Euro 2000 Reports Profits of Euros 18m
The closing balance of EURO 2000 is positive from all points of view. Immediately after the close of the event, a very favourable assessment of the sporting and the organisational components was received. Furthermore, the Euro 2000 Foundation bank account has a credit balance of more than 18 million Euros. Additional income from sales of 95% of the tickets will bring in the sum of 6.8 Euros; not having to use the contingency funds, anticipated in the original budget, will add an extra 5.9 million Euros. The Euro 2000 Foundation ran its own hospitality programme which has yielded a positive result of 4.5 million Euros. Favourable price trends have further helped to add to the positive balance. All the proceeds will go to football in Belgium and the Netherlands. According to the statutes of the EURO 2000 Foundation, these funds will be earmarked to benefit youth football.
The two presidents of the EURO 2000 Foundation, Messrs. Michel D’Hooghe and Jeu Sprengers, emphasised that not only has it been proven that two small countries are perfectly capable of organising such a tournament, but that it is also possible to do it in a financially sound and responsible way. The objective was to break even at any cost so that neither national Football Associations would run any financial risks. Thanks to the legacy of EURO 2000™, it will now be possible to make additional investments in the future of football.
Ultimately, the closing balance of EURO 2000 is more than just a good financial result. The football infrastructure in Belgium in particular has improved a great deal. The modernisation of the stadiums and the creation of a stewarding organisation are permanent benefits. The co-operation of the football community with local government organisations has received a strong boost due to EURO 2000. The fantastic matches and the enthusiastic fans showed the best side of football. This in turn enhanced the social position of the sport in society. The EURO 2000 Foundation does not close its eyes to the troubles that did happen on several occasions. ‘Luckily, these incidents did not in any way overshadow EURO 2000,’ according to Alain Courtois.
The EURO 2000 Foundation management again emphasises the enormous success of the event, in particular when compared to the original scepticism and criticisms uttered. Alain Courtois reminisces: ‘When organising such an event, the outside world only becomes aware of some of the things that can go wrong, when they actually do. The fact that quite a few subjects have received no attention whatsoever, is due to the perfect implementation. It is all so natural when things go according to plan, but you know that the smallest incident will often be blown out of all proportion. As an organisation, you live in a glass house.’
The EURO 2000 Foundation once again underlined the great importance of the contributions from the volunteers for the organisation of an event such as EURO 2000. In total 3,000 volunteers were used during EURO 2000. ‘Sometimes our society does not show real appreciation for work done by volunteers. When you see how the volunteers in Sydney were treated, we still have a lot to learn,’ says Alain Courtois.
In the end 1,138,000 tickets were sold for the 31 EURO 2000 matches. This was nearly 95% of the 1.2 million entry tickets available. For the 24 group matches 93.9% of the available tickets were sold. The percentage went up to 96.5% for the knock-out stage. The EURO 2000 Foundation stressed that over 80% of the tickets available went to the general public. Tremendous effort went into selling as many tickets as possible. Tickets returned by the national Associations, were being sold until the day of the match. Harry Been comments: ‘not only am I proud that we managed to sell nearly all the tickets, but also that 40% of all the tickets were sold over the Internet. This makes us the biggest e-commerce project to date.’ The revenue from ticket sales in the end came to 6,8 million Euros more than previously estimated. But that is not the only reason why the EURO 2000 Foundation can look back with satisfaction on the organisation of the ticketing. For the first time ever, the ticketing approach had been approved by the European Commission prior to the event. The black market was successfully wrong-footed and only a few counterfeit tickets found their way on the open market.
‘Beforehand, you can only hope that the attention will be this overwhelming,’ says Harry Been. ‘In the budget prior to the event you have to work with percentages which are a lot lower. Nearly one third of the financial result is due to the fact that the stadiums were full during EURO 2000™. At previous tournaments, that wasn’t always so.’ The EURO 2000 Foundation itself handled the sales of the hospitality packages. 93% of the 65,000 prestige business packages were sold, which produced income of 4.5 million Euros. These proceeds found their way back to the EURO 2000 Foundation in their entirety and so contribute to the ultimate credit balance
From the start, the EURO 2000 Foundation used a strict system of planning and control. They brought in external expertise in that field. In the long run, the result of this was that the budget was accurate, and also that the contingency funds included in that budget did not have to be used. That might well be unique for the organisation of an event the size of EURO 2000. Harry Been: ‘the distinguishing feature of the ‘Accidental’ entry is that, right up to the last minute you have to bear in mind that the unexpected might still happen. It is a great achievement that all our people stayed within their own budget. It shows the quality of our organisation.’
In total, the final budget of the EURO 2000 Foundation was 60.9 million Euros. Revenue came from ticket sales (37 million Euros), a contribution by UEFA from TV rights and sponsoring (21 million Euros) and from other sources (2.9 million Euros).
For further information, please contact:
SportsCom 2000 Netherlands
Richard van der Eijk
Tel: +31 (0)70 4161666