Lower Thirds:

0´02	Report by Lars Halter

Script: 

It's on... Euro 2024 and the battle for football dominance on the continent. 24 teams are taking the pitch... almost 3 million fans will be in the stands... and billions more will be watching in bars and beer gardens, in fan zones or at home... and that's big business.

So, who's making money? And who's paying? --- The Euro Cup is organised by UEFA... the Union of European Football Associations. UEFA expects for the Euro Cup to bring in 2.4 billion Euros... most of it from TV and marketing rights.. that includes sponsorships by the likes of Adidas or Coca-Cola, there's China's Alibaba group and the State of Qatar... all these contracts are bringing in 2 billion Euros. Add to that ticket and hospitality sales, including VIP lounges.

On the other side, UEFA expects expenses of 650 million Euros... including 331 million in prize money for the competing teams, plus the cost of IT, salaries, referee fees and such. Bottom line: UEFA is expecting a profit of 1.7 billion Euros... tax-free, due to a deal with the German government, who's missing out on around 255 million.

But that's not all... the German government also pays handsomely for the privilege of hosting the tournament: 625 million Euros ein total, including 260 million the host cities spend on fan miles, 165 million Euros to renovate stadiums, security will be 150 million Euros…

So, with all that money spent... is there a silver lining? There is... the Euro Cup will attract millions of tourists: Hotels are seeing strong bookings... breweries are expecting beer consumption to be up 4 percent... retailers hope for 3.8 billion euros in additional revenue... for food, but also merchandise: flags, toys, TVs and electronics... so, for some, the Euro Cup will bring some lucrative weeks... for others... it's a money pit.

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