How the 1994 World Cup Transformed the Business of Football Forever | Odd Lots

The last time the World Cup came to the US was 1994. Before then, the World Cup was an enormously popular event with surprisingly limited commercial significance. The 1990 tournament in Italy, for instance, lost money for broadcasters. But that all changed in 1994, when American companies sought to make their mark in the form of advertisements and sponsorships: firms like McDonalds, Mastercard, and General Motors saw the potential to reach a global audience through one of the world's most watched sports events. On this episode, we speak with Joey D'Urso, a freelance sports journalist and author of the recent book, More Than A Shirt: How Football Shirts Explain Global Politics, Money and Power. We talk about the changes from the 1994 World Cup and this year's competition, which is being held jointly, by the US, Canada, and Mexico. We also talk about other surprising stories of corporate and geopolitical influence in football. Chapters: 00:00:00 - Cold Open 00:01:24 - World Cup 2026 00:07:01 - Guest: Author Joey D'Urso 00:08:20 - History of Soccer in the US 00:09:09 - 1994 World Cup Breakthrough 00:12:26 - Commercial Strategy Analysis 00:15:24 - What Makes a Successful World Cup? 00:19:17 - Commercialization in the ‘90s 00:21:47 - FIFA's Structure and Motivations 00:26:00 - Geopolitics and Sports Washing 00:29:34 - Jersey Politics and Symbolism 00:33:27 - Jersey Economics and Collectibles 00:34:41 - Ticket Pricing Philosophy 00:36:38 - Individual vs Club Fandom 00:38:48 - Americanization of Football 00:45:27 - Stadium Culture and Atmosphere 00:47:00 - American Football Fandom Divide 00:48:30 - Future of Commercialization Watch Bloomberg Vodcasts: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLe4PRejZgr0MS0Tqk_zQl1LVVTdWuH2Di Watch more Odd Lots episodes: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLe4PRejZgr0OJbRzA6nWybYiThLJd_ouz Bloomberg's Joe Weisenthal and Tracy Alloway analyze the weird patterns, the complex issues and the newest market crazes. Join the conversation every Monday and Thursday for interviews with the most interesting minds in finance, economics and markets. Join the conversation: discord.gg/oddlots Subscribe to Bloomberg Podcasts: https://bit.ly/BloombergPodcasts Check out more Odd Lots: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLe4PRejZgr0MuA6M0zkZyy-99-qc87wKV Get the Odd Lots newsletter: https://www.bloomberg.com/account/newsletters/oddlots And for all things Odd Lots, visit https://www.bloomberg.com/oddlots #Investing #Markets #Finance #Bloomberg #Podcast #OddLots Visit us: https://www.bloomberg.com/podcasts For coverage on news, markets and more: http://www.bloomberg.com/video Visit our other YouTube channels: Bloomberg Television: https://www.youtube.com/@markets Bloomberg Originals: https://www.youtube.com/bloomberg