It was way back in December 2012 that Uefa confirmed it would stage Euro 2020 in ‘various major cities’ across Europe, rather than the traditional one or two host countries. Needless to say, the world has changed and the goalposts have shifted somewhat in the eight and a half years since.
The brainchild of Michel Platini, the erstwhile president of European soccer’s governing body, the plan to create a one-off ‘Euro for Europe’ was concocted primarily due to a lack of single-nation bidders – although the official line was that the national team tournament would be spread across an entire continent for the first time to celebrate its 60th anniversary.
In any case, Platini’s self-proclaimed “romantic” idea of staging soccer’s second largest international showpiece across multiple countries received broad support at the time. Here was a chance to take the coveted European Championship to cities and venues that had never hosted before, an unprecedented opportunity for fans from Ireland to Azerbaijan to unite and revel in a truly pan-continental festival of soccer.
By September 2014, 13 cities had been confirmed to host matches, with London’s Wembley Stadium securing the semi-finals and final, and Rome’s Stadio Olimpico given the opening fixture. Brussels was later relieved of hosting duties due to delays over the construction of its stadium but that minor alteration was nothing compared to the wholesale rethink that would follow.
Like major event organisers elsewhere, Uefa’s plans were thrown into disarray by the Covid-19 pandemic. Last summer’s tournament was swiftly postponed by a year as the virus spread across Europe in early 2020. The event retained its name and original identity, but just about everything bar the branding and official merchandise has had to be reworked due to the unprecedented health crisis.
Michel Platini’s plan to create a one-off ‘Euro for Europe’ has been bent out of shape by the Covid-19 pandemic
Now, the prospect of 24 teams and thousands of fans crossing international borders at will throughout a 51-match, month-long occasion feels somehow out of sync with current circumstances. A patchwork of government restrictions will have to be worked around, new health and safety protocols imposed and sponsor activation plans scaled back, but the tournament will nevertheless kick off in the Italian capital on 11th June.
Of the 12 initially confirmed host cities, only Dublin and Bilbao have been stripped of matches, their fixtures relocated to St Petersburg, London and Seville after local authorities in both cities failed to meet Uefa’s attendance guarantees. As such, 11 venues will welcome fans throughout the tournament, albeit with differing restrictions and spectator capacities ranging from 25 per cent in Munich to a full stadium in Budapest.
Commercially speaking, Euro 2020 has attracted the support of several major brands, including Alipay, Booking.com, Coca-Cola, FedEx, Heineken, Hisense, Socar, Takeaway.com, Vivo and Volkswagen. TikTok and Qatar Airways were late additions to the fray having been confirmed as global partners in February, while Gazprom, an existing sponsor of the Champions League, expanded its rights to include Uefa’s national team tournaments as recently as May.
Each of those companies, along with the usual smattering of global broadcasters and licensees, is helping finance a tournament that generated €1.93 billion (US$2.13 billion) in 2016, a figure that was up 34 per cent on the prior edition four years earlier. Of the total revenue last time out, €480 million came from sponsorship and licensing and €1.05 billion from TV rights, with a further €400 million generated by ticketing and hospitality. The latter of those figures is set to be far lower this summer, of course, with Uefa’s income from matchday revenue streams having already plunged by 92 per cent to €3.8 million last season.
Still, the mere fact that Euro 2020 is able to go ahead will bring welcome relief to Uefa. Platini’s plan is at last coming to fruition, and the governing body can finally set aside lingering tensions in the club game to focus on its flagship international showpiece once again.
