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A BIG bonanza awaits Bahrain's soccer if the national team qualifies for the 2010 World Cup Finals in South Africa.
Not only will football be benefited if Bahrain beats New Zealand in a two-legger - one to be played at the National Stadium in Riffa on October 10 and the return-leg in Wellington on November 14 - but the economy of the kingdom also stands to cash in on the tremendous boost to the travel, tourism and retail sectors that would follow.
Also, a qualification to the World Cup could see thousands of Bahraini fans going to South Africa to support their team thereby boosting the exchequer by way of airport taxes.
Soccer's world governing body FIFA will earn about 25 billion rand ($2.7 billion, BD1.02 billion) from television rights to broadcast the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. FIFA TV director Niclas Ericson says that it was a massive increase from the 22 billion rand FIFA received for the past two World Cups combined.
If it wins the play-off the kingdom could benefit from a $10 million handout from FIFA, which it could use to develop young talent.
Meanwhile, the national soccer team received a timely financial boost of BD800,000 ($2.1 million) ahead of their 2010 World Cup and 2011 Asian Cup qualifying matches, the General Organisation for Youth and Sports (Goys) says.
The budget was approved following a meeting between General Organisation for Youth and Sports president Shaikh Fawaz bin Mohammed Al Khalifa and Finance Minister Shaikh Ahmed bin Mohammed Al Khalifa.
Bahrain has really improved the football infrastructure this past decade, after always being considered as underdogs in the Arabian Gulf region.
The Bahrain Football Association has taken big steps to improve the quality and stadiums, especially of the big clubs like Riffa and Muharraq.
Bahrain National Stadium holds up to 35,000 fans and there are future plans to further renovate the seats and roof.
Bahrain has never made it to the World Cup Finals and the closest they came was four years ago when they reached the same stage (final qualifying playoff). But they lost to Trinidad and Tobago after drawing 1-1 at Port of Spain and then went down in the return match at home by a solitary goal.
Wouldn't the economic downturn throw a damper on huge sponsorship deals that could have materialised if the national team qualified?
It goes without saying that sport is not immune to economic woe. A Deloitte study notes that the shirts of Premier League teams offer a brief history of the credit crunch: Newcastle United's sponsor is Northern Rock, a nationalised bank; Manchester United sport the initials of American International Group, an insurance company now owned by the American government; and West Ham went logoless for three months after XL, a travel company, went bust.
Yet leading sports are, by and large, standing up to the recession better than most. They have two big advantages.
Firstly, it helps to be able to sell broadcasters and sponsors lots of dedicated viewers in a world of multiple channels.
This advantage may even rise in a downturn. As recession grips, fans may choose television viewing over going to see the match live.
The other advantage is timing, which is just as important in the business of sport as it is on the field of play. Long-term broadcasting contracts help to lay a good base of revenue.
The IPL (Indian Premier League cricket), for instance, started out with a ten-year, $1 billion agreement. In America the National Basketball Association is in the first season of eight-year contracts worth $7.5 billion.
Moreover, despite the gloom, plenty of banks are still sponsoring sport.
Why do shareholders and taxpayers back banks supporting sport? Primarily, because sponsorship gets one noticed, especially in a new market. Among big banks, BofA has made it a speciality, becoming the 'official bank' of several sports and forming partnerships with several teams.
A deal with a team, for example, brings in retail custom, through affiliated debit and credit cards and the automated teller machines installed around a stadium. It opens the door to managing the wealth of a team's owners and players, or to arranging the finance for a new stadium.
On top of that come tickets, space to entertain and impress clients, and the marketing value of having the bank's name inscribed around a stadium.
The bank claims to make $3 of profit for every $1 it spends on sports marketing, a fantastic rate of return.
Bahrain being the financial hub of the region is thus expected to see a number of banks coming to sponsor the national team ... if only the national team wins!
