UEFA, the governing body of European soccer, is set to witness a significant surge in revenue for the upcoming Euro 2024 matches. The organization anticipates a 25% increase compared to the previous edition and expects to reach an impressive cumulative global audience of over 5 billion. This optimistic forecast was shared by UEFA's marketing director, Guy-Laurent Epstein.
In preparation for the tournament kick-off in Germany on Friday, UEFA has successfully completed its sponsor line-up for the event. The organization is also finalizing its last broadcast arrangements.
The Euros' location in one of Europe’s major soccer markets has been advantageous. A local sponsorship program featuring several prominent German brands has significantly boosted UEFA's commercial income.
Increase in national sponsors and global partners
UEFA, along with its CAA Eleven sales agency, have secured five national sponsors for Euro 2024 - Bitburger, Deutsche Bahn, Deutsche Telekom, Ergo, and Wisenhof. These national sponsors are complemented by an impressive roster of thirteen global partners including adidas, AliExpress, Alipay, Atos, Betano, Booking.com, BYD, Coca-Cola, Engelbert, Strauss, Hisense, Lidl, Visit Qatar/Qatar Airways, Vivo.
UEFA marketing director, Guy-Laurent Epstein, said:
“We will see an increase of 25% [in revenue] from the last Euros, which is quite significant. That’s counting every revenue stream – commercial, sponsorship, licensing, broadcast, and ticketing.
“All the revenues are about 25% above the last Euros, which is healthy growth. We are above the targets and well in budget with regard to this so we're very happy with the way it went. Commercially, we've achieved a very good program.”
Chinese consumer electronics brand Hisense recently expanded its partnership with UEFA after being appointed as the exclusive official video assistant referee (VAR) screen provider for Euro 2024.
Successful sales process boosts revenue
The successful sales process across all areas has resulted in a substantial uplift in revenue for UEFA. From a broadcast perspective too there have been significant developments.
Guy-Laurent Epstein added:
“We are concluding some [broadcast deals] as we speak, we have two or three deals, tiny ones that are still open, but 99.9% of it is done already. With under a week to go, it's really finishing the commas and the dots of the contracts as we speak. But we are in place.”
These agreements followed tie-ups with TrueVisions in Thailand Match TV Okko Russia effectively completing most global broadcast arrangements for this year’s European Championship – which will be the 17th edition of the tournament. The remaining rights contracts are expected to be announced before the opening game. Euro 2020, which was played in 2021 due to Covid-19, attracted a cumulative global live audience of 5.2 billion.
The final match of England vs Italy alone was watched by a staggering 328 million viewers, matching the record set in 2016. On average each live match garnered over 100 million viewers making it one of the most engaged Euros ever on social media with an astounding figure of around 7.5 billion interactions and views – out of which official UEFA accounts generated about two billion.
Epstein is confident that this year’s competition will reach similar heights in terms of reach and potentially surpass figures from three years ago across all platforms. This optimism stems from UEFA's strategic planning and successful partnerships that have positioned it for success at Euro 2024.
