This article has printed in “Tejarat_e_Farda” magazine, Dated: Saturday, July 27, 2024.

https://www.tejaratefarda.com/fa/tiny/news-47354

How does hosting an event like Euro 2024 affect society and the economy?

Beyond the Pitch

Vahid Namazi / Journalist and Football researcher

The Giant’s horn has broken. There’s no sound coming from anyone. The intensity and violence are over and “fan zone”… It’s getting out of the crowd. Empty and semi-empty drinking glasses are left here and there on the floor, and large and small groups of boys and girls in white mannschaft clothes are slowly and quietly walking home. The German national team has been knocked out of the European Nations Cup by Spain, and the hosts, having lost the early final, which was the last game of the Cup, should continue Euro 2024 with only hospitality and regret. This, of course, is the only apparent part of the affair. The European Nations Cup, which welcomed about 600,000 foreign tourists and hundreds of thousands of German spectators, became one of the most memorable periods of the euro and had a huge impact. This article, with a look at the German hosting of Europe’s largest football event, examines the social and economic impact of holding a major sports tournament and speaks of the importance of football as a “Hyper-phenomenon” again.

From collective pride to public well-being

Typically, hosting a large sporting event alone provides a significant sense of success for the hosts. Especially if the hosting comes at a time of crisis such as the coronavirus pandemic and mass isolation of societies, the Russo-Ukrainian war or growing global tensions. The socioeconomic effects of hosting a major sports tournament are undeniable, and the excitement that comes out of it can affect large societies of humans for a long time.

But what is this particular feeling or excitement that fans experience during a sporting event? Psychologists have called this feeling “collective pride”, a positive feeling that emerges when members of the group recognize their shared identity and win over another group with pride and peace. In these moments, fans experience a deep sense of being together and celebrating together, which significantly increases “public well-being”. The positive consequences and the opportunity to break stereotypes strengthen the social sense and create an atmosphere of optimism and happiness that remains long after the end of a sporting event.

But among all the disciplines in the world of Sports, Football has so much power that its effects always go beyond the usual 90-minute boundaries on the field. With about four billion fans and 270 million active players around the world, football has created a superhuman and transcendental network whose impact is not measured only by the goals scored or the trophies won, and whose impact is increasingly evident on the economic and social fabric of societies and nations. Football is more than just a sport, a means of helping global development whose economic and social impacts resonate beyond borders, cultures and economies, helping their countries and governments to pave their way in these difficult times with the enormous force of this “phenomenon”. The future of football, intertwined with the goals of global development, is a story of hope, unity and transformative power, a story in which every blow, every goal, and every encouragement play a role in the greater goal of global development.

So it’s natural that countries with a more structured management structure, relatively more prepared infrastructure, or more risk-taking than their other global or regional competitors to take the lead in hosting major football events to take advantage of the short-term and long-term benefits of hosting them.

Euro 2024 football goals and commitments

By promoting and fostering a sense of socialism, football is a powerful tool for social development that attracts young people, prevents crime and can even improve the outcomes of educational programs and potentially lead to higher and longer-term incomes for those involved. While educational programs can improve the quality and scope of football education, football itself can be an incentive for Academic Progress. So helping to promote programs that integrate football with education can improve student attendance and participation in schools and improve the educational level of communities.

When it was announced that Euro 2024 had arrived in Germany, the Euro 2024 company, on the official behalf of UEFA and the German Football Federation, announced that the tournament, beyond a football tournament, is also a platform for positive change, and UEFA has created a new standard for hosting large sports events alongside the German Football Federation with goals including learning, sustainable development, strengthening social responsibilities, applying technology to the realization of community interests and gender equality.

Sustainable development was an integral part of the Euro 2024 goals since the vote to determine the host of the period (in 2018), focusing on environmental, social and governance axes because football is one of the best phenomena to promote these goals in society because of its popularity and inclusion.

