Top 10 Richest Sports Federations in the World

“Richest” in sport governance is trickier than it sounds. These organisations don’t all operate on the same calendar, many work on multi-year cycles (especially Olympic bodies), and several are structured as non-profits that still sit on very large reserves. So, for a credible comparison, this blog treats financial power as a combination of:

• Revenue scale (most recent reported year, or most recent multi-year cycle where that is the industry standard)

• Reserves / funds / financial assets (because liquidity and balance sheet strength often matter more than a single year’s turnover)

• Commercial control (media rights, sponsorship inventory, licensing, and event hosting leverage)

Where possible, figures are taken from official reports and audited financial statements.

UEFA (European football), The giant cash engine of club football

UEFA is not a “federation” in the classic single-sport world-body sense, but in financial terms it behaves like one of the most powerful governing institutions in sport. Its scale comes from a simple reality: top-tier European club football is one of the most valuable media products on the planet, and UEFA sits at the centre of that rights ecosystem.

For the 2023/24 financial year, UEFA reported €6.268 billion in revenue, driven largely by its club competitions business model.

What makes UEFA financially dominant is not only the top line, it’s the predictability and repeatability of the machine: competition formats, centralised rights selling, long-term broadcast relationships, and commercial packages that can be refreshed every cycle without rebuilding the sport itself.

How UEFA makes the money (high level):

• Media rights tied to elite club competitions

• Sponsorship and partner packages sold globally

• Matchday/event-related income streams (where applicable)

• Licensing and brand usage tied to competitions

In business terms, UEFA is what happens when a governing body controls premium inventory in a market where demand rarely softens.

International Olympic Committee (IOC), A four-year revenue powerhouse with deep reserves

The IOC is best understood as a cycle-based enterprise. It sits at the centre of Olympic commercial rights and redistributes most of what it earns across the Olympic Movement, but the scale is still enormous.

For the 2021–2024 Olympiad, the IOC reported USD 7.7 billion in commercial revenues.
Independent reporting has also pointed to the IOC holding about USD 4.9 billion “in the bank,” reinforcing how strong its balance sheet has become.

What’s distinctive about the IOC is its ability to sell a scarce global product, a time-bound event with unmatched reach, and lock in long-term broadcast and sponsorship relationships. Even when the market shifts (streaming, fragmenting audiences, sponsor churn), the IOC still negotiates from a position of structural advantage.

Why the IOC is financially powerful:

• Multi-year broadcasting agreements anchored by global reach

• Global sponsorship programme economics

• Strong reserves that protect the organisation through difficult cycles

International Cricket Council (ICC), Event-driven wealth, with major surplus years

Cricket is a sport where the governing body’s economics can look “quiet” in some years and explosive in others, because the biggest money arrives when major events hit the calendar.

In the ICC’s Consolidated Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2024, the organisation reported:

• Total revenue and other income of USD 777.9 million

• Net surplus for the year of USD 474.0 million

• Members’ funds of USD 564.5 million

Those are not “normal” numbers for a typical federation, they reflect the commercial weight of ICC events and the value of cricket’s broadcast markets.

From a business category perspective, ICC is a strong example of a governing body that behaves like a premium events company: high peaks, high leverage, and meaningful cash generation when the cycle aligns.

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FIFA (global football), Smaller reported annual revenue, massive cycle influence

FIFA’s public reporting makes one point clear: its revenues are deeply linked to where the organisation sits in the World Cup cycle. In 2024, FIFA reported USD 483 million in revenue, with the largest portion attributed to marketing rights.

On the surface, that is below UEFA and ICC. But FIFA’s financial power isn’t only about a single non-World-Cup year. It’s about the organisation’s position as the global controller of football’s most valuable national-team tournament and its ability to shape the market for rights, sponsorship tiers, and federation funding.

What FIFA’s 2024 mix shows:

• Marketing rights as the core contributor in that year’s revenue split

• A model that spikes dramatically in major tournament years (structurally embedded in how FIFA’s business works)

In business terms, FIFA is a “cycle enterprise” with extraordinary pricing power when its flagship product comes to market.

