It’s long been known the amount of money generated by high profile competitions such as the FIFA World Cup and the UEFA Champions league. Perhaps it is no surprise, considering clubs’ annual wage bills soar into the millions and players transfer fees push ever closer to the £100 million mark. One aspect often overlooked, however, is the amount of cash generated by satellite industries such as the tourist trade.
Every year, dedicated fans travel across Europe, cheering their teams on to glory as the competition progresses. Naturally, this wholesale movement of an estimated 778,700 eager supporters creates its own mini-industry, with a staggering £169,768,300 generated over the 215 games played last year alone.
Including factors such as accommodation, refreshments and merchandise, the Onefootball app and the GoEuro travel search engine have created a handy infographic to support their findings. The figures have been generated, in part, to help governments tackle sustainable tourism. However, they provide pretty damning evidence on how poorly English clubs performed in the competition last year.
The fact that Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester City didn’t progress past the last 16 has cost them much more than Champions League glory. Each team could have generated an extra £1,344,200 for their respective cities and local businesses. A drop in the ocean to clubs such as these – but surely a welcome boost to the local economy.
