Can It Still Be ‘Euro 2020’ in 2021? Sponsors Hope So

While a final decision has not been made, several of UEFA’s commercial partners prefer the tournament to keep the Euro 2020 name, according to people familiar with the matter who requested anonymity to discuss private deliberations. Such a move would be similar to one announced by the International Olympic Committee this week when it announced that the Olympic Games postponed until next year would retain the name Tokyo 2020.

Some Euro 2020 merchandise is already on shelves, making it a collectible for this unexpected moment, in which a mystery virus has brought sports to a halt. The popular collector cards and sticker albums for the tournament, produced by the Italian company Panini, for instance, are on sale.

Tim Crow, a sports marketing consultant based in Britain whose past clients include Coca-Cola and BMW, said retaining the 2020 branding would be “infinitely preferable” than having to rename it for UEFA’s many partners.

“Anybody who has done it knows that registering any kind of trademark and licensing is a very expensive and time-consuming exercise,” Crow said. “To rip all that up and start again because you’ve postponed an event is one of the things you don’t necessarily have to do.”

A spokeswoman for Coca-Cola said: “We look forward to working with UEFA to create a successful event next year, and would appreciate the decision to continue the use of the Euro 2020 marks to minimize impact to materials that were already created.”

While some of UEFA’s sponsorship contracts run for many years and cover other events in its portfolio, some are specifically for the European Championship and were set to terminate this year. Those, according to the people familiar with the matter, are now likely to be extended for another year. UEFA’s contracts with broadcasters already have a provision for a case in which the tournament is postponed for up to 13 months.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/25/sports/soccer/euro-2020-coronavirus-postponed-merchandise.html