By Greg Hazley
Three years after winning the rights to host the 2014 Winter Olympics, Russia today was awarded the 2018 FIFA World Cup in a competition against three other bids from five countries.
FIFA also today awarded Middle East emirate Qatar the 2022 World Cup, beating out the U.S., Australia, Japan and South Korea.
Burson-Marsteller (link, sub req'd) worked bid PR for Qatar in 2009 and Brown Lloyd James (link, sub req'd) took over the account this year.
The emirate will host the Asian Football Cup in 2011.
"We felt the bid had a very strong case to make for the power of football to help change perceptions of the Middle East and to help promote greater understanding between peoples," said Mike Holtzman, partner at BLJ.
Russia, which worked with PR agency Eventica, beat bids from Portugal/Spain, Belgium/The Netherlands, and England.
Fleishman-Hillard handled PR for the U.S. bid, while Hill & Knowlton aided the joint Belgium/Holland pitch, England worked with Weber Shandwick, U.K.-based sports PR firm Fast Track backed the Spain-Portugal bid and Australian firm Square 1 Consulting worked on Australia's pitch.
Russia would host the tournament in 13 cities in western Russia and outlined plans to build 10 new stadiums in its pitch.
'Vast PR Potential'
In evaluating Russia's pitch, FIFA had this to say of its PR potential: "The country's media landscape is huge and offers vast PR potential." The report found 180 domestic and 30 community TV channels, 170 satellite cable programs, 27,400 newspapers and magazines, and 2,000 radio stations.
On the PR strategy for the games, FIFA said Russia's strategy includes "an 'East meets West'-themed campaign to further develop Russian football and promote Russia as an international tourism destination; a 'Feel at home' national awareness program to raise awareness of the event; and a '6-by-6' cultural festival showcasing the cultures of nations comprising the six football confederations."
Qater's media landscape was described by FIFA as "fast growing" as 77% of male Qataris and 64% of females tune in to soccer matches, which are the most-watched programs on TV in the country that is home to Al Jazeera and its 400M audience. FIFA said six main daily newspapers (three Arabic, three English) are complemented by "substantial potential for growth in digital media" as online penetration is only at 38% in the emirate.
FIFA said Qater's communications strategy is focused on ensuring consistency of communications about the tournament and the country. "One of the main reasons Qater is bidding for the [World Cup] is to showcase the country's potential around the world," FIFA's evaluation said.
The 2010 World Cup final attracted more than 700M viewers worldwide.
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