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The teams
Group A
Italy
Federation president: Gabriele Gravina
Technical partner: Puma, €20 million (US$24.4 million) per year, signed 2015, length not reported
Main sponsors: TIM, Eni, Fiat, Posteitaliane
Other sponsors: Acqua Lete, Lidl Italia, Deliveroo, TeamSystem, Venezia Airport, Emporio Armani, Panini
Total social media following: 8.7 million
Switzerland
Federation president: Dominique Blanc
Technical partner: Puma, US$2.4 million per year, extension signed 2015, length not reported
Main sponsor: Credit Suisse, value not reported, extension signed 2019, expires 2024
Other sponsors: Volkswagen, Swiss International Air Lines, Carl F Bucherer
Total social media following: 433,079
Turkey
Federation president: Nihat Ozdemir
Technical partner: Nike, US$4.2 million per year, length not reported
Main sponsor: Spor Toto, value not reported, length not reported
Other sponsors: Turkish Airlines, Vivo, BtcTurk, Arçelik, DenizBank, Turkcell
Total social media following: 794,100
Wales
Federation president: Kieran O’Connor
Technical partner: Adidas, UK£1.3 million (US$1.8 million) per year, extension signed 2016, runs ‘through to Euro 2020 and beyond’
Main sponsor: BT, value not reported, signed 2019, expires 2024
Other sponsors: JD Sports, Boots, MG Motor UK, McDonald’s, Conotoxia, Princes Gate, Penderyn
Total social media following: 1.6 million
Group B
Belgium
Federation president: Mehdi Bayat
Technical partner: Adidas, US$3.6 million per year, extension signed 2020, expires 2026
Main sponsor: ING, value not reported, length not reported
Other sponsors: Besix, BMW, Carrefour, Coca-Cola, GLS, Jupiler, Lotto, Proximus, PwC
Total social media following: 3.2 million
Denmark
Federation president: Jesper Moller
Technical partner: Hummel, US$2.4 million per year, signed 2016, expires 2024
Main sponsors: Oddset, Carlsberg, Stark, Arbejdernes Landsbank, Volkswagen, Schulstad, Unisport, Rema1000
Total social media following: 547,687
Finland
Federation president: Ari Lahti
Technical partner: Nike, US$1.2 million per year, signed 2014, length not reported
Main sponsors: Elisa, Motonet, Volkswagen, Kesko, Eezy, Veikkaus, LähiTapiola, Ilta Sanomat
Total social media following: 202,848
Russia
Federation president: Alexander Dyukov
Technical partner: Adidas, US$15.3 million per year, extension signed 2018, expires 2022
Main sponsor: Novatek, value not reported, signed 2015, length not reported
Other sponsors: Megafon, Gazprom, Gazprombank, Gazprom Neft, Coca-Cola, Magnit, Sogaz, Volkswagen, Fonbet, Mir Pay
Total social media following: 1.7 million
Group C
Netherlands
Federation president: Just Spee
Technical partner: Nike, US$13.6 million per year, signed 2014, expires 2026
Main sponsor: ING, signed 2000, length not reported
Other sponsors: Albert Heijn, KPN, Dutch Lottery
Total social media following: 2.3 million
Ukraine
Federation president: Andriy Pavelko
Technical partner: Joma, US$1.8 million per year, length not reported
Main sponsor: Epicentr K, value not reported, length not reported
Other sponsors: New Line, Lvivske White Lion, Parimatch, Glusco, Arber
Total social media following: 609,200
Austria
Federation president: Leo Windtner
Technical partner: Puma US$1.5 million per year, length not reported
Main sponsors: Raiffeisen, Admiral, Tipp3
Total social media following: 407,600
North Macedonia
Federation president: Muamed Sejdini
Technical partner: Jako, US$566,000 per year, length not reported
Main sponsors: Gorska Water, Sava Osiguruvanje, Casinos Austria
Total social media following: 42,900
Group D
England
Federation chairman: Peter McCormick (interim, Debbie Hewitt to take over in January 2022)
Technical partner: Nike, at least UK£400 million over duration, extension signed 2016 and active from 2018, expires 2030
Main sponsor: BT, reportedly worth UK£60 million (US$84.6 million), signed 2019, expires 2024
Other sponsors: Nationwide, Deliveroo, Paypal, Disney, Boots, Continental, Mitre, Cognizant, Pokemon, Buildbase, National Express, Dettol, Weetabix, Emirates, EE, Budweiser, McDonald’s, Snickers, LG, Google Cloud, Lucozade Sport
Total social media following: 18.7 million
Croatia
Federation president: Davor Šuker
Technical partner: Nike, US$2.4 million per year, length not reported
Main sponsors: Ožujsko, Konzum, Croatian National Tourist Board, HEP, PBZ, Generali
Total social media following: 1.3 million
Scotland
Federation president: Rod Petrie
Technical partner: Adidas, UK£2.5 million (US$3.5 million) per year, signed 2018, expires 2022
Main sponsor: BT, UK£2.5 million (US$3.5 million) per year, signed 2019, expires 2024
