With Euro 2020 firmly underway across the continent, organisers UEFA will soon be able to start counting the profits after a challenging year...
Inside World Football revealed that the European football governing body reported a deficit for the 2019/20 season, due almost entirely to cancelling Euro 2020 in the face of the growing pandemic. This summer, it is back on the calendar, reworked to satisfy restrictions and protocols but set to generate large sums of money for those involved. Usually, such a tournament will bring an economic boost to the host countries. Euro 2016 brought around €1.22 billion to the French economy: €596m of that sum came through the event's organisation, and a further €625.8m was generated through tourism. Sadly, the latter sum will be much lower in the face of significant travel restrictions over the summer, but there will still be plenty of money floating around for those involved in the tournament. For the first time in European Championship history, all the big nations have qualified, including previous winners Italy, France, Germany, Portugal and Spain. Three of those sides are in the so-called Group of Death, meaning one of Portugal, France, or Germany will finish third. Whilst that might be tough for their supporters, it is excellent news for television companies eager to screen big matches. Seeing a repeat of the Euro 2016 final in the group stage will generate significant viewing figures. The Bwin Euro 2020 Group Winner Odds shows the different nation's route to the final, with the group winner potentially coming up against three-time tournament champions Spain in the quarter-final stage. UEFA has tried to reschedule the Champions League to ensure the big teams meet more often, increasing revenue, so having all the best players in the tournament at Euro 2020 is only a good thing in terms of money.
The prize money on offer has risen incrementally since 1992 when Sweden hosted the tournament. It generated revenue of around €41m, according to Forbes, which grew to about €120m for Euro 96 in the United Kingdom. By the time France hosted the competition, the €1bn mark had been breached. The initial target for Euro 2020 was thought to be €2.5bn, with €1bn profit for UEFA. Also, whilst the prestige of qualifying is great for some nations, the prize money on offer can help to revitalise a domestic football association. A win in the group stages is worth €1.5m, a draw nets a country €750k, and those figures rise as a team progresses through the tournament. Qualifying for the round of 16 brings in €2m, with the eventual winner taking €10m from the final alone. The maximum take for any nation is €34m, which goes a long way to supporting grassroots sport in whichever country is lucky enough to take home the biggest prize. Sadly, two cities have missed out on hosting matches and on the connected financial windfall. Dublin and Bilbao had to pull out of hosting games after not complying with UEFA's stipulation on supporter numbers in stadiums, which has cost the cities dearly. A report commissioned by the Irish capital suggested that a pre-pandemic income from their four matches would bring around €106m into the city. The scale of Euro 2020 was always ambitious, and had the pandemic not struck, it could have become more lucrative for those involved than the World Cup. Even with restrictions on travel and reduced benefits for the local economy, it will still be a triumph over adversity, a show of unity across the continent and will add a couple of zeroes to UEFA's bank account.
