How the FIFA World Cup is providing a boost for L.A. businesses

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Set us as preferred Johnny Beig may have played in a semi professional cricket league in Australia, but this summer he’s a big fan of soccer in the United States.It’s not just because he’s rooting for the World Cup team, though.Last year, Beig’s Beverly Hills-based company, Dioz Group, won a $2.5 million contract with On Location, FIFA’s hospitality partner, to design, manufacture and distribute uniforms for all employees working at FIFA World Cup venues this summer.

Soccer The first World Cup tournament matches held on U.S.soil since 1994 are doing numbers for audience levels on Fox and Telemundo, more than doubling viewer counts from four years ago.These include the people welcoming attendees into stadiums, VIP lounge chefs, waiters and the flagbearers during the opening ceremony.After a multi-step application process, including presentations of its planning and strategy, Dioz says it produced more than 50,000 clothing garments including suits, jackets, shirts and hats and delivered them to the 16 World Cup venues around the U.S., Canada and Mexico in June.Thanks in part to the World Cup contract, the company’s revenue has reached $15 million so far this year, compared with $20 million last year, Beig said.

He declined to disclose the company’s net income but said the business was profitable.“We are working with larger names that we would have never imagined we would,” he said.“The FIFA World Cup is the pinnacle.

Working with the largest sporting event in the world is what we’re very proud of.I don’t think it gets any bigger than that.”Dioz is among the many small businesses across Los Angeles that are getting a boost from the global sporting event, said Kevin Klowden, a senior fellow at the Milken Institute.The influx of hundreds of thousands of fans into the city has been a boon to hotels, tra...