First cancellations of public viewing arenas
Public viewing arenas for the European Soccer Championship were popping up everywhere. Now, however, it appears that public interest is limited. One problem could be UEFA’s poor image; another could be the high prices.
Public viewing arenas for the European Football Championship are springing up everywhere. However, it is now becoming apparent that the public's interest is limited. The first arena events have already been canceled, and the 16 arenas run by Uefa partner UBS have only sold half of their tickets to date. The most prominent cancellation so far is that of the FCB Arena in Basel's Markthalle, as Cash Daily reported on Friday. The football event planned as a stadium with 2000 spectators will not take place due to poor advance sales. The organizers cite Uefa's poor image as one of the reasons for the failure. Another reason is probably the price of the tickets, which were around 20 francs. Accordingly, the expensive VIP seats also had a hard time in the run-up to Euro 2008.
UBS has not yet canceled an event. However, the major bank has only sold half of its total of 440,000 grandstand seats in 16 arenas and all matches. Only Swiss matches and finals are well attended. There are also regional differences. Aarau, Zug and Biel are fully booked, while only a quarter of the 80,000 grandstand seats at Zurich's Bellevue have been sold.
