Europeans willing to pay over €200 on average to secure the European Championship title

Every four years, top national teams vie for the coveted European title. This prestigious championship holds significant value, but how much exactly? While the title itself isn’t up for sale, gauging how much fans would be willing to pay for victory provides insight into its worth.

Italians value the title at approximately €420 per person. This could be partly explained by their passion for football. Italy, like Spain, has a high proportion of football fans (both at 37%). Austrians are willing to pay  €324 each while the English think the title is worth  €319 per person - numbers, which may be partly explained by their relatively robust purchasing power compared to many other participants.

After all, money is not worth the same everywhere. For example, you can buy 33% more in Portugal than in the Netherlands for ‘the same money’. In Italy and Spain too, the purchasing power of one euro is higher. Consumers get about a fifth more value for money there than in the Netherlands. On the other hand, something that costs €100 in the Netherlands will cost €113 in England. An amount in euros does not represent the same sacrifice everywhere.

That is why we also asked about the willingness to surrender 1% of annual income in return for the title. The relative sacrifice is then comparable, regardless of the wage and price level. This results in a few clear shifts in the rankings.

A country with relatively low purchasing power, such as Portugal, then rises a few places in the ranking, (from 9 to 6). A relatively wealthy country such as Austria drops a number of places, falling from second to eighth place.

We can also make international comparisons by measuring the potential sacrifice of a particular service, such as a smartphone. Internationally, on average, a quarter (24%) are prepared to hand in their smartphone for one month. The Portuguese and English lead the way here while the Netherlands is near the bottom, at 7%.

In the Netherlands, only the most devoted football fans seem prepared to make this sacrifice. A fifth (20%) of them are willing to waive their device for a month, among non-fans this willingness is hardly there at all (1%).

This result tallies with the relatively modest value that The Netherlands places on the title itself. The Dutch are willing to pay an average of €46 per person for the title. More than three-quarters of the population aged 18 and above (76%) do not assign any financial value to it. A quarter (24%) do and they would pay an average of over €190 per person to ensure victory. In total, the title is worth €650 million to the Dutch.

At €46 each, this European Championship title is also worth a little less than the last time the Dutch entered the European Championships. At the EC 2021, the final victory was worth €51. Economically speaking, consumers are now less confident and have not, on average, improved in purchasing power. Another important difference is that in the previous two European Championships, the Dutch failed to get beyond the group stages.

It is now 36 years since the Dutch team held the UEFA European Championship cup. From this historical perspective, it is not surprising that the current €46 per person is significantly higher than the average value that the Dutch placed on the European Championship title earlier in 2008 or 2022.

Although the value of the European Championship varies by country, the research shows that, among football fans at least, the shared pride and passion associated with the championship transcends national borders.

This research into consumer attitudes and behaviour towards football in participating countries in the European Championship was carried out by Kantar on behalf of ING in April 2024. In the Netherlands, an online survey was conducted among 1070 respondents who are representative of the population on the basis of age, gender and income. In all other countries, at least 500 respondents were interviewed online, representing a representative reflection of the internet population by age and gender.