Uefa, the governing body of European football, expects to generate between €450m ($581m) and €500m in sponsorship revenue from the Euro 2016 finals, up more than 50 per cent on Euro 2012.
Sponsorship revenue from Euro 2012, which was hosted in Poland and Ukraine, is understood to have been around €300m. Euro 2016 is being hosted by France.
Separately, Uefa will earn new revenue from sponsors under a recently-centralised sales model which will include sponsorship rights to qualifier matches.
Under the new model, Uefa will sell global sponsorship rights covering a range of properties over four years from 2014 to 2018.
The package includes sponsorship rights covering the qualifying matches for Euro 2016, the Euro 2016 finals tournament, the Under-21 Euro 2015, the Women’s Euro 2017, the European Futsal Championship 2014 and the European qualifying matches for the 2018 Fifa World Cup.
Speaking exclusively to Sports Sponsorship Insider, Guy-Laurent Epstein, marketing director of Uefa Events, said the jump in revenue is justified by several factors.
“First of all, we bring a lot of additional value for our partners with the integration of the qualifying matches which is valued quite significantly by the market,” he said.
“Also, in 2016 the competition will grow from 16 teams to 24 teams, which means the competition becomes interesting and relevant in eight more markets. Plus, it will be the first time in 20 years that the tournament will be hosted in a ‘big 5’ market.
“It is a very compelling offer for any partners that want to join the programme and so the large increase in the price is justifiable.”
Danish beer brand Carlsberg and Socar (State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic) have signed up to the new sponsorship model so far. Both deals were announced earlier this month.
The full story featuring an extended interview with Guy-Laurent Epstein and analysis of the Carlsberg and Socar deals will be published in the latest edition of the Sports Sponsorship Insider newsletter. The edition will be delivered to subscribers later today.