Football flop has made us healthier

Jul 11 2008 by Nicholas Craig, The Journal

SOMETIMES an armchair close to a television is the best location from which to enjoy sport at its best. Wimbledon’s Nadal-Federer match and the Lewis Hamilton win at Silverstone last weekend were phenomenal viewing experiences.

Given the weather, the crowds and the limits on self-expression at both, I appreciated the ability of a television to allow you to see better, shout louder and get the sort of perspective only we stay-at-home sports fans are allowed.

Sharing the cockpit with Lewis in the rain or seeing sizzling tennis strokes in sublime slow motion is a joy. It’s also cheaper. As we are all urged to embrace waste not, want not principles pre-recession, then our efforts should be applauded.

Euro 2008 provided equally good reasons to stay in this summer. An England-less competition affected businesses but did not appear to affect viewing figures. Yet if England had qualified, the atmosphere, the parties, the corporate events, the pubs and, most of all, the country’s economy would have benefited so much more during the three-week championship.

As if any of you needed reminding, this was the first time in 14 years that not a single home nation qualified. Estimates of the cost to the economy rise as high as £2bn. Replica shirt manufacturers, souvenir sellers, beer, barbecue food and television retailers all forecast huge slumps, and were proved right.

In the North East we missed out on the buzz that brightens business days when football teams – local or national – do well, and the consequent increase in productivity that has been said to occur.

The urge to celebrate a good football win boosts shops and restaurants as well as pubs, all of which had to rely instead on European teams filling the gap.

On the brighter side, businesses did not have the deluge of ‘sickies’ that coincide with England matches in major football events. The cities’ streets thankfully missed out on the effects of all that celebration and commiseration. We are arguably a little healthier and richer than we could have been.

Even so, Euro 2008 highlights just how much sports and business depend upon each other.

Nicholas Craig is a partner at Watson Burton LLP