UTCC sees Thais spending 87.62 billion baht during UEFA Euro 2024
But more than 67 billion expected to be spent on gambling and betting among football fanatics, says university citing opinion poll
The University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce (UTCC) believes Thai football fanatics will spend some 87.62 billion baht during the UEFA Euro 2024 championship, and most of it will be spent on betting.
The monthlong championship kicks off on Saturday and will be broadcast live on PPTV and several TrueVisions channels.
UTCC rector Thanawat Polvichai said this prediction was based on a recent opinion poll conducted by the university’s Centre for Economic and Business Forecasting among some 1,000 respondents nationwide.
He said Thai football fans can be expected to spend some 20.58 billion baht on eating out or purchasing souvenirs during the games, up 5.1% from the UEFA Euro 2020 games.
Meanwhile, he said, another 67.04 billion is expected to be spent on betting, which will be 17.10% more than in 2020.
Umakamol Sunthonsurat, assistant director of the UTCC Centre for Economic and Business Forecasting, said based on the survey, an average football fan is expected to spend about 4,497 baht on food and drink at pubs showing the games and another 2,475 baht on UEFA souvenirs.
Separately, 35.6% of the respondents are expected to spend approximately 23,573 on gambling during the competition, she said. She added that 58.5% of the potential gamblers said they would use cash in their wagers, 21.5% will put meals at stake, while 20% will bet using other belongings.
