Helsinki to host 2012 European Athletics Championships; financing of televising the games still a question mark

print this

Helsinki has been selected to host the 2012 European Athletics Championships.
      The governing body of the European Athletics Association (EAA) confirmed the matter in Barcelona, when it accepted the bid by the Finnish Athletics Association (SUL).
      “Feels good”, sighed SUL chairman Antti Pihlakoski over the telephone from Barcelona.
      But there is a side plot to the matter that may well turn into a torrent of controversy.
      The televising of the games is still an unresolved issue that is currently being discussed by the EAA, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), and the Finnish Broadcasting Company (YLE). The deadline for reaching an agreement has been set at December 15th.
      Kari Mänty, head of YLE Sport, told Helsingin Sanomat that YLE is prepared to produce the televising of the event , but it will not pick up the tab for all the expenses.
     
The cost of the organising of the TV broadcasting of the games has been estimated at around EUR 2.5 million. YLE alone cannot afford this, as the year 2012 is already proving very expensive with the Ice Hockey World Championships, the UEFA European Football Championships, and the London Olympics.
      “So far there is no contract. The choosing of Helsinki seems agenda-driven”, Mänty said.
      With his staff Pihlakoski has calculated carefully the proceeds and expenses of the games. With a balanced result the total cost of organising the event is around EUR 13.3 million. For the 2005 World Championships, Helsinki’s budget was more or less twice that sum.
      “Based on the risk and possibility analysis that we have had drawn up, we see that the project is worth engaging in. It would be nice to make some profit as well, but our starting point for the budget has been conservative.”
      From the 2005 games SUL made a profit of around half a million euros, in spite of running into some of the worst weather imaginable - the athletics had to be held up one night owing to a complete monsoon downpour.
      According to the chairman, a similar result would be a feasible goal also this time.
      “Money is not being wasted on anything unnecessary. We will commence the operation on a trustee basis. Full-time persons in charge will not be named until next year.”
     
The 2012 European Athletics Championships will take place on the week right after the Midsummer festivities. Traditionally this is a time when Finland more or less shuts down as people go on their holidays. Helsinki empties out.
      “Families could come for a holiday in the nation’s capital. After visiting the Linnanmäki amusement park and the Helsinki Zoo during the daytime, the evenings could be spend enjoying high-quality athletics entertainment”, Pihlakoski suggests.
      A new timetable concept will also be introduced to the European Athletics Championships. The games will not last over two weekends.
      Instead, there will be one day of heats and four days of finals. The arrangement suits the television people best, and it is apparently they who have insisted on it.
      Helsinki was chosen as the only bidder. According to Pihlakoski this is EAA’s new policy. The candidate is filtered out beforehand.
      The Finns held five or six negotiations with the EAA bosses. In the end both parties emphasised their satisfaction with the agreement reached.
      In the future, the European Athletics Championships will be organised every two years instead of every four. This way Europe will be in line with the rest of the continents.
     
The 2012 European Championships will for many be an opportunity to provide a calling-card for Olympic selectors, but some may question the wisdom of two events in such quick succession, especially when the European Championships will inevitably pale alongside the bigger competition at the end of July.
      Some events will be dropped from the competition programme, including the marathons, given the proximity of the Olympic Games.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  IAAF World Championships end on a drier note, but the Olympic Stadium comes up short (15.8.2005)

Links:
  Finnish Athletics Association
  EAA

Helsingin Sanomat