Paddy Power takes aim at UEFA in its latest marketing stunt

Irish bookmaker Paddy Power has ridiculed UEFA for its choice of unambitious stadia of the Academy Stadium picked for this summer’s Women’s Euros. Some of the other stadia called into question were Leigh Sports Village in Wigan and the New York Stadium in Rotherham. The sports betting operator floated a giant inflatable arrow in the northwest corner of the Academy Stadium during the Belgium versus Iceland match, pointing to the vacant Etihad Stadium, 650 meters away. The Academy Stadium is attached to Manchester City’s training ground. The 25x11x5ft balloon said, “Anyone seen a stadium big enough for a Euros game?”

UEFA actually picked Man City’s Academy ground for a #WEURO2022 game.

If only there was a stadium nearby that was used to regularly hosting 4,000 people… pic.twitter.com/QrjCizmOhW

— Paddy Power (@paddypower) July 10, 2022

The match in question was sold-out but had reduced capacity as two stands at the Academy Stadium are standing only, not permitted under UEFA’s guidelines, which meant the capacity was limited to 5,000. UEFA’s decision to play the matches at the Academy Stadium rather than the Etihad Stadium proved a controversial choice seems a little strange as Old Trafford, just across Manchester, hosted the opening game of the tournament and saw an attendance of 68,781. Outside of Old Trafford and Wembley Stadium, only three of the stadiums selected have a capacity of 30,000 or more, with a majority under 20,000. Research undertaken by Yolo Research on the day the tournament started showed that 67% of the 1,011 respondents thought UEFA’s choice of stadia showed a lack of respect for the women’s game. Two-thirds of respondents also thought the choice of stadia would be detrimental to the progression of women’s football. A Paddy Power spokesperson said: “The women’s game has progressed massively in recent years, and this tournament was a great opportunity for teams to play in front of record crowds all over the country and accelerate that growth. “The fear of empty seats really shouldn’t put the footballing bosses off being more ambitious in their stadium selection.”