With the Tailwind of the Grand Départ Duesseldorf 2017, the State Capital Duesseldorf is Heading into the Sporting Year 2018 and Perhaps the European Championship 2024

29/12/2017 01:00

DUESSELDORF, Germany, Dec. 29, 2017 /CNW/ - At the end of 2017, the year in which the state capital Duesseldorf hosted three major sporting events: the European Triathlon Championship, the World Table Tennis Championships and the Grand Départ of the Tour de France, the city is able to draw a positive conclusion and look forward to the sporting year 2018.

(Photo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/623271/City_of_Duesseldorf_table_tennis.jpg)

(Photo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/623269/City_of_Duesseldorf_cycling.jpg)

(Photo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/623270/City_of_Duesseldorf_football.jpg)

For the first German start of the Tour in thirty years, well over a million visitors from all over the world came to Duesseldorf from 29 June to 2 July 2017. At 74 percent, the large majority was not from Duesseldorf, and 25 percent alone came from abroad. And although it poured on the day of the first stage, the people of Duesseldorf and the visitors celebrated a summer's tale in the rain.

Mayor Thomas Geisel: "By hosting the Grand Départ, we wanted to give our city marketing a boost, promote Duesseldorf as a cycling city and give a strong signal both for the Franco-German friendship and the regional cooperation. We succeeded. There's no doubt: the Grand Départ Duesseldorf 2017 was a great success for the state capital Duesseldorf and has changed its profile and its image in the world, and also as a reliable partner in the region. That's shown by the comments from home and abroad."

The image gain for Duesseldorf through the start of the Tour is enormous. According to calculations of press relations, the media presence of the Grand Départ Duesseldorf 2017 in the time from 1 August 2016 to 31 July 2017 through social media, print and online reporting led to an advertising equivalent value of 343 million Euros. According to analyses by Nielsen Sport, the TV images with 151 hours of visibility created an additional 13 million Euros of advertising equivalent value in Germany. Nationally and internationally, in the time from 28 June to 3 July 2017, 354.5 million viewers were reached by live TV broadcasts and secondary reporting.

The hosting of the World Table Tennis Championships from 29 May to 5 June was also a great success. 58,000 spectators watched the matches live in the halls on the eight days of the tournament. Pictures of the tournament went to 122 countries worldwide via television and internet. More than 320 million people watched the World Table Tennis Championships on Chinese television.

Duesseldorf therefore looks back with great enthusiasm - but is naturally also looking forward: in the coming year, among other things the international football match between Germany and Spain is to be held on 23 March 2018 in Duesseldorf, and from 23 to 25 February 2018, the first Judo Grand Slam in Germany is to be hosted. Duesseldorf is thus one of six venues for the Judo Grand Slam series - together with Paris, Tokyo, Baku, Yekaterinburg and Abu Dhabi.

Added to this are, for example, the national handball super cup, national beach volleyball at Burgplatz right in the middle of the city, the PSD Bank Meeting for track and field, the Metro Group Marathon, the Champions Trophy for youth football and the T3 Triathlon.

But Duesseldorf also eagerly awaits the UEFA decision in September 2018 on the host country for the European Football Championship 2024, for which Turkey is bidding alongside Germany. With the ESPRIT Arena, Duesseldorf is one of the ten venues with which Germany is entering the UEFA bidding process for the hosting of the European Championship 2024.

A total of 14 cities and stadiums submitted their documents within the framework of the national bidding process - and Duesseldorf achieved the third-best rating in Germany behind Berlin and Munich, and the best in North Rhine-Westphalia.

"Duesseldorf could become the venue for an international football tournament for the first time since 1988. That's is a huge success for us. We are delighted that the DFB has selected Duesseldorf as the venue for the European Football Championship 2024," said Thomas Geisel, Mayor of the City of Duesseldorf. "2017 has especially shown that the state capital of Duesseldorf is able to pull off major international sports events with professionalism and enthusiasm."