World Athletics Championships Could Pay Off Handsomely

The World Athletics Championships in Budapest from August 19-27 will be the biggest sporting event in Hungary’s history. An article in Magyar Nemzet has revealed that Hungary can make almost twice as much money from the event as it costs to organize it.

According to the latest figures, the World Championships will cost around HUF 70 billion (HUF 186 million) gross. Almost HUF 50 billion (EUR 133 million) gross has been published on the website of the National Event Management Agency, which is responsible for public procurement, and the Budapest 2023 Zrt., organizer of the World Championships has received almost HUF 20 billion (EUR 53 million) gross in state subsidies.

Meanwhile, according to independent expert analyses, direct and indirect revenues could reach approximately HUF 130 billion (EUR 345 million).

The indirect economic impact of the event is estimated at HUF 59.5 billion (EUR 158 million) by PwC’s independent impact study. The positive effects of the World Championships in terms of increased demand and additional production will affect domestic sectors such as trade, transport, and telecommunications. For example, caterers, event organizers, taxi drivers, accommodation providers, and shopkeepers in Budapest and the countryside could be big winners.

In addition, a significant part of the World Championship’s 186 million euros budget will be spent by the organizers on small and medium-sized businesses in Hungary, generating income for thousands of Hungarian families before and during the event.

So far, 77 countries have bought tickets or season tickets for the event, and it is conservatively estimated that participants and foreign fans will spend more than 200,000 nights in the country. According to PwC’s impact study, guests will spend approximately HUF 8.3 billion (EUR 22 million) during their stay in Hungary. In addition, total ticket sales are expected to reach HUF 1.5-2 billion (EUR 3.9-5.3 million) by the start of the world event. This will be supplemented by hundreds of millions of forints in sponsorship revenue.

But it is not only the sponsorship revenue that is significant, but also the advertising value that the country gains from hosting the event.

The World Athletics Championships could reach three billion people, more than one billion of whom will actually watch the competitions, according to the international association’s forecasts and the experience of previous World Championships.

London was the last European city to host a World Athletics Championships in 2017, so the London figures are a projection. In London’s case, the amount of money the city gained in the media from the World Championships was approximately 60 billion forints (EUR 159 million), which is what it would have cost if it had to buy all the advertising space it had acquired to promote itself through the World Championships.

In addition to the economic impact, the social impact of the sports event is, of course, also significant, as all Hungarians can be proud that Hungary is the first central European venue to host the world’s third biggest sporting event. Moreover, a special campaign to promote physical activity was launched in Hungary in preparation for the event, which has led to thousands of people taking up or increasing their participation in sports.

Featured photo via Facebook/World Athletics Championships Budapest 23