What happens if nothing happens? Staging Euro '96

This paper critically engages with perspectives on globalisation, and the globalisation of sport in particular, in the light of research conducted on the European football championships held in England in the summer of 1996 (Euro '96). Our research focusses on two aspects of Euro '96. Firstly, we indicate the problems and sucesses entailed in the attempt to intervene on the English football 'imaginaire' in order to structure subjectivity around the event. Secondly, we investigate the relationships between the organisers and one of the localities, Manchester, in which the event was staged, and where antagonistic relationships between local organisers and international governing bodies led to a series of tactical semiotic moves on the part of Manchester local authorities to carve out a share of sponsorship revenues from the event, while international football governing bodies followed a strategy of having the burden of the costs distributed down to localities like Manchester, while securing for thermselves large profits through exclusive sponsorship deals.