Following Chelsea’s 3-0 win over Paris Saint-Germain at the Meadowlands, the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup is in the books, successfully completed. The final drew more than 81,000 to MetLife Stadium, with the tournament’s 63 total games attracting almost 2.5 million fans, or nearly 40,000 per game across 12 venues.

A reinforced task force of administrators is now tasked with staging FIFA’s 2026 World Cup. They’re officially “on the clock” to plan the equivalent of 104 Super Bowls during a 39-day period running from June 11-July 19. That’s fewer than 11 months to prepare for the care and feeding of 48 elite teams moving through 16 cities/stadiums spread across the U.S., Canada and Mexico.

This is the point where FIFA administrative optimists shout, “No problem!” and soccer aficionados sleep comfortably at night knowing everything will turn out fine.

Which brings us to Dick Whittington and his cat. Ever heard this story? We’d be surprised if you did.

Australian scholar Rob MacDonald recently brought this intriguing tale of business acumen to our attention.

This largely fabricated and often modified story from English folklore was first told during the early 17th century, and suggested Whittington was an impoverished young man who bought a cat and quickly realized his tabby could solve inner city rodent problems.

From this simple environmental insight, a profitable new business was born.........

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