Germany drops GBP 1 bn on WC stadium renovations

Deloitte’s Annual Review of Football Finance reports that almost GBP 1 billion has been invested in the 12 venues for the World Cup with the development of five new stadiums and renovations to seven others.

"The World Cup has driven almost GBP 1 billion of investment in German football stadia over recent years and it provides the opportunity for German clubs to develop their revenue streams," said Dan Jones, Partner in the Sports Business Group at Deloitte.

"For the 2005-2006 season just ended, the average Bundesliga match attendance was higher than any other league in the world at over 40,000."

The report also highlights that, since the start of the Premier League, the top 92 clubs in England have now poured more than GBP 2 billion into stadium and facility work. For the 2005-2006 season, the average league match attendance of around 34,000 was second only to Germany.

"For most clubs in England major stadium redevelopment or new build is over, so attendances have stabilised," said Paul Rawnsley, Director in the Sports Business Group at Deloitte. "The Premiership clubs have continued to achieve stadium capacity utilisation at over 90 percent."

One of the challenges for English clubs is to improve yields through ticketing and corporate hospitality strategy.

For the German clubs, although they have made significant advances in terms of facility development, there is still a very long way to go before they catch up with England financially.

Source: euFootball.BIZ © Copyright 2006 - All rights reserved.