Other sponsors: The National Lottery, Diageo, IMG, JD Sports, Loganair, McDonald’s, Nationwide, Snickers, Spar, Specsavers, Shoosmiths, Soccer Supplement, Twinkl
Total social media following: 920,900
Czech Republic
Federation president: Martin Malík
Technical partner: Puma, US$2.1 million per year, length not reported
Main sponsors: Hyundai, Pepsi, Staropramen, Fortuna
Total social media following: 321,200
Group E
Spain
Federation president: Luis Rubiales
Technical partner: Adidas, US$22.5 million per year, signed 2013, expires 2030
Main sponsor: Finetwork, signed 2020, expires 2023
Other sponsors: Caixa Bank, Seat, Bitci.com, Cervezas Victoria
Total social media following: 9.3 million
Sweden
Federation president: Karl-Erik Nilsson
Technical partner: Adidas, US$2.4 million per year, deal signed 2013, length not reported
Main sponsor: Svenska Spel, deal worth SEK40 million (US$4.8 million) a year, signed 2018, expires 2023
Other sponsors: Sport Bladet, Bauhaus, Coca-Cola, Folksam, ICA, NEH, Scandic, Swedbank, Volvo
Total social media following: 664,300
Poland
Federation president: Zbigniew Boniek
Technical partner: Nike, worth around €1.5 million (US$1.8 million) a year, deal signed 2009, extended in 2013
Main sponsor: Lotos, deal worth €2.2million (US$2.6 million) a year, signed 2018, expires 2022
Other sponsors: T-Mobile, STS, Oshee, Biedronka, Leroy Merlin
Total social media following: 3.17 million
Slovakia
Federation president: Ján Kováčik
Technical partner: Nike, US$1.2 million per year, length not reported
Main sponsor: Fortuna
Other main sponsors: JOJ, 11TeamSports
Total social media following: 121,000
Group F
Hungary
Federation president: Sándor Csányi
Technical partner: Adidas, US$1.2 million per year, length not reported
Main sponsor: OTPBank
Other sponsors: Tippmix, Mol
Total social media following: 322,800
Portugal
Federation president: Fernando Gomes
Technical partner: Nike, US$9.2 million per year, extension signed 2017, deal expires 2024
Main sponsor: Sagres, extension signed 2018, expires 2024
Other sponsors: Altice, BPI
Total social media following: 12.95 million
France
Federation president: Noël Le Graët
Technical partner: Nike, €50 million (US$60.8 million) per year, extension signed 2018, deal expires 2026
Main sponsors: Credit Agricole, EDF, Orange, PMU Volkswagen
Total social media following: 17.85 million
Germany
Federation president: N/A
Technical partner: Adidas, €70 million (US$85.2 million) per year, extension signed 2018, expires 2022
Main sponsor: Volkwagen, deal worth between €25 million (US$30.4 million) and €30 million (US$36.5 million) a year, signed 2019, expires 2024
Other sponsors: Bwin, Lufthansa, Coca-Cola, T-Mobile, Commerzbank, Engelbert Straus, Exasol, Samsung, Flyeralarm, Van Laack, Rewe
Total social media following: 13.22 million
Sponsors
Official tournament sponsors
Coca-Cola: The soft drinks giant became the first official sponsor of the tournament in September 2019 when it signed up as the official non-alcoholic beverage of the event, continuing a 32-year association with Uefa.
TikTok: The short-form video app is the first digital entertainment platform to partner with Uefa’s flagship national team tournament. TikTok is launching a range of features for the event, including AR effects, hashtag challenges, and TikTok Lives and Sounds.
Heineken: As the official beer partner of Euro 2020, the Dutch brand has exclusive pouring rights at stadiums, fanzones and fan villages during the tournament, while it will also present the man of the match award.
Just Eat Takeaway.com: Takeaway.com came on board as an official partner of Euro 2020 prior to the Dutch firm’s merger with UK-based online food delivery service Just Eat. The combined company has since broadened its relationship with Uefa to include other national team and club competitions.
Qatar Airways: The state-owned flag carrier added to its soccer sponsorship portfolio by agreeing a deal earlier this year to become the official airline of Euro 2020. The company also has partnerships with Fifa, PSG and AS Roma.
Vivo: The Chinese firm was the only company to sign up as a sponsor of the tournament in 2020, when it was announced as the official smartphone provider for this year’s event and the next edition in 2024.
Uefa national team soccer sponsors
Alipay: In 2018, the Chinese payment platform struck an eight-year deal with Uefa reportedly worth more than €200 million. The company is listed as the European governing body’s official global wallet provider and official global fintech partner.
Booking.com: Became the official accommodation and attractions booking partner for all Uefa national team events back in 2017. The four-year deal runs until 2022.
