viernes, 27 de junio de 2008

Vienna Fan Zone nears million mark

The official UEFA EURO 2008™ Fan Zone in Vienna is expecting its millionth visitor on Sunday as supporters gather for the final between Germany and Spain.
Huge numbers
In addition, organisers hope the four million mark for Fan Zones across Austria and Switzerland will be broken before the end of the tournament to cap a great success, despite the rain. In Vienna, over 950,000 fans have already visited the Fan Zone helping to create a great atmosphere. "The Fan Zone project has been very successful and the atmosphere has been extraordinary," said Alan Ridley, head of sponsorship and event promotion for UEFA.

Atmosphere
The eight official Fan Zones have not only delivered some impressive figures but also helped create the positive feeling that surrounds the tournament. There has been entertainment aside from the football with over 500 different acts helping fans get in the mood and some 5,300 journalists have visited the Fan Zones to report on the atmosphere. If there was a title for European fan champions it would probably go to the Netherlands, with over 400,000 Dutch fans converging on Berne and Basel for their four games, meaning they accounted for ten per cent of all visitors. The running grand total of Fan Zone visitors after the Russia-Spain semi-final was just 200,000 shy of four million.