an audience. In practice, organizations such as FIFA sell these rights to TV channels that pay for the exclusive or non-exclusive permission to air the matches in a specific country. In return, the tv channel will make money through advertising, subscriptions and sponsorships.

On the other hand, FIFA, the national teams and the athletes operate as global brands. The licensing spans merchandise, gaming and consumer products and in Africa the demand for official products is rising, but so the counterfeiting, which is why, in times where huge sport events take place, IP enforcement takes such an important place.

As for sponsorships and partnerships, it is important to note that, in events such as the World Cup, brands invest a lot of money in visibility, emotion and association. This is particularly visible in Africa, which is known to be a continent with affection for football where there is an increasing interest from global sponsors in targeting young and fast-growing populations.

Finally, the image rights and digital content are also an important part of the invisible value that the football business has. Athletes act as global media assets and the social media expands monetization for brands, which happens to African players, that are among the most influential globally and drive engagement that cross continents.

Figures such as Mohamed Salah, from Egypt (Liverpool), Achraf Hakimi, from Morocco (Paris Saint-Germain), Victor Osimhen, from Nigeria ( Napoli), Sadio Mané, from Senegal (Al Nassr, formerly Liverpool), Riyad Mahrez, from Algeria, (Al Ahli, formerly Manchester City), Mohammed Kudus, from Ghana (West Ham United), and Seko Fofana, from Côte d’Ivoire (FC Porto) illustrate how African talent not only performs at the highest level globally but also commands significant commercial value far beyond the pitch.

IP acts as the backbone of this industry and without its protection, exclusivity and the value would disappear, which is why strengthening IP framework is crucial by stakeholders to attract investment and enable them to capture more value from football.

The lack of IP protection leads:

• to piracy and illegal streaming, that undermine broadcasting deals,

• to the counterfeiting of products, where fake merchandise and unauthorized brand use arise, particularly in high-demand regions, which is what happens in the African continent,

• to weak enforcement frameworks that limit the revenue capture and discourage long term investments,

• to reputational and commercial damage, ending in the loss of trust from sponsors and partners.

In a business built on intangibles, losing control means losing value. The World Cup is not just a sporting event, it is a complex system of rights, brands, and assets that must be protected to retain its economic power. Africa’s role in this ecosystem will only grow. With a young, digitally connected population and a deep passion for football, the continent represents both a key audience and a major driver of future value, provided that intellectual property frameworks continue to strengthen. 

By the time the first whistle blows, much of the real game has already been played. What fans see on the pitch is only the visible layer of a global industry powered by assets that remain largely unseen.