UEFA to bank less on Euro 2012 than previous tournament

Europe’s top football governing body said it will profit less from the Euro 2012 than in the previous tournament held four years ago in Austria and Switzerland.

At a July 16 news conference in Kyiv, UEFA
Chief Operating Officer Martin Kellen said that Euro 2012 profits “will be
slightly less” than the 250 million euros it made in 2008 despite record
stadium attendance levels, TV viewers and ticket sales in this year’s
tournament co-hosted by Ukraine and Poland.

The Swiss-based non-profit grossed nearly
1.4 billion euros in revenue at this year’s tournament, 32 million euros more
than in 2008, the most ever.

Leading up to the three-week tournament,
UEFA had stated that it was spending more than expected on event expenses to
help Poland and Ukraine authorities manage the Euro 2012 project. This was the
furthest east the continent’s premiere football tournament was staged, and the
first time in a former Soviet republic.

UEFA said precise profit figures won’t be
released until spring 2013.

The governing body announced that it made 837
euros from media rights, 315 million euros from commercial rights, and 101
million euros in corporate hospitality and 130 euros from ticketing.

UEFA furthermore announced that 1.44
million people attended the Euro 2012 games in stadiums with a 98.6 percent stadium
capacity filled. The most attended match was the June 15 Sweden-England match
in Kyiv with 64,640 fans.

More than 7 million fans visited the eight
fan zones, with Kyiv absorbing the most – more than 2 million fans, UEFA added.
Kharkiv’s fan zone hosted 300,000 fans, the most for one night on June 13 when Germany
played Holland. 

Cashing in on football

Kyiv
Post staff writer Mark Rachkevych can be reached at [email protected]