World Cup mood is limited. Especially since the opening defeat of the German national team against Japan in this country. Staying in the tournament – beyond the preliminary round – is highly questionable. A success in the beginning would be very important. With the World Cup, not only in sports, but also for industry and commercial advertising.

But there is no good job without euphoria. Especially when the whole thing in Qatar was highly controversial.

In any case, e-commerce hasn’t seen an increase in TV sets this year, as is usually the case at similar major events. This may be due to the lack of anticipation for the football tournament.

But trade experts also point out that the energy crisis and inflation are playing a big role in why people don’t save money and buy a new TV right now.

The timing of the World Cup is also hurting retailers. This year, for the first time, the world tournament will be held in winter. It’s in the pre-Christmas period when sales are already high for retailers and many brand manufacturers.

As it has been so far, retail would be better with two such big events at different times of the year.

King Soccer and Santa Claus are now competing in favor of consumers in shopping malls, supermarkets and commercial television. A fight that football will lose – the trade magazine “Lebensmittel-Zeitung” is sure of it.

“The Christmas business is much more important than the World Cup,” a Rewe spokesperson confirmed. The Cologne retail group even ended its long-standing cooperation with DFB. However, it involved more than just a lack of spirit and hard work around the World Cup.

“FIFA’s scandalous behavior is absolutely unacceptable to me as the CEO of a different company and as a football fan,” CEO Lionel Souque said last Tuesday. The trigger was FIFA’s ban on the “One Love” campaign, followed by DFB’s withdrawal from the planned campaign. A clear case of lack of attitude for Rewe.

The response of the DFB’s other major sponsors has been much more reserved. Adidas adheres to cooperation with DFB and FIFA. Sporting goods manufacturer Coca-Cola is one of the most important sponsors of the tournament, along with McDonald’s, Hyundai and Visa.

Despite the general conditions, the people of Herzogenaurach hope to make millions from the World Cup. Especially a sales increase of up to 400 million euros, as a spokesperson explained. All this regardless of the threat of image loss.

Anheuser-Busch InBev is also a former and loyal sponsor of FIFA. The manufacturer of Budweiser, or Becks, spends about $75 million to sponsor this World Cup. And contrary to the earlier agreement with the organizers, it was soon subject to a wide-ranging service ban in stadiums. Qatar – a complete failure. Also for the beer industry as a whole.

Most brewers assume that demand will remain well below the level of similar major sporting events. At least because of the lack of public viewing events and beer gardens in the winter.

It is possible that this aspect also prompted the Bavarian trade union to attack in numbers. At the 2006 World Cup, Bavaria achieved additional sales of 500 million Euros. At the World Cup in Russia, it was from 100 to 200 million. You will be well below that for this year. “We are not seeing any World Cup impact at this time,” the association said.

Enthusiasm sounds different. So this World Cup doesn’t look like a winter fairy tale for fans, dealers and branded product manufacturers.