European Athletics Championships Lose $3.1M Largely Due To Low Ticket Sales

The 2014 European Athletics Championships in Zürich lost more than 3M Swiss francs ($3.1M), but organizers and city representatives "are still satisfied," according to HANDELSZEITUNG. Organizers said that the event "has not only excited visitors and athletes, but also positively impacted the sport, tourism and the economy in Switzerland." The only unsatisfactory aspect "was ticket sales." A total of 148,498 visitors attended the event, which took place from Aug. 12-17 at the Letzigrund Stadium in Zürich. The income from ticket sales was around 6M Swiss francs "lower than expected." The complete budget for the event was around 33M Swiss francs. Considering the government's financial support of 10M Swiss francs and low revenue from tickets, the event made a deficit of 3.16M Swiss francs. Around 2 million of the this deficit will be covered by the organizer's capital. The remaining 1.14 million Swiss francs will be made up by private and public supporters to 50% each (HANDELSZEITUNG, 12/8).