Jun 28 2008
The Fan Zone (originally written 6-23)
With Spain’s victory over Italy on Sunday night, Vienna and the rest of Europe (myself included) is getting a well needed break from football until the semi-finals begin on Wednesday night. The whole continent has been consumed by this tournament, and the break is a welcomed return to normalcy, though not entirely. Sitting dormant on the road in front of the late 19th Century gothic Rathaus (City Hall), the 100,000m² Fan Zone awaits the next match, still creating a need for alternate tram and bus routes, along with detours for commuters. Its 10 giant televisions are silent and the gates are closed. As with any major event (music, sporting, cultural, etc.), the fences are covered with the sponsors of the Euro 2008. Cartoony football fans hold scarves with the names of the companies who brought this tournament to the people of Europe: McDonald’s, Coca-Cola, JVC, Canon, Hyundai/Kia, Adidas, Carlsberg, Continental, MasterCard, and Castrol. In an event the organizers hope will bring money to the local host cities in Austria and Switzerland, the absence of local sponsorship lends a bit of less than surprising irony. People from all over Europe have flocked to these cities to support their team, while experiencing local culture, only to be bombarded by multinational giants, of which, only four out of the ten are European companies, only two from a country with a represented team (Adidas and Continental are both based out of Germany) and none from the host countries. Inside the Fan Zone, local vendors are charged 15,000 € to rent a concessions area in which they can sell food and beverages. Of course, the beverages sold must be Coca-cola products and Carlsberg beer of Denmark (brewed in Switzerland and trucked to the various cities), at the set Fan Zone standard price. (A beer costs 4.50 meaning that a vendor must sell 3,333.33 beers in order to break even on the price of rental. Not an absurd amount of beer, but that does not include the added costs of labor, raw product, and the various other costs that go into running a concession stand.) This lack of local sponsorship has not gone unnoticed; printed on the cans and bottles of Ottakringer Beer, a product of Vienna, it says “Inoffizielles Fanbier” (Unofficial Fan Beer).
It can be argued that the way local business benefit from this event is by the influx of people flocking to the restaurants, cafes and bars, in addition to the hotels housing these fans. But the international sponsorship clearly makes the point that globalized business and profit will always come first and is favored as these same sponsors are clearly displayed on the field during every televised game. Instead of UEFA helping a smaller company or brand like Ottakringer, it goes for the big money that multinational giants are always willing to give. This event gives the impression that it is a tournament of nations, when in reality it is just another forum for multinational gain.
Sources:
http://en.euro2008.uefa.com/
Photo by Wordsmithlind
2 Responses to “The Fan Zone (originally written 6-23)”
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Good point, I think Vienna will probably lose money, and I read that UEFA is going to make a profit of over 1 billion euros
I believe that most cities, when they hold events like the tournament, lose money. Atlanta is still in deep debt from the 1996 Olympics. The city loses vast amounts of money, and the corporate sponsers, McDonald’s and Coca Cola, gain a lot of money. I dread the thought of Chicago actually hosting the Olympics in 2016. Chicago already has the highest sales tax in the country as of Monday. What else can be expected when the Olympics come to town?