Dublin city councillors sign off on €11m Euro 2028 bid

Gary Ibbotson 12 Apr 2023

Dublin City Councillors have signed off on a €11 million bid to be a host city for UEFA Euro 2028.

Ireland and the United Kingdom have submitted a joint bid to host the tournament which would see 51 matches take place across the islands.

If successful, Dublin would host roughly six matches.

Dublin City Council says that it will “play a major role in the organisation and delivery of the event.”

It is estimated that 50 percent of the spectators would originate outside of the UK and Ireland.

Approximately 90,000 of these fans would travel to Ireland for the tournament and about 60,000 of these fans would be ticketed with the remainder travelling to Ireland without a match ticket.

It is estimated that €513m will be spent in Ireland based on six matches being played here, with the “vast majority” of this spent in Dublin.

“Even allowing for some permanent displacement and deadweight effects the impact of hosting the UEFA EURO 2028 tournament as part of a joint Ireland and UK bid will generate a very positive return on investment for Dublin and Ireland,” the council said.

“The benefits that will accrue to Dublin City vs the rest of the country have not been broken down, but it is fair to say that a large proportion will remain in Dublin.”

The local authority is required to sign a Host City Agreement which commits DCC to delivering fanzones at Merrion Square Park, Dublin Castle, and Smithfield.

City promotion and “dressing”, traffic management and general host city projects are all required of Dublin City Council.

“In addition a number of other commitments are required by UEFA from host cities.

“These include various Guarantees to be provided by Dublin City Council on a range of issues such as ‘Rights Protection’, ‘Fair Pricing’, and ‘Sustainability’.”

The funding for the cost of hosting the football tournament will be sourced from the Government, funds unspent from the cancelled Euro 2020 bid, and an annual provision in the City Council’s budget.

While the cost of hosting the event is expected to be about €11m, Chief Executive Owen Keegan said the event would have “enormous economic benefits” for Dublin.

Keegan said that the city has a great “opportunity” and that hosting the tournament would “realise significant benefits for the city and its businesses.”

He said that a letter circulated from Government earlier in the month was the “best we can get in terms of assurance of funding from the government”.

The only other potential bid to host the 2028 tournament is Turkey with a winner to announced on October 10, 2023.

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