Like any other international sporting event, the World Cup should be a sponsor's dream. The large crowds at the 64 games in France this summer, the huge television audiences worldwide and the exhaustive coverage in print and broadcast media mean corporations which have invested millions in backing the tournament are confident of getting a bang for their marketing buck.

A total of 45 companies have struck deals to sponsor the World Cup, including 12 official partners, eight official suppliers, nine providers of official products and services and 16 official equipment suppliers.

Between them, they have paid an estimated £280 million to £300 million sterling for their sponsorship rights. The bulk of the money comes from the dozen official sponsors, which are estimated to have each paid about £20 million in rights fees.

However, for these big multinationals, such as Coca-Cola, McDonald's and Philips, this £20 million is just the tip of the marketing iceberg. With a typical sports sponsorship, a company usually spends one pound on marketing for every pound spent on the rights fees. Yet the World Cup is not typical. As the biggest global event in the sporting calendar, companies are willing to spend heavily to leverage their initial sponsorship investment.

Ms Mava Heffler, head of marketing at MasterCard, the credit-card services group, says her organisation's overall spending at this World Cup could reach three or four times the value of the original rights fee.

This suggests the company could be investing £60 million to £80 million in marketing its association with France 98 and that the total worldwide marketing spend by the main sponsors could reach £750 million by the time the last ball is kicked on July 12th.

For sponsors, the key word when it comes to the World Cup is global. Football may not be huge in North America, but it is the most popular sport almost everywhere else. France 98 is expected to be watched by a cumulative worldwide television audience of 37 billion people.

To reach those viewers, Anheuser Busch, the US brewer whose Budweiser brand is the official World Cup beer, has launched a global television campaign.

"We've never run a specific global campaign to support a sponsorship before," says Mr Peter Jackson, vice-president of sales and marketing in the UK. "We are the world's largest-selling beer and this is the world's biggest sporting event so it's a perfect match for us."

The company is investing £15 million in its UK advertising campaign alone, so with another 83 markets to reach, its global advertising spend will be substantial.

Mr Eric Kraus, director of communications at Gillette, says World Cup marketing works. "We've been involved with the event since 1970, and if the World Cup was not a powerful global marketing tool we would not be involved with it today."

But how do sponsors know they are getting value for money? A recent report by the UK's Chartered Institute of Marketing warned that sponsors would have to work hard to get their message across amid all the hype and marketing `noise' of the World Cup.

MasterCard says: "When you look at the cost of the rights fees, the media value of the perimeter board exposure alone far exceeds the sponsorship spend,` she says.

Mr Kraus at Gillette says a key attraction of the World Cup is the perimeter pitchside advertising. "If you added up the viewerships of the 52 matches during USA 94, about 33 billion people would have seen the Gillette board behind the goal."

As for the impact of World Cup sponsorship, Mr Kraus says: "You measure it in the fact that you are raising brand awareness. You also hope to see peak market shares during the months surrounding the finals."

Yet it is not just TV advertising campaigns or perimeter hoardings. Promotional activities such as competitions for customers with big prizes - Gillette is giving away £700,000 in such prizes during the finals - are also part of the mix.

Adidas, the German sportswear giant, is creating the Adidas Football Parc in Paris to entertain 40,000 visitors a day with football events, interactive exhibitions and other attractions. Anheuser Busch, prevented from advertising its beer at the stadiums by France's anti-alcohol laws, is building `Stade de Bud' in northern Paris. Housed in a converted warehouse 10 minutes walk from the Stade de France stadium, Anheuser Busch hopes it will provide the ultimate World Cup experience with a few cold beers thrown in.