World Aquatics, Strong revenue year and very large financial assets

World Aquatics (formerly FINA) is one of the clearest examples of a modern Olympic federation that combines Olympic income with championship hosting and strong commercial execution.

In its Financial Report for 31.12.2024, World Aquatics stated:

• USD 107.83 million in revenue

• Operating surplus of USD 38.79 million

• Net surplus of USD 51.17 million

• Total current and non-current financial assets of USD 241.51 million

Those assets matter. Many federations can post a good year; far fewer build, and maintain, asset pools above USD 200 million. World Aquatics explicitly frames itself as being among a small group of Olympic federations with reserves at that level.

FIBA (International Basketball Federation), Solid revenue base and healthy equity

Basketball’s global expansion has created a reliable commercial runway for the sport’s international governing body, especially through event IP, partnerships, and competition structures.

In FIBA’s Annual Report 2024, it reported CHF 110.7 million in revenue and equity of CHF 76.9 million.

FIBA’s financial profile tends to reflect a federation that has moved beyond “administration only” and into a more corporate approach to event and commercial management, while still operating within a governance framework.

World Athletics, Olympic dividend + commercial growth

World Athletics is a strong case study in how Olympic-linked income changes the financial picture for many federations.

In its 2024 reporting, World Athletics stated that like-for-like revenues rose, and that total revenue for 2024 reached USD 99.4 million, boosted by an Olympic dividend received that year.

What’s important here is the composition: the federation highlights underlying commercial and broadcast growth, then the Olympic dividend adds a major lift. In governance economics, this is a recurring reality, Olympic distributions can materially reshape a federation’s year.

Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), High reserves and strong Olympic-year result

Cycling’s world body is another organisation where Olympic years can produce exceptional results and create financial momentum.

In a UCI press release accompanying its 2024 Annual Report, the organisation reported:

• Annual result of CHF 25.9 million

• Reserves around CHF 53.2 million (excluding buildings)

• Olympic-related revenues linked to Paris 2024 of nearly USD 25.7 million

The key business takeaway: UCI emphasises prudent management and reserve rebuilding across cycles, exactly what financially mature federations prioritise.

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World Rugby, Large financial assets, but volatile performance

World Rugby sits in a financially interesting position: it can hold significant financial assets, yet still experience sharp year-to-year volatility depending on event timing and cost structures.

In its consolidated statement of financial position as at 31 December 2024, World Rugby reported financial assets of £201,064,596.

This balance-sheet strength is meaningful in governance terms, it supports long-term planning and risk buffering. At the same time, the federation’s reported results can swing significantly across years, which is common in event-weighted models.

International Tennis Federation (ITF), Commercial arm turnover (illustrative)

Tennis is commercially massive, but the global tennis ecosystem is also structurally complex (with multiple organisations controlling different rights). That makes “the richest tennis body” harder to pin to a single set of numbers.

One publicly available piece of the puzzle is ITF Licensing (UK) Limited, which reported 2024 turnover of USD 91.7 million in its accounts.

This should be read as indicative rather than definitive for “all tennis money,” because tennis revenues are distributed across different entities and event owners. Still, it demonstrates that the federation’s commercial operations can sit at a scale comparable to major Olympic federations.

What these “richest federations” have in common (the real business lesson)

If you step back from the numbers, the wealthiest sports bodies typically share a few structural traits:

1) They control premium inventory

This is the heart of the model. Whether it’s the Champions League, the Olympics, or a World Cup, premium inventory creates pricing power. Without it, federations rely on membership dues and small partnerships.

2) They monetise attention through broadcast and sponsorship rights

The largest revenue lines almost always map to:

• Broadcast/media rights packages

• Sponsorship and partner programmes

• Hosting fees and event-related commercial structures

• Licensing (where the brand is globally valuable)

3) They build reserves that outlast cycles

The financially strongest organisations treat reserves as strategic, not accidental:

• Reserves protect operations through downturns

• Reserves allow investment in development without panic funding

• Reserves increase negotiating leverage in commercial contracts

4) They think in cycles, not months

Olympic bodies and tournament-led federations don’t judge themselves the way normal businesses do quarter-to-quarter. Their real scorecard is the cycle outcome, because that’s how rights are sold and events are staged.

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