Euro 2004 website plays catch-up

Everyone’s talking about Euro 2004, but with just hours before kick-off the official website isn’t the most popular online football destination.

Visitors to www.euro2004.com have increased six-fold in the last few weeks and yesterday it became the second most visited football website, behind football365.com, according to net monitor Hitwise.

Meanwhile “Euro 2004” has become the most searched-for football-related phrase, with Arsenal in second place and Manchester United in third.

Alongside the fevered expectations for the tournament itself is a 10% increase in online gambling, with betting exchange Betfair (www.betfair.com) being the most visited gambling site online.

Hitwise also reveals that almost 1.5% of visitors to the Euro 2004 website go immediately to place their bets on who will be the winning team in the 4 July final.

And last but not least, football on the pitch means fantasy football for the fans, and the McDonald’s sponsored www.euro2004fantasy.uefa.com site has become the top destination for users of the Euro 2004 website – with one in ten visitors heading for the official fantasy football site to field their own squad of Euro superstars.