Abstract
M.Com. (Financial Management)
This study was an investigation into the impact of hosting the FIFA World Cup soccer
tournament on the stock market of the host country. The investigation looked at
whether stock markets react efficiently or show a positive reaction to the hosting of
the FIFA World Cup. Hosting the FIFA World Cup was assessed at two event dates:
the announcement date where the host country’s winning bid is announced and the
when the tournament starts. An event study research methodology was used to
investigate the impact of hosting the FIFA World Cup on the stock exchange of the
host country, by examining the movement of CARs across the two event windows. It
was found that stock markets react differently to the announcement of the
tournament and event start dates. The results of this study show that the stock
market does not always regard the hosting of the FIFA World Cup as positive news,
therefore resulting in either a positive or negative stock market reaction. Markets do
however appear to be efficient and incorporated all information in stock prices. The
test statistics showed a number of statistically insignificant results; hence the
presented results do not support the hypotheses that the FIFA World Cup has a
significant impact on the host country stock market during the announcement and
hosting stages.