The UEFA European Championship also known as the “Euro”, is the second biggest international soccer tournament in the world. The tournament happens every four years, and all the countries in Europe are eligible to qualify for it. The tournament consists of 24 countries that play qualifying matches the year before in order to get the spots. Every country in Europe plus Israel and Kazakhstan are in qualifying for the competition. Once in the tournament, there are 6 groups, with 2 advancing from each group, and the 4 best third place teams moving to the knockout stages also. Winning the Euro is considered one of the best things that a country’s soccer team can do, as many of the elite teams in the world are European.

Although the European Championship is now so successful, getting the tournament started was not as easy as one would have thought. Henri Delaunay, a Frenchmen, proposed in 1927 to FIFA an idea to create a tournament for only Europe to run in the even years between World Cups, every 4 years. FIFA did not accept this preposition, and although he kept trying, Henri never saw his dream come to fruition, but his son did. Pierre Delaunay was an official for UEFA, the Union of European Football Associations, which was founded in 1955 in Basel, Switzerland. He saw to it that not long after its inauguration, UEFA put together plans for the first European Championship, the “Euro”. (UEFA.com)

The first tournament started out as a competition that took place over 22 months, and only 8 teams were involved, ending in a USSR win that took place in the USSR. As the years progressed, and the tournament gained popularity, they kept on expanding. In 1980 they changed to groups and knockout stages format. Then, in 1996, in London, the number of teams expanded to 16. Finally, in 2016, in France, the format expanded to 24 teams, split into 6 groups, and then moving on to knockouts. (Mittag and Legrand)

From the start the trophy was basic compared to the other tournaments and competitions, so in 2008 tournament, the Henri Delaunay Trophy was redone to make it larger and flashier. The new trophy is made of sterling silver and weighs 18 pounds  and is 24 inches tall. The marble base was removed and in its stead a  new silver base of the trophy was installed. The names of the winning countries are now on the back of the trophy. The winner get to keep the trophy until the next tournament. (UEFA.com)

At this point in time, the Euro is the second most popular sports tournament in the world by a wide margin. The 2012 final that Spain won drew over 300 million viewers across the world, including over a million Americans. The latest final, an overtime game between Portugal and France, drew 284 million viewers.  (Roxborough, HollywoodReporter.com) UEFA said that “In particular, UEFA EURO 2016 has been a resounding public success. Some 2.4 million spectators will have watched the 51 matches, and the event's popularity was such that a total of just over 11.2 million requests were made by the general public for tickets to see many of Europe's best players in action.” (UEFA.com) All of this is testament to the popularity that the Euro has garnered, also in that the viewership is high even outside of Europe. It is still miles behind the 1 billion viewers the World Cup final receives, but that is expected.

The tournament is valuable on many levels, both to the hosts, and to the teams that compete. The host countries benefit from jobs created, lasting infrastructure, increased tourism, and international awareness of the city. All of the tourists come in and produce revenue for hotels and restaurants and more. The Euro helps boost the hosts economically both in the short term and the long term.

The other major component is national pride. People care so much about their country’s success, that it can even be called, “War without the Shooting”. (Kavetsos) There's just something incredible about how entire countries forget about all differences and support their team. For instance, Iceland, a country with less than 400,000 people, made the Euro. They then went on a Cinderella run, and made it all the way to the quarterfinals, knocking out powerhouses such as England on the way. Over 1/10 of the population traveled to France to watch their country compete in this tournament. (Lawrence, TheGuardian.com) Additionally, once they eventually lost and returned home, ten thousand people were waiting the airport to perform the “Viking Clap”, a celebration used by the Icelandic team. (BusinessInsider.com)

People can also become national heroes for playing well in this tournament. Eder, a Portuguese midfielder, scored the game winning goal in extra time of the finals of the last tournament. This was Portugal’s first win in a major tournament, and now Eder is immortalized among the greats in Portugal. This competition can also help make the case in the classic Ronaldo vs. Messi debate. Ronaldo and Messi are two of the greatest soccer players of all time, and are constantly compared to each other. Many people’s argument for why Ronaldo is better is that he won the Euro, and Messi has never won an international competition. Clearly, people hold the Euro in high regard, and the winners are respected and treated as legends.

The UEFA European Championships had a hard time getting off the ground, but once it did, it has not stopped its ascension to becoming one of the most prevalent soccer competitions in the world. It has many great benefits to the players, the countries, the governments, and the fans. 

The UEFA European Championship is the second largest soccer tournament in the world, by participation, viewership, and revenue generated. The Euro has many positive impacts, specifically for the host country, and for the countries that win. There are two clear positive impacts that hosting the Euro has. First, the economic boost, and revenue created is great. Also, the host country historically has won a lot more. 