Euro 2024 had pledged to minimize its environmental footprint and implement environmentally friendly practices such as waste reduction, energy efficiency and sustainable transport. The goal was not only to host a world-class football tournament but also to leave a positive environmental heritage for future generations. An environmentally sustainable sporting event has two aspects: one is targeting to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and another important aspect is educating people about sustainable development. In 2020, the German Football Union (DFB) became the first national football body to ratify the United Nations Convention on sport climate change, and the following year, the German Football League (DFL) announced that Bundesliga 1 and 2 would be the first professional football leagues to include mandatory sustainability criteria in their licensing regulations.

The strategy is funded by 32 million euros (five percent of the competition budget) and with initiatives including the use of existing stadiums in Germany (not new), the use of renewable energy, planning to limit the travel of teams and fans (by intelligently managing the concentration of group stage games in cities close to each other), more environmentally responsible financial support and not allowing energy-oriented companies including gas, oil or water and electricity to engage in commercial participation in competitions, determine a strategy to reduce water consumption and provide food with minimal packaging that must be recyclable was one of the most important euro targets this year.

If the 2022 World Cup Qatar released about 63.3 billion tons of carbon! The goal for Euro 2024 was to reduce this to around 490,000 tons. The organizers of the Games established a fund through which to pay 25 euros per ton of inevitable carbon produced to the environmental reduction projects of German amateur clubs (which are estimated to be worth seven million euros).

Strengthening social responsibility programs was another commitment of Euro 2024. Targeting positive changes in the field of social responsibility, focusing on areas such as education, health and community development, was one of the most important actions of the German organizers of this great event, which through partnerships with local organizations and charities, sought to create a tangible impact on the lives of people in host cities and beyond.

The tournament also used the power of technology to drive social change. With the aim of creating more communication between people and promoting social cohesion, Euro 2024 took advantage of innovative fan engagement programs to virtual reality experiences, and in addition, it also deployed advanced technologies to increase access for fans with disabilities to ensure that the euro is inclusive for everyone.

The hosts of Euro 2024 had pledged to leave a lasting legacy beyond the tournament itself. Infrastructure improvements, such as upgraded stadiums and updated transportation systems, will serve local communities long after these games. On the other hand, the Investing of organizers in basic football programs and facilities also fosters the talents of the next generation and promotes the sport at the basic level. Also, by accelerating initiatives to encourage women’s participation in football and empower women and girls in a way that goes beyond the racecourse and contributes to women’s greater social and economic independence, taking initiatives to increase the visibility of women’s football, providing equal opportunities for women’s players, coaches, referees and managers were also important budgeting goals at Euro 2024, aimed at inspiring understanding change and helping to continually advance and promote gender equality in the sports world.

Berlin example: the social and educational impact of Euro 2024

At the heart of UEFA’s mission statement, it said that Euro 2024 should be the most stable euro ever. The aim was to make German hosting a positive and long-term impact on the community, encouraging people to act more sustainably and bring benefits to the locals. To this end, the promotion of Berlin sports clubs was just one of the tangible examples of Germany’s hosting goals, covering the areas of Ecology, social, economic and even governance. Accordingly, the hosts of Euro 2024 gave sports clubs and non-profit organizations in the city of Berlin the opportunity to apply for funding for their development projects if they participate in the implementation of the UEFA EURO 2024 mission statement. The focus of these programs should be on environmental and climate protection or social aspects of sustainability, such as participation and equality, in order to receive assistance.

Also, as part of the Euro 2024 cultural mission and its great attention to the Sustainable Development Program, the “make your game Green” project was implemented in parts of Berlin, and students from schools in those areas had the opportunity to enroll in a simulation game in which they were introduced to the factors of production and distribution using new technology, the conditions for the production of sportswear-from the conditions of production to advertising by influencers and selling products in the market. In another campaign called “natural football”, amateur sports clubs in Berlin were given the opportunity to participate in sustainable development workshops for a year.

Another opportunity created for the city of Berlin during the preparation of the city to host Euro 2024 was the optimization of the infrastructure of bicycle lanes in the streets around Olympia Stadion (hosting several euro games, including the final between Spain and England). Enormous construction work was also carried out in and around the stadium to improve its accessibility and use, creating added value for this large stadium.

