By Abdulgafar Oladimeji
The past weeks have been the most volatile for the global economy, with the sports economy not being an exception since the industry is not incubated from the global economic value chain.
On 2 April 2025, US President Donald Trump, at the White House in a well-televised event, announced a new tariff regime in what the US president described as Economic Independence on a day he also tagged as the “Liberation Day.”
After the declaration, the situation within the anal of the global economic system in the layman comprehension has been epileptically galloping.
The global sports market is presently worth an estimated value of over 2 trillion US dollars across public, private, and consumer investments.
The sports sector jealously parades the potential for further growth, making it one of the largest and fastest-growing economic sectors in the world.
It is, therefore, imperative to take a critical look as the world sneezes over the new US tariff; sure, the sports industry is also catching a cold.
It is pertinent to note that the writer is aware that President Donald Trump has announced a 90-day freeze on the new tariff policy on some countries. It is still imperative to proceed with a critical analysis of the expected outcome of the new Trump-led US policies on the global sports economy.
President Donald Trump would still be in office when the United States would, as a joint host nation, play host to one of the largest sports fiestas and the most prestigious sports business event, which is the FIFA World Cup 2026.
The new US tariff no doubt would affect sports directly or indirectly courtesy of sports investments and sponsorship deals.
US investors have, in the past two decades, invaded the football business industry in various parts of the world with investments valued in billions of dollars. If the new tariff is implemented, those investments that were secured through loans would be put at risk.
I mean here, that since the new US policy will strengthen the dollar, the worth of the loans in foreign countries would double in debt to become a huge fiscal burden on those sports investments.
These sports businesses with huge US investments will suffer severe implications and would not be able to comply with Profit and Sustainability Rules. PSR.
Major sponsors of the next edition of the FIFA world cup have invested heavily with the motive to sell their products in the US markets, take for example Hyundai, which is one of the major FIFA World cup partners, the new US tariff seek to impose 25 percent tariff on car produced in South Korea, Hyundai FIFA world cup sponsorship deal is on a cliff.
Major brand wear owners like Adidas, Nike, and Puma are known to have their production bases in Asia, where the tariff is predicted to result in skyrocket effects on prices and market prices that may cause diminished purchasing powers amongst sports consumers.
If the US should proceed with the new tariff, a large chunk of the traditional customers who patronize these sportswear makers will be subjected to heavy prices, which in turn may affect sales since they may have to resort to abstinence or adopt austerity measures.
It is expected that the Liberation Day announcement by the US government would have its impact on the prices of building materials, thus leading to jerk up in prices in the cost of the construction of sports facilities not just in the US, but across major global cities that have been given the rights to host major global sports events, not exempting the construction of sports faculties for use at the grass root levels, the heightened cost would then be transferred to sports clubs, associations, investors, sponsors and sports consumers.
The 2026 FIFA World Cup would be jointly hosted by the US, Canada, and Mexico. The bad blood recently created by the new US tariff policy may affect the smooth hosting of the fiesta.
No doubt there is an ongoing global trade war between US and Canada and Mexico, this may invoke an hitch that may cripple the working relationship between these host nations, likely disarray looms and may constitute a glitch in the workings towards the successful staging of the most cherished sports economic event, the FIFA World Cup
The trade war may ignite anti fans sentiments, recently during an NHL and NBA fixture, Canadian fans were alleged to have booed, during the US anthem, these may become a new worrisome trend in the sports world and it spells doom, if the world of sports begin to witness this snail speed emerging trends t, it would trigger hate and destroy the true spirit of sportsmanship.
Major world sports platforms are the dominant sales anchor of household products and consumer goods, whose labor force is domiciled in the Eastern Bloc countries, where the tariff is expected to bite massively.
Thanks to the media, it is exempted from the tariff. if the opposite were to be the case, that would have been a death sentence on the sports market, knowing fully well that the media is the soul of the global sports economy.
Oladimeji is a Kano-based sports journalist and the news editor of www.Sahelsportsnews.com
