As we're sure you've noticed, World Cup football is in full swing. You may not have noticed, however, the surge in business opportunities that are in full swing right along with it. Our reporter Ying Junyi takes a closer look.

It's been two weeks since play started at the World Cup. Important as the competition is to football fans, though, it's also turning out to be important to many businesses, both the big and the small. Because of the time difference between China and Russia, football fans here are often glued to their televisions late into the night -- and that means turning to the late-night snack sites.

"I normally watch the World Cup at home, and I wind up ordering some take away. Crayfish, beer, and kebabs."

Also thriving are Shanghai's fill-in driver services, for those who cannot legally drive themselves home after a few drinks in a bar or restaurant.

"I definitely use fill-in drivers these days, since enforcement of the law on driving after drinking is pretty strict."

One of China's favorite online food delivery services is ELema, and we asked them what some of the favorite orders are, on hot summer football nights.

"Our night snack orders are way up this month, especially on the two days after the World Cup opened. They were up 271.1 percent! Shanghai orders more night-time snacks than any other city in the country. Crayfish and beer are the most popular. That's the influence of the World Cup, of course, and it's crayfish season too."

And of course the World Cup always brings business benefits to the host country. Reports say the World Cup has contributed 14 billion dollars to the Russian economy, and a lot of that is from increased Russian tourism.

PENG LIANG, TRAVEL DATA RESEARCHER CTRIP "We have organized travel packages for more than five thousand tourists to Russia during the month of the World Cup, twice as many as we did at this time last year. We've also booked more than one hundred thousand individual trips to Russia from around the country."

What's more, the economic benefits from hosting the World Cup are not for the short term only.

PENG LIANG, TRAVEL DATA RESEARCHER CTRIP "The importance of the World Cup will actually be more obvious afterwards, especially for the tourist market. Our August numbers for a tour to Russia are running twice as high as last year, especially as things will be cheaper after the World Cup. But more importantly, it is because the impact it has on people, influencing their choices for travel abroad. And the World Cup has also led to more Sino-Russia flights, and to the development of Russian travel products."

Brazil hosted the World Cup four years ago, for example, and the effects are being felt even today. Brazil's tourism numbers are still up fifty percent over what they were before the Cup.