FedEx: Was named as the official logistics partner of Euro 2020 in 2019 as part of a four-year multi-tournament deal. The company also recently became a sponsor of the Uefa Champions League for the next three-year commercial cycle.
Gazprom: The Russian energy giant partnered with Uefa less than a month ago to secure partnership rights for both Euro 2020 and Euro 2024, building on its longstanding sponsorship of the Champions League.
Hisense: The Chinese manufacturer will be the official television supplier of Euro 2020 having also sponsored the previous edition in 2016.
Volkswagen: The German car giant will be a sponsor of Uefa’s national team tournaments until 2022.
Tournament broadcast partners
Qualified nations
Austria: ORF/OE24
Belgium: VRT/RTBF
Croatia: HRT/Sportklub
Czech Republic: Česká televize
Denmark: DKDR/Nent Group Denmark
Finland: YLE
France: M6/TF1/BeIN Sports
Germany: ARD/ZDF/Deutsche Telekom
Hungary: MTVA
Italy: RAI/Sky Italia
Netherlands: NOS
North Macedonia: Sportklub
Poland: TVP
Portugal: Sport TV Portugal
Russia: Channel One/Match TV/RTR
Slovakia: RTV Slovakia
Spain: Mediaset Spain
Sweden: SVT/TV4
Switzerland: SRG
Turkey: TRT
Ukraine: Media Group Ukraine
United Kingdom (England, Scotland and Wales): BBC/ITV
Other key/host markets
Azerbaijan: AzTV/Public TV Azerbaijan
Australia: Optus
Brazil: Globosat
Canada: Bell Media/TVA
China: CCTV/Super Sports
India and Indian subcontinent: Sony
Indonesia: MNC/Mola TV/RCTI
Ireland: RTÉ
Japan: WOWOW
LATAM: DirecTV
Malaysia and Brunei Darussalam: RTM Malaysia/Astro Sports Malaysia
MENA: BeIN Sports
Mexico: SKY México
Norway: NRK/TV2
New Zealand: Sky New Zealand
Romania: ProTV
Sub-Saharan Africa: Star Times
USA: ESPN/Univision
Vietnam: VTV Vietnam
Venues
Wembley Stadium
Location: London, England
Capacity: 90,000
Games: Group stage, round of 16, semi-finals, final
Covid restrictions: Minimum capacity of 25 per cent for the first three group matches and round of 16 match
Stadio Olimpico
Location: Rome, Italy
Capacity: 70,600
Games: Group stage and quarter-finals
Covid restrictions: Hosting games at 25 per cent to 45 per cent capacity
Euro 2020 kicks off at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome
Allianz Arena
Location: Munich, Germany
Capacity: 70,000
Games: Group stage and quarter-finals
Covid restrictions: Aiming to host a minimum of 14,500 spectators, approximately 22 per cent of capacity
Baku Olympic Stadium
Location: Baku, Azerbaijan
Capacity: 68,700
Games: Group stage and quarter-finals
Covid restrictions: Capacity capped at 50 per cent
St Petersburg Stadium
Location: St Petersburg, Russia
Capacity: 68,100
Games: Group stage and quarter-finals
Covid restrictions: Capacity capped at 50 per cent
Puskás Aréna
Country: Hungary
Capacity: 67,200
Games: Group stage and round of 16
Covid restrictions: Aims to host games at 100 per cent capacity, but with strict stadium entry requirements for spectators
Arena Națională
Location: Bucharest, Romania
Capacity: 55,600
Games: Group stage and round of 16
Covid restrictions: Hosting games at 25 per cent to 45 per cent capacity
Johan Cruyff Arena
Location: Amsterdam, Netherlands
Capacity: 55,000
Games: Group stage and round of 16
Covid restrictions: Hosting games at 25 per cent to 45 per cent capacity
The Johan Cruijff Arena has had to adapt for the challenges of Covid-19
Estadio La Cartuja
Country: Seville, Spain
Capacity: 60,000
Games: Group stage and round of 16
Covid restrictions: Hosting games at 25 per cent to 45 per cent capacity
Hampden Park
Location: Glasgow, Scotland
Capacity: 51,900
Games: Group stage and round of 16
Covid restrictions: Hosting games at 25 per cent to 45 per cent capacity
Parken Stadium
Location: Copenhagen, Denmark
Capacity: 38,000
Games: Group stage and round of 16
Covid restrictions: Hosting games at 25 per cent to 45 per cent capacity
All figures quoted have been reported or are estimated based on SportsPro’s analysis of the industry.