The hosts ‘ vision did not end with the same; they went for another exciting project, given one of the most important parts of their mission, which was sustainable development, and the very vast Berlin fan zone (between the Brandenburg Gate and the victory column), which was intended for gathering fans and watching games from giant TV screens, was completely carpeted with artificial grass to give artificial grass to local clubs after the end of this extraordinary event. Natural grass may seem like a more sustainable solution for a football field, but this coating requires maintenance and a lot of water that small clubs have trouble supplying. For this reason, artificial grass here is a more durable and stable alternative. It was decided that the Great Berlin fan zone grass (produced by the method of reducing carbon dioxide and completely recyclable) would reach local football clubs and football fields in nearby areas after washing and washing to have a beautiful level of play for the coming years.

The Berlin hosts of Euro 2024 had also planned to protect the environment, and to prevent the production of non-recyclable waste and increase waste, they asked fans who wanted to see their favorite teams play in Berlin’s fan zones to carry a “zero waste” kit and say no to disposable products. It was also announced worldwide that only reusable containers would be available in all fan zones, which had to be paid deposits to receive; that’s why fans were asked to have glasses and dining containers in their “zero waste” kit. The Berlin water company also asked people to use these public waters to fill their bottles by providing full sanitary conditions in its public drinking taps. Encouraging tourists and football fans to travel to and from Berlin by bicycle and booking of tourist resorts with valid certificates were also among the other important actions of the Berlin hosts of Euro 2024 in this area.

Did Euro 2024 help Germany’s economic growth?

The financial consequences of football are always deep and multifaceted. From the silent world of basic football to the glitzy world of professional leagues, football generates billions of dollars in revenue, creates jobs and can even affect the economic policies of countries. For example, recall the economic prosperity of host cities during important tournaments such as the FIFA World Cup; such events are not just a sporting match period. They are magnets for tourism, hospitality and retail services, and provide a significant boom for the local economy.

Hosting events such as the euro, in addition to helping develop tourism, hotel and retail, has another major advantage in long-term investment and helps improve infrastructure and public transport. The positive short-term effects of hosting a big event include increasing visitors, athletes and media coverage of the host country during the event, which increases demand for local currencies and helps boost exchange rates and grow the local economy.

Germany’s four trillion-euro economy needed a psychological boost shock to take new life after years of recession caused by the covid pandemic. Germany’s economic performance since 2020 was above average, as they had one of the world’s worst advanced economies over the years when the GDP recession and the crisis of rising migration pulled the brakes. But, the 600,000 tourists who traveled to Germany during the Euro 2024 competition are expected to spend 5.1 billion euros there to have positive effects on various businesses, increasing Germany’s GDP by about 1.0 percent in the second quarter of this year. This is what happened to the World Cup host Germany in the summer of 2006, marking the “legendary summer” of the Germans. But this year was another difference from 2006; while that year the crowd of fans gathering in venues outside the stadiums was mostly German, the relatively widespread changes in the form of hosting major football events caused by FIFA and UEFA’s “business-tourism-oriented” policies made this year more venues for Team fans to gather in different cities and more “fan zones”.

The transformation of football fans from prejudice and pure bias to fans of “pleasure-oriented”, “sociopathic” and “family-based” has shaped a new type of tourism in the world, known as “sports tourism”. In the new form of fans, the opportunity to participate in a major sports competition is so seized that it seems that fans from all countries are invited to a big celebration to enjoy the big football festival and watch the games alongside competitors from other nationalities. This “intercultural contact” can eliminate prejudices by fulfilling the conditions of the call hypothesis and erase social differences by creating new friendships between supporters of different countries and on equal terms. National and ethnic prejudices in this type of fan are second, and solidarity and friendship occupy the first place in the hearts of fans.

