Can Artificial Intelligence Uproot Football, and Why Are Tech Investors Betting on the World Cup?

Fifa has reversed its plans to sell a portion of the World Cup after mounting opposition, including threats of future boycotts and demands for the governing body’s president, Gianni Infantino, to resign.

Yet why did a group of technology investors pursue the World Cup, and could similar proposals become the norm in the future?

Amidst an era in which artificial intelligence could disrupt human recreation and pastimes, executives at Thrive Eternal, an investment firm spun off from Thrive Capital, identified an opportunity to guide a group of investors in injecting capital into the world’s premier sporting event.

The football World Cup is viewed as the most recent manifestation of a shift in strategy, as the firm contends that sport will not only endure the AI revolution but also appreciate in value.

Founded by Joshua Kushner, the brother of US Donald Trump’s son-in-law and adviser Jared, Thrive focuses primarily on technology firms developing artificial intelligence and has been a significant financial backer of OpenAI.

However, in April of this year, the New York City-based entity established a new investment arm, Thrive Eternal, to concentrate on areas that cannot be replicated by technology.

Sport forms the core of this strategy, making football—and securing a minority stake in the World Cup under Fifa’s proposed Forward Enterprise (FFE)—a defining opportunity.

The perspective argues that the traditions, cultural heritage, and national identity of football will shield the sport from being upended by artificial intelligence, unlike other forms of entertainment such as movies and music, which are already seeing technology displace human participation.

Professor Simon Chadwick, who has spent three decades working in the global sports industry, has collaborated with fan groups, football clubs, and governing bodies such as Fifa and UEFA.

He stated that investment interests and commercialisation have generally meant that many decisions regarding the sport are being made on behalf of both football fans and Wall Street and Silicon Valley.

He remarked that the situation has felt like it has grown so quietly that many have not yet considered what is actually taking place. Though it raises governance concerns for Fifa, he added that regardless of public opinion, private equity investment in sport remains prevalent.

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