Business of Sport: Ten billion. That's the projected TV audience for Euro 2004, which kicks off today at 5 p.m. Some statistics for Euro 2000 reveal just how popular the tournament is: for eight of the countries involved four years ago (Belgium, France, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Romania and Spain) their European Championship matches were the most watched domestic TV programmes that year; in France, the final between France and Italy gathered more viewers on TF1 than the France v Brazil World Cup final of 1998 (21.4 million versus 20.6 million); in Italy, the final was seen by more than 21 million people and in Holland, their semi-final against Italy saw Dutch channel NED2 register 50 per cent of the total TV audience in comparison to the next highest rating of 18.5.
With Europe wrapped up, the challenge for UEFA now is to tap into the global market. The worldwide popularity of the Champions League has shown the appetite for European soccer is there, but will Asian, African and American audiences care for an incestuous kickabout between former empires?
To make sure the rest of the world will indeed care, UEFA's agencies outside Europe, Dentsu in Asia-Pacific and Octagon in Africa, the Americas and the Middle East, have been charged with increasing the tournament's profile and boosting the amount of air time it receives.
According to Phil Carling, head of football at Octagon, the secret is to tap into the hero status of players like David Beckham and Oliver Kahn.
"It's about deepening the relationship so that countries which only used to show the semi-finals and final decide to air the whole event. Or territories which have relied on highlights shift to live coverage or take the event from pay-TV platforms on to free TV," he said.
The true global nature of football (albeit not so high-profile in the USA where it is nonetheless growing) and the iconic status of its leading players, who mostly play their club football in European leagues, mean that, since the awareness and attraction are already there, the question now is how to get the same fans to maintain their attraction to these players when they are playing for their national teams.
According to Carling, the success of the Premiership et al is the first step. "In the last few years, various factors have raised the profile of the European Championship. The most important is the globalisation of elite league football. The Premier League, Serie A, Primera Liga, and to some extent the Bundesliga, have made big inroads in the last three years."
The biggest inroads have been made in Asia and while clubs are eyeing up the billion-strong Chinese market hungrily, UEFA have been quick to establish a presence with Asian pay-TV broadcaster ESPN Star Sports, just recently announcing a deal to show all 31 Euro 2004 matches while also offering daily and weekly highlights programmes.
Octagon's area of responsibility is at a more embryonic stage but America could be finally cracked in the coming years. "There's no question that the younger demographics in North America are showing greater interest in soccer," says Carling. "If a major network ever decided to take a gamble based on the high numbers of Hispanics in the US, we could see a real breakthrough in interest levels."
Judging by Fox Sports' new deal with the Premiership, the demand for soccer is on the up. The US pay-TV broadcaster have signed a new three-year deal that will include up to 195 matches per season along with extensive coverage in Spanish on Fox Sports en Espanol.
But can this demand and popularity translate into a similar interest in the European Championship? UEFA certainly hope so and are pushing for more free-to-air exposure of Euro 2004 outside of Europe.
What it all means - and analysts will be looking at the viewing figures closely - is that UEFA may be able to offer a Champions League package on an international scale.
Sepp Blatter's re-establishment of the World Club Championship and his idea of a World Cup every two years are all part of the continuing cold war between FIFA and UEFA. The success of Euro 2004 over the next three weeks would see a further shift in UEFA's favour.
Meanwhile, UEFA has announced where the 817 million generated from Euro 2004 will go. Member associations (including the FAI) will receive 265 million over the next four years. A further 132 million will go to the competing countries, each getting a minimum 5 million. Teams will then receive 660,000 for a group-phase win and 330,000 for a draw; quarter-finalists will get €2 million, semi-finalists 2.65 million, the runners-up 4 million and the winners 6.6 million.
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