Of course, this is not only incompatible with the efforts of teams and their many fans to win a championship in a tournament, but it also helps to strengthen cooperation in achieving a common goal, which is “supporting the home team” and “enjoying the tournament with others”. All of these activities occur in a “supportive normative atmosphere” characterized by values such as playfulness and respect.

It is clear that the biggest benefit from such large events is always the housing and food sectors. It is said that this year, the record of about 5.1 million nights in Germany has been recorded by various travel-accommodation platforms, which includes both millions of cities such as Cologne and Berlin and smaller cities such as Gelsenkirchen 260,000 people. Accommodation of sports tourists in hotels and resorts in Germany contributes to the economy of “local services”, and as data surveys through the OpenTable platform have shown, an eight percent increase in the number of reservations of German resorts in recent months compared to the same period in 2023 has increased revenues in the sector.

Dortmund example: the economic impact of Euro 2024

The 600,000-seat city of Dortmund is the largest city in the state of Ruhr and the center of one of Germany’s most productive states. It is the second largest urban area in terms of GDP in the European Union and the administrative, commercial and cultural center of East Germany, and as one of the 10 host cities of Euro 2024, it hosted the top six European football matches at the great signal Stadium of idona Park-the home stadium of Borussia Dortmund. Dortmund spent more than € 20m to host the six games. Has this cost been beneficial for the Dortmund economy? Professor Axel Faix, a professor at the Dortmund School of business studies, confirmed in an interview that hosting the euro had significantly contributed to the economy of his city: “I and a research team looked at different scenarios and concluded that these games would have a beneficial economic impact of 120 million euros for the region. The decisive factors in our calculations included the residency income from the reception of tourists, as well as the surplus expenses of the city’s inhabitants, who during the competitions prefer to spend to enjoy this great event. These revenues include accommodation, food and beverages, as well as expenses for fan goods, clothing and about 60 recreational and cultural events held during competitions in the city. »

Under the policies of Euro 2024 organizers, which focused heavily on sustainable development, local authorities focused more on the behavior and mobility of sports tourists, and unlike the 2006 World Cup, where the development of infrastructure such as the improvement of the Dortmund stadium was a priority, this time the focus of investment was on cultural and tourism programs. Unlike the 2006 World Cup, where the cultural diversity of tourists was greater and their stay in Germany was longer, this time many guests of Euro 2024 were close citizens of Germany or other European countries, and it was natural to have less stay in Germany and return to their European cities after seeing the national team play. For this reason, the organizers of Dortmund planned so that with the multiplicity of cultural and tourism programs, the concentration of income along with the cost of accommodation belonged to these programs.

The British example: the economic impact from the opposite angle

A large sporting event not only pours financial attention and profits into the host country, but also helps to strengthen the economy of the countries participating in the event and has a significant impact on the economy of those countries during the competitions. One example is the England national team, which again participated in the final game of the euro games and stayed in the competition until the last day, causing economic impact in the country. The British, who are traditionally very willing to see their national teams play in restaurants and pubs, have also achieved a huge boom in the industry by spending a lot of money to see the England national team games, as Keith Nichols, chief executive of UK Hospitality, said: “We are seeing a lot of demand from fans to encourage the England national team in pubs and restaurants. Most of these locations across the country were filled for each national team game, bringing a huge boom to the country’s restaurants and bars, which saw an average sales increase by 25 percent on England’s playing days. Such an increase was impressive for the hospitality industry and allowed us to provide a world-class atmosphere for fans on match day. »

For example, England’s game against Slovenia saw a 33 percent increase in sales. In addition, sales of the category in the English games against Denmark, Serbia and Slovakia also increased by 28%, 12% and 11% respectively. The surveys also showed that the average sales of these locations in the seven days ending June 29, 2024 were about six percent higher than in the same period in 2023. In another study conducted with access Collins booking and enquiry management software, it was found that in the English semi-final against the Netherlands on July 10, the amount of booking space and ordering drinks reached 16 reservations per second, most of which were made at the moment of Watkins ‘ first goal, as well as during the breaks of the game and after the final whistle. It came after the Lions won the quarter-finals against Switzerland, reaching 11 bookings per second. As always, statistics speak well and are superior to any analysis; a 45% increase in people’s interest in leaving home and spending money in the playoffs, which their national team is one step away from.