The economic boost for the country is both immediate and long lasting. According to the official UEFA report, “The economic impact of UEFA EURO 2016 for France has been considerable, amounting to over €1.2bn according to key studies. Around 100,000 people have been employed for the tournament; 20,000 jobs were created for the construction and renovation of stadiums; and 25,000 full-time jobs have resulted from the economic impact alone. Another significant legacy sees encouraging funding for sports infrastructures in the EURO host cities.” (UEFA.com) There is clearly a great benefit of hosting, as both the attendance fees, and the tourism fees, add up to a great deal of money for the hosts. It is for this reason that countries have to bid for the chance to host, and cannot just choose that they want to. In addition the hosts gain interest, and tourism increase in their countries.

 An example of this can be drawn from the Olympics. H.A Solberg and H. Preuss write in their book about the long term impacts of major sporting events about the increased awareness of the city that hosts. They use the Seoul 1988 olympics as a case study, but the same points can be said about the Euro. Although they are not the same thing or only European countries, the idea of the tournament, and the revenue and other positive are comparable. Solberg, H.A., and Preuss, H. write  “Increased awareness is in general not an objective in itself, but as a tool to increase inbound tourism. One of the most successful events with respect to long-term tourism impacts was the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul. The number of additional tourist receipts from 1988 to 1990 was estimated to 1 million – and created an extra income of US$1.3 billion. The Games provided an important catalyst in the “opening up” of the country to the international market.” (Solberg, H.A., and Preuss, H., Chapter 2) Clearly hosting one of these major tournaments boosts the countries economy both in the instant in creating jobs and increasing tourism and long term tourism and exposure.

In addition to the economic boost, the teams get a boost from home field advantage. Since the tournament started, matches with the host participating had over 15% more attendance, with obviously most of them being fans of the hosts. (Mittag and Legrand)Looking back on past winners, 4 of the 15 have been the host country, and the hosts on average go much further in, even if they don’t win. They also receive automatic bids to participate, and do not have to worry about qualifying.

The other major positive effect is on the countries with teams participating in the tournament. The national pride and unity of countries because of their team in this tournament shows the benefit of the European Championships. Georgios Kavetsos conducted a study in which he used the 2000 European Championships as his subject. He confirmed that the tournament is, “National Pride, war without the shooting.”  He says that people feel pride and national unity in their country after they win. In 2000, the “national pride” of people in countries where their teams had advanced far were 10% higher. This is one way that a country can be nationalists, but not cause war with other countries, by asserting their dominance through soccer.  Compared to World War 1, where nationalism was one of the causes of the war, here nationalism causes jubilation and pride in countries, with no negative effects. (Kavetsos)

A perfect example of this national pride and unity came just two years ago in 2016. Iceland finally qualified for the tournament for the first time in many years. They surprisingly made it out of their group, setting them up for a match against the heavily favored England. Iceland, although being a country with less than 400,000 inhabitants, beat England, and moved on to the quarterfinals, but lost to France there. The incredible thing is that 10% of Iceland’s population traveled to France to watch their team play live and  support them. (Lawrence, TheGuardian.com) Even more impressive is that in the entire country of Iceland during their match with England, only 298 people were not watching the game. That means that during that 2 hour period, the game had a 99.8% market share in Iceland, an absurd number, and probably a record of some sort. (UEFA.com)

Additionally, these players became such heroes in Iceland, because they proved to the world, that although small in numbers, Iceland is strong and relevant. Because of this, when they returned home to Iceland, 10,000 people (out of 350,000) came out to greet their plane.  They then performed the now-famous viking clap, with everyone clapping in between bangs of a drum. (Wolf, BusinessInsider.com) Iceland in 2016 was a perfect example of how a country can assert itself a dominant, and instill a sense of national pride and unity, without war. 

The European Championship is also great for Europe as a whole, because it transcends war and fighting. The first tournaments came into play not long after the tragedies of World War II, and officials were not sure how countries would react. In the end, it was a great thing for Europe, as all of Europe played each other fairly, and respectfully. This soccer tournament has unified all of Europe even in times of unrest. Teams have played even while their countries have tense relations and could be on the brink of war.  Soccer gave them a chance to compete, but as friends and not foes. (Mittag and Vonnard)

Ultimately, it is clear that the UEFA European championship cause many great effects for the host country, both economically right then and in the future, and helps the team win. It also greatly benefits the participating countries that receive a boost in national pride, and can fight without war. 

Zachary Wolf