UEFA EURO 2028 - commercial rights protection: consultation

1. Introduction and background

1.1 Purpose of the survey

The UEFA European Championship, also referred to as ‘EURO’, is a four yearly tournament. It is held between UEFA’s national member football associations. It is one of the most prestigious international men’s football tournaments. Scotland will co-host EURO 2028 as part of a joint UK and Ireland Championship. The event is expected to take place in Summer 2028 and last around four weeks.

We are working closely with UK Government, Welsh Government, Northern Ireland Executive and Irish Government on the operating environment for EURO 2028.

Matches in Scotland will be played at Hampden Park. It is one of 10 stadiums proposed to host EURO 2028. UEFA will confirm the final match split. Glasgow will be one of nine host cities across the UK and Ireland. Hampden Park and potential fan zones at locations in Glasgow will be ‘event zones’ during the event. Legislation for EURO 2020 originally set event zones at Hampden Park, Merchant City and George Square.^[1] When the event took place in 2021, the actual event zones were at Hampden Park and Glasgow Green.

Some mega sporting events require certain protections. For some, like the Olympics or Commonwealth Games, specific legislation needs to be put in place as a result.^[2] For EURO 2028, UEFA has requirements to protect its own and event sponsors’ commercial rights during the event. It also requires a ban on ticket touting. This survey is seeking views on the commercial rights protection measures that should be put in place in Scotland for this event.

1.2 Who we want to hear from

This survey is aimed at:

• Street traders, media owners and other businesses who may be based in event zones and have external advertising, for example, bars and restaurants. These businesses could be affected by measures put in place for EURO 2028.
• People living in places where measures are likely to apply, and groups who represent them. Some measures, for example on street trading, would only affect event zones. Others, such as ticket touting measures, would apply throughout Scotland. We are therefore seeking views from people throughout Scotland.

We are seeking views on:

• What the impacts were of the measures put in place for UEFA EURO 2020, which took place in 2021.
• How business could be impacted by the measures that are likely required by UEFA for EURO 2028.
• What kinds of measures and exemptions would be most appropriate to meet likely UEFA requirements.