In 2026, boycotts on certain goods had been set aside with the wide spread of sponsorships and indifferent associations. The revenue side of this USD 13.6 billion project, also termed FIFA World Cup, has not been discussed much on, due to the overwhelming cultural aspects. What products were associated with global unrest and war fundings had converted to football culture and influential personnel.
But, what did we do? We made a choice.
A whopping BDT 63.8 crore was spent for BTV to telecast the game, including additional community led expenditure on screenings of the game in commercial zones, public places, and major universities. All these, boom jersey sales, initiate ad revenue and product publicity, and most importantly alter the preferences towards a recreation led economy.
Moreover, these alterations manipulate expenditure on bundles, i.e. a combination of goods we spend our budget on. The choice on recreation centered investments are being done all amid the country’s crisis, climate vulnerability, price shock, etc., are–nonetheless–concerning.
These sort of choices can be explained with some theories of behavioural economics.
There is an endogeneity (no control) in choices due to bounded rationality and predicted irrationality. In simpler words, we make choices according to the options provided to us (availability) and through comparisons that we think of and thus we never make our own choices. Most importantly, we make choices based on how the majority do, through the intuitive understanding of herd mentality, i.e. doing something because everyone does it, like our integration into the sports industry.
Choice has to do with who we are and how we choose as a whole, which is based on “Whatever is Available”.
But, what choices do we make, as consumers? How and why do we make them?
An answer could be tied to our traditional behaviours on observation of festivals.
Historically, the culture of celebration that had persisted in Bangladesh with the historic royal distributions of gold on Eid and Pujas–heavy status display, inflation on cattle prices in Qurbani–uncontrolled price level moderation and implementation, rallies in Bengali New Years and now even English New Year.
Moreover, food wastage, loud music, roadblocks, behaviours tied to certain observations, like road blocks from rallies and mass shopping spree, mass travel surge and injuries, fireworks, explosives, etc. in all of the above, might indicate how recreation had been for social-status rather than a relief from a life of repetition and routine. We merely observe to preserve culture, we observe to show inclusion and sometimes, superiority, in a herd environment.
Price level of common goods rise about 38-60%, and it is for the sake of preparation to recreational norms and cultures, rather than an economic expectation. Most imposed by the abuse of syndicalistic economy to a pseudo monopoly, some initiating heavy amounts of bribe chains and resource misallocation. Which also escapes the implementations presented by policy makers.
Moreover, we have our imposed ideology and media algorithm, that remind us what we can have.
Utility bundle remains a foreign imposition, in such sectors of clothing–where many cases of suicides have been reported over the yearnings of a popular piece of clothing in 2014, food habit–how we choices on unauthentic foreign cuisine overshadow traditional, preference in people–what has had a gruesome history of anti-inclusive remarks for skin colour, and recreation medium–such as our investment on recreational goods. All of such utility bundles, in our consumption driven economy, are imposed through externities. Of which all are understood through the studies of positional choices or status signaling, i.e. inferiority/superiority complex.
All of current situations, modern trends, recreational themes are talked about, with an increasing number of social media pages, organizations on trendy news and some “hang-out spot suggestion” media, charging more to the consumer driven society. Again all of social media, compiled are individual lives of people of society we remain a part of and such lives influence us in studies of herd behaviour and identity economics compile to the idea of a preference, understood and accepted though the understanding one’s social position. All of it through availability of media and imposed through software algorithms, which remain foreign to us.
Thus, preferences remain a survival and inclusion mechanism.
Lastly, to make a choice, there is an opportunity cost, a trade. What do we trade in the name of preferences?
Fireworks, licensed by the Department of Explosives, Bangladesh, are mostly imported from China and India as they are cheaper and more importantly, available. These imports, even though largely illegal, remain net positive in revenue terms, therefore, sold and bought. Fatalities, human lives, nature, animals lives. Lost in the name of production for and of recreation.
“We tend to ignore what we have done to the fireflies in pursuit of admiring the fireworks”
Has it kept a highly productive economy and social balance? Or has it created more routes to unsolidity and abuse of law-enforcement and high position? Well, it has created a chain of economic transactions that will persist through simple boycotts or preferential reactance (intentional alteration of preferences, or to do the opposite of what everyone does). And now with the screenings of the world cup, initiation of more traffic heat maps–creating junctions to emergency routes, cyber-aggression–what creates physical consequences, and diversion of mindset–our choice model, we are trading the concerns of justice in many cases.
Until we learn to tie concerns and narratives of conservation with our given recreational culture, we fail to utilize macro-factors of the society that was built on crisis and behaviour.
Sajeed Rahman is a contributor at Muktipotro.
