UEFA the Real Winners at Euro 2008

If Spain wins Euro 2008 tomorrow, they take €23 million in prize money. If Germany wins, thy take €22m (one million less because they lost a group game to Croatia.) Not too shabby, eh? But according to the Financial Times (who know a thing or two about money) whichever nation wins Euro 2008 will actually enjoy a nice €110 million windfall.

It’s all a bit intangible, but the research says that a European Championship win brings growth in sponsorship deals, ticket sales, merchandising and all that jazz. All of which spells €€€.

A fair bit of money, you might think. But the real winners at Euro 2008 are UEFA.

It cost European football’s governing body €234m to stage the tournament, but they look set to make back a whopping €1.3 billion in sponsorship. That puts UEFA over a billion euros in profit this June.

So when all the dust settles, and some team or other is holding the trophy, UEFA can look back fondly on the 2008 Adidas BenQ Castrol Celcom Chivas Continental AG Carlsberg Coca Cola Kia Motors Hyundai JVC Mastercard McDonalds European Championships and think “yes, that went nicely”.