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Such as what problem are they trying to solve with outside money?

There are two reasons why a company might want to sell an equity stake in its business.

The first is if it needs cash and access to capital to grow and scale its business. That's not the case with FIFA, which was sitting on around $2.7 billion of cash reserves before the bonanza that was the 2026 World Cup. And even without dipping into the reserves, with a halfway decent business plan and their sterling credit rating, they could finance whatever they might need to scale and grow their business without handing over equity.

The other reason you might give up a slice of your business is to bring in strategic investors, partners with know-how who are experts at growing and scaling a business. Leaving aside the obvious point -- that with all that cash they could just hire whatever clever experts they might need -- FIFA just delivered the most financially successful World Cup ever. Does it really need Josh Kushner and Thrive Capital to find other strategic partners? It can't do it itself?

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Even somebody who is so foolish that they think it's better to have $20 million now and share future revenues with Kushner's investors than to grow FIFA organically ought to be able to understand that if you're going to sell out, you do it to the highest bidder -- not someone who negotiated a deal behind closed doors.

https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/49511728/why-fifa-president-infantino-plans-sell-world-cup-made-no-sense