The British Retail Consortium (BRC) also found in a survey of 2,000 buyers last month that the country’s love of football during Euro 2024 would lead to additional purchases; according to the survey, 13 percent of people planned to spend more money on food, alcoholic beverages and ready-made food while watching the euro. In addition, 9% of the statistical community planned to party during the England national team games or attend large gatherings to see their team play with their friends. It was also revealed that six percent of the people participating in the survey also planned to buy a new TV or electronic device, and four percent of them planned to buy other goods.

Publishing a report through the authoritative platform of the travel service provider Trip.com it also showed that British travelers with a 1492% increase in travel bookings to Germany and France (compared to the same period in 2019) planned to spend a total of £ 5.8 billion this summer to watch a sporting event abroad; 25.4 billion in Euro 2024 in Germany and 25.4 billion in the Paris Olympics and Paralympics. According to Trip.com these numbers, after a few years of turmoil after the pandemic and mass isolation of people, will promise Happy Days for the travel and sports industry.

Further research by the FA has also shown that due to the UK’s hosting of Euro 2028 in Belfast Birmingham Cardiff Dublin Glasgow Liverpool London Manchester and Newcastle the next round of Euro matches is expected to create a macro-socioeconomic interest of around £ 6.2 billion for British hosts. The football unions of the host countries of Euro 2028 are set to spend more than £ 500m on improving and upgrading their facilities to achieve this income.

Big hosts have side effects and destructive effects!

However, hosting any major sporting event also has two devastating side effects: the first is the specific displacement (or congestion) effect, which, due to the presence of many sports tourists, discourages tourists who are not interested in sports events and prevents them from traveling. The reason is clear: any tourist may not be very interested in a sporting event, and more importantly, the increase in prices during an event causes tourists who are not interested in sporting events to postpone their trip to the host country or forget about it at all.

The second effect is the increase in prices due to the increase in demand for more consumption, which affects domestic consumers. There is no doubt that during the tournament, the people of the host country spend more money on food (and drinks). The longer the host country lasts in a tournament, the more the consumption of the host country’s people. Although usually at the end of an event, the consumerism of the people of the country also decreases, and they have no choice to reduce their costs and balance their expenses.

But regardless of these negative side effects, hosting or even participating in a major sporting event has broad and significant benefits for communities, making people in participating countries more empathetic and more friendly with their competitors. “With no force can football be eliminated from the modern world. It doesn’t mean that if it’s not football, people will protest and push for it. The power of football is not a subset of the psychological interests of individuals, but it is beyond that, and it has a place in the lives of the people and in the media and even in international relations that policies and governments cannot make whatever decisions they want. Now football is a “hyper- phenomenon” which increases geographical, cultural, social and even political correlations. and according to master Reza Davari Ardakani: “it cannot not to be.» 

Sources:

1- “The Ripple Effect: Football’s Economic and Social Impact on Global Development”; by Dr. Mehifu Jaiyeola (CHRC, FCIHRM), Business owner Coach, Human Resource Management Consultant, Football Business Analyst, and Business Analyst.

2- “Euro 2024: what’s being done to make it “the most sustainable football championship of all time”?”; by Ruby Russell; March 2024, https: / /energypost.eu

3- “Sustainability at UEFA EURO 2024”, https: / /www.visitberlin.de

4- “EURO 2024 as an economic gain for Dortmund”; https: / /www.fh-dortmund.de /news /euro-2024-als-wirtschaftlicher-gewinn-fuer-dortmund.php?loc=en

5- “Euro 2024: What England’s final means for the economy”; by Jennifer O’Keeffe; July 2024, Insider media.

6- “Can the men’s European soccer championship 2024 boost German economic growth?”; by Julius Probst; July 2024, The stepstone group.

7-Reza davari ardkani, the magazine of information of wisdom and knowledge, spring of 2018