The impact of a major sporting event to a local economy

Posted on May 24, 2007
Filed Under Sports |

Ever wondered what the economic impact of a major sporting event such as the final game for an international competition is for the organizing city? Last Wednesday, Athens, Greece, hosted the Champions League final game which is the most important soccer match in Europe. Liverpool FC from England and AC Milan from Italy were the two teams meeting in the final. Fans from England and Italy descended to Athens for the big event. The day after the game’s completion, which by the way found Milan as the trophy winners, the local press released the following statistics about the event’s effect on the local economy.

An estimated 6.6 tones of pizza were consumed during the match and were delivered by more than 180,000 delivery boys. Pizza restaurants grossed nearly 60 million Euros. The total number of calories in all the pizza consumed that night is estimated at 18 trillion; many soccer fans will have to start dieting come Monday!

In addition, local media reports that thousands of Souvlaki (a local meat delicacy) were sold in local restaurants with one of the major Souvlaki restaurant chains topping sales of more than 10,000 orders.

Finally, soccer fans (mostly the English) consumed a total of 3 million cans of beer. The city required 8 recycling trucks in order to collect all these aluminum cans just in the downtown core.

So, the next time your city’s professional team is eliminated from the playoffs whether it is hockey, baseball, basketball or soccer, think about the impact this will have on the local economy. It is larger than you probably imagine!

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