England Team Cost The Nation £2.5bn
The UK economy will be out of pocket to the tune of £2.5bn due to England’s failure to qualify for Euro 2008 according to industry estimates with advertising revenues set to be the worst hit area.
According to the British Retail Consortium, England’s participation in the 2006 World Cup in Germany earned the country close to £1bn and a similar wave of investment was expected for Euro 2008 not to mention the substantial amount spent on marketing and advertising.
However, with neither England nor any home nations competing in Euro 2008, advertisers are likely to turn their back on the tournament leading to slumps in retail, sponsorship and TV revenue.
ITV, which has paid for the TV rights to the tournament in a joint deal with BBC, is likely to be the most concerned by England’s inability to qualify with advertising revenue set to plummet by £10m from original estimates.
The UK advertising industry alone was estimated to have spent over £300m during last year’s World Cup – a figure that will fall dramatically for Euro 2008 without England’s participation.
England lost 3-2 to Croatia in the team’s final group game at Wembley last night meaning that the Croats and Russia qualified from the group leaving England marooned in third place.
The FA estimates it will miss out on £10m of potential income in being unable to sell licensing and merchandise rights for next year’s tournament although its sponsorship revenues will be unaffected as its partners are tied up in long-term deals.
