Super Bowl vs. FIFA World Cup – A Comparison of Championships

Every year, the Super Bowl is the biggest sporting event in the U.S. It’s so big that some believe the day after should be a national holiday so everyone can recover properly. But on a global scale, nothing is bigger than the FIFA World Cup, which decides the world champion in soccer. 

It’s often debated what sporting event is bigger, the Super Bowl or the World Cup. Well, we wanted to settle this debate using facts and figures rather than opinions. We wanted to look at everything from the audience to sponsorships to the money involved. Let’s check out our side-to-side comparison of the Super Bowl and the FIFA World Cup.

What Is the Super Bowl

The Super Bowl is the championship game for the NFL. It concludes the season with a game between the winner of the AFC championship and the winner of the NFC championship, which are the two conferences that make up the NFL.

The two participating teams were among the seven best teams in their conference during the 17-game regular season and then survived a single-elimination, three-round playoff to reach the Super Bowl. The grueling NFL season begins in early September and concludes with the Super Bowl in mid-February, showcasing just how long and difficult the journey is to reach the Super Bowl and have a chance to play for a championship.

What Is the FIFA World Cup?

The FIFA World Cup is an international soccer tournament that’s held every four years. It brings together the national soccer teams of countries from all over the world with the goal of crowning the world champion of soccer. 

The process of qualifying for the World Cup takes place over a three-year period leading up to the tournament, so only the best teams in the world are present at the World Cup. Outside of the period during World War II, the World Cup has been held every four years since 1930. Between 1998 and 2022, the World Cup field consisted of 32 nations. However, starting with the 2026 World Cup, there are 48 nations participating. 

When Was the Last Super Bowl? And the Next?

The last Super Bowl was Super Bowl LVIII. It was played on February 11, 2024, at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Kansas City Chiefs beat the San Francisco 49ers 25-22 to win their second straight Super Bowl and their third in a five-year span. Super Bowl LVIII was also the second time in five years that the Chiefs beat the 49ers in the championship game.

The next Super Bowl will be Super Bowl LIX. It is scheduled for February 9, 2025, at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans. In that game, the Chiefs will face the Eagles in a rematch of Super Bowl LVII two years ago. The Chiefs have a chance to win their third consecutive Super Bowl while the Eagles can win their second Super Bowl in less than a decade while trying to avoid a second Super Bowl loss in three seasons against the same opponent.

When Was the Last World Cup? And the Next?

The last World Cup took place between November 20 and December 28, 2022. It was played in Qatar with Argentina winning the world title and France finishing as the runner-up after a thrilling final match that was decided in a penalty kick shootout.

The next FIFA World Cup will be held in June and July of 2026. It will be co-hosted by the United States, Mexico, and Canada with 16 different cities hosting games. This will be the first World Cup to have 48 teams participating.

How Many of Each Championships Have Taken Place?

To date, there have been 57 Super Bowls. There has been one Super Bowl every year since the first Super Bowl, which was held on January 15, 1967.

Following the 2022 World Cup, there have been 22 World Cups. The first World Cup took place in 1930 and they have been held every four years since then. However, no World Cup was played in 1942 or 1946 because of World War II. But since 1950, there has been no interruption to a World Cup being held every four years.

What Event Gets More Viewers - the Super Bowl of the World Cup?

It’s hard to compare viewership between the Super Bowl and the World Cup because the Super Bowl is a single event while the World Cup has dozens of games. However, for the final match of the 2022 World Cup, FIFA reported 1.5 billion viewers. In comparison, Super Bowl LVIII between the Chiefs and 49ers had an audience of 123.7 million people in the United States alone. That viewership was more than eight million people greater than the previous year. In fact, it was the most watched Super Bowl of all time, topping Super Bowl LI between the Patriots and Falcons that had 126.3 million viewers.

What Championship Makes More Money - the Super Bowl or the World Cup?

Similar to viewers, it’s tough to compare the revenue between a single event like the Super Bowl and an event that lasts several weeks like the World Cup. Nevertheless, the 2022 World Cup brought in an estimated revenue of $7.5 billion. That averages out to around $117 million per game. 

For comparison, the average Super Bowl generates around $500 million in revenue. Meanwhile, the NFL reported a total revenue of $20.24 billion during the entire 2023-24 season. That figure was the highest single-season revenue in NFL history.

Which Players Receive a Bigger Paycheck - Super Bowl Winners or World Cup Winners?

After the 2022 World Cup, FIFA distributed roughly $440 million to teams based on their performance. The winning team was awarded the largest prize of $42 million. However, not all of that money is awarded to the players. Typically, players share 30% of the prize money, meaning each of the 26 Argentina players took home around $484,00 for winning the World Cup.

Meanwhile, every player on the winning team in Super Bowl LIX will make $171,000 while players on the losing team will receive $96,000. That is on top of additional compensation that players receive for advancing through previous rounds of the playoffs on their way to the Super Bowl.

Which Championship Has More Expensive Advertisements - the Super Bowl or the World Cup?

During Super Bowl LVIII in February 2024, the cost of a 30-second commercial during the Super Bowl was $7 million. This was an all-time high and is a substantial increase from less than 10 years earlier, as the price of a 30-second Super Bowl commercial in 2015 was $4.5 million.

Meanwhile, the highest cost for a commercial during a World Cup match is $1.18 million. Of course, it’s important to keep in mind that soccer has no mid-game commercials other than during halftime, so there are fewer opportunities to show commercials during the World Cup.

Which Championship is More Popular - the Super Bowl or the World Cup?

No matter how you slice it, the World Cup will always be more popular than the Super Bowl. The fact that it’s only held every four years and attracts a global audience will always make it more popular than the Super Bowl, even if the Super Bowl remains the most popular sporting event in the United States. Even with the NFL gaining more fans in Europe and other parts of the world, it still falls short of the World Cup.

Even the combined viewership and revenue of the Super Bowl over a four-year period falls well short of what the World Cup. Granted, the Super Bowl tends to grow bigger every year. However, the FIFA World Cup every four years will always be the biggest and most popular sporting event on the planet.

Super Bowl vs World Cup

As you can see, the numbers don’t lie when comparing the Super Bowl with the World Cup. If you want to compare football and soccer domestically, we have an NFL vs MLS article that may interest you. Also, here is one more look at the facts and figures comparing the Super Bowl with the World Cup.