Fan expectations of EURO 2024 - results of an empirical study

Major sporting events (Sport Mega Events, SME) such as soccer World Cups or European Championships are important for the organizing countries in many respects. Their high national and international profile provides an opportunity to present the country to potential investors, tourists and customers and to gain prestige. The tournament matches attract millions of local fans to the stadiums and are watched billions of times on TV and in digital media, and their consequences and backgrounds are intensively discussed. Preparing for major events requires the organizers to invest heavily in stadiums and infrastructure. Sales of tickets, TV and advertising rights as well as increasing demand for goods, for example in the catering and tourism sectors, lead to significant economic effects for the host countries. Pre- and post-event activities and the implementation of SME can have a far-reaching cultural, social or even political impact. Major events are shaped to a large extent by the behavior of spectators at the games, visitors to "fan miles" or even residents of the host cities. These stakeholders react not only to the sporting performance of their team, but also to the atmosphere at a tournament and the conditions in and around the stadiums. The alignment of an event with the preferences of fans and the dynamics of their relationships is therefore of great importance. For this reason, this article deals with fan expectations of the European Football Championship ("EURO 2024") to be held in Germany in 2024. In addition to purely sporting expectations, more general expectations of the tournament and the appearance of the national team and other players in the context of the tournament are included. The main source of information is an online survey of soccer fans in Germany.