By Robbie Butler
On the 24th of September 2019 in Ljubljana, Slovenia, the Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán Stadium in Seville was as selected by the UEFA Executive Committee as the host venue for the 2020 Europa League Final. This was a world before Covid-19. The choice of Seville seemed appropriate given that the club named after the southern Spanish city has enjoyed remarkable success in the competition since 2006 - winning six finals. As expected, in June 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, UEFA announced that Seville would instead host the 2022 final as the 2020 and 2021 finals were to be relocated.
Fast forward to the 25th of April 2022. This link from Seville FC speaks about the preparations underway for the 2022 Final. Below the video in the link it says:
"In addressing the event, the mayor, Antonio Muñoz, stated that between 45 to 50 thousand fans are expected to come to the city for the final. Although he regrets that there will be no representatives from the city, nor Spain, the mayor said that "two of the four semifinalists are German and the other two are British, i.e. they come from the two main tourist source markets for Seville." Hence, it is estimated that the city's economy will be boosted by €60 million."
Those familiar with lobby groups seeking to attract major sporting events to potential host cities always cite increased tourist numbers - and the economic benefits that follow - as a reason for bidding for said events. As the Mayor of Seville suggests, this was to be worth €60 million to the local economy.
On the 12th of May 2022 UEFA made a statement warning fans not to travel unless they had a ticket. With a capacity of less than 43,000 seats it seems odd that the Mayor was expecting 50,000 fans to his city. In fact, Rangers and Eintracht Frankfurt received just 20,000 tickets each, with the remaining tickets distributed to sponsors, corporate affiliates, UEFA members, etc.
It is believed that almost 100,000 Rangers fans descended on Seville. As a colleague of mine pointed out, it seemed that tourist arrivals are good so long as it is not too many. Maybe the effect is non-linear. 20,000 is good for the city but 100,000+ is not. We don't ever read about this in the ex ante economic impact reports.
With Dublin due to host the final in 2024 in the Aviva Stadium (capacity 51,700), I wonder will Irish authorities 'cap' the number of expected tourists in any ex ante estimates. My guess is no. Imagine if the game was a repeat of this year. 100,000 Rangers fans in Dublin would be interesting to say the least.
On the 24th of September 2019 in Ljubljana, Slovenia, the Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán Stadium in Seville was as selected by the UEFA Executive Committee as the host venue for the 2020 Europa League Final. This was a world before Covid-19. The choice of Seville seemed appropriate given that the club named after the southern Spanish city has enjoyed remarkable success in the competition since 2006 - winning six finals. As expected, in June 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, UEFA announced that Seville would instead host the 2022 final as the 2020 and 2021 finals were to be relocated.
Fast forward to the 25th of April 2022. This link from Seville FC speaks about the preparations underway for the 2022 Final. Below the video in the link it says:
"In addressing the event, the mayor, Antonio Muñoz, stated that between 45 to 50 thousand fans are expected to come to the city for the final. Although he regrets that there will be no representatives from the city, nor Spain, the mayor said that "two of the four semifinalists are German and the other two are British, i.e. they come from the two main tourist source markets for Seville." Hence, it is estimated that the city's economy will be boosted by €60 million."
Those familiar with lobby groups seeking to attract major sporting events to potential host cities always cite increased tourist numbers - and the economic benefits that follow - as a reason for bidding for said events. As the Mayor of Seville suggests, this was to be worth €60 million to the local economy.
On the 12th of May 2022 UEFA made a statement warning fans not to travel unless they had a ticket. With a capacity of less than 43,000 seats it seems odd that the Mayor was expecting 50,000 fans to his city. In fact, Rangers and Eintracht Frankfurt received just 20,000 tickets each, with the remaining tickets distributed to sponsors, corporate affiliates, UEFA members, etc.
It is believed that almost 100,000 Rangers fans descended on Seville. As a colleague of mine pointed out, it seemed that tourist arrivals are good so long as it is not too many. Maybe the effect is non-linear. 20,000 is good for the city but 100,000+ is not. We don't ever read about this in the ex ante economic impact reports.
With Dublin due to host the final in 2024 in the Aviva Stadium (capacity 51,700), I wonder will Irish authorities 'cap' the number of expected tourists in any ex ante estimates. My guess is no. Imagine if the game was a repeat of this year. 100,000 Rangers fans in Dublin would be interesting to say the least.
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