Irish soccer fans would spend most on Euro title, survey shows

Irish soccer fans would pay the most to see their country win the European Championship title in July, followed by English and Greek supporters, according to a survey commissioned by ING Groep NV.

Respondents in Ireland would be willing to give up an average 295 euros ($367) in return for their team winning the tournament, ING said in an statement today. England was next, with an average 207 euros, followed by Greece with 187 euros and Italy with 167 euros, the Amsterdam-based financial-services company said.

The 16-nation tournament in Poland and Ukraine kicks off June 8 in Warsaw, while the final will be played July 1 in Kiev. Respondents in the Czech Republic would give up the least for the title with an average 14 euros, followed by Russia with 22 euros and Denmark with 23 euros, ING said.

Sacrificing money is a rough economic measure of passion for the Euro 2012, the company said. It doesn’t take into account cross-border technicalities, such as currency strength and purchasing power parity, said the lender, which sponsors the Dutch national team.

The survey was conducted by Dutch market research firm TNS Nipo. At least 1,000 people respondents representative of the Internet population in terms of age and gender were surveyed online in countries participating in Euro 2012, excluding the Netherlands, ING said.

In the Netherlands TNS Nipo surveyed 1,043 people who were representative of the population based on age, gender and income, ING said,