Eurovision 2024 in Sweden: Malmö invests €2.5 million in the contest

As is customary for the hosting city of the 68-year-old annual song competition, Malmo is doing everything to ensure that Eurovision 2024 is a huge success.

Paramount among its preparatory measures is a budgetary allocation to take care of logistics and operations that guarantee the smooth running of the Eurovision Song Contest 2024.

Things that fall under logistics include accommodation for visitors, infrastructural facilities like road maintenance, and transportation. A part of the budget also goes into developing Eurovision Village and other developmental strides.

While reviewing the preparations of this Swedish city, Philip Martin, an Eurovision opinion analyst with Slotsjudge contended that Malmo is heart and body prepared for the annual contest.

According to him, “The efforts put in place by authorities so far project nothing but maximum preparedness to meet any unforeseen circumstances.”

Thirty seven countries are expected are expected at this year's tournament, some of which include regulars like Germany, France, and the UK. North Macedonia is making a pleasant surprise appearance this year, and everyone is looking forward to what it could put.

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Hosting Eurovision 2024: a city in the spotlight

Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmö are the only three Swedish cities to have ever hosted Eurovision since its inception over six decades ago. For Malmö, this year's show would be the third it would host, following the 1992 and 2013 editions.

Slotsjudge noted that Malmö is Sweden’s third largest city known for cultural diversity and tolerance. Its residents are from at least 170 countries of the world. The perfect blend between the old world charm and modernity is something that even critics cannot avoid mentioning.

With a motto that reads “Diversities, Meetings, Possibilities,” it’s no wonder that Malmö constantly represents Sweden well in organising international tournaments. Its quest for diversity is something that Eurovision preaches.

As such, in May this year, all roads and air would lead to Malmö’s Arena for the much awaited Eurovision Song Contest 2024.

Sweden: country invests 2.5 Million for Eurovision 2024

Although the total budget for Eurovision 2024 is still sketchy, it’s clear that the hosting city is committing a whopping 2.5 million Euros to this course. This amount surpasses the budget made about ten years ago when it last hosted the ESC. Then, the total investment was 2.09 million Euros.

The hosting nation is not the only bearer of the overall budget. There will be funding from participating countries in the form of participation fees. Other sources include sponsors, the Swedish Broadcaster, SVT, and EBU.

Pulling all of these funding sources together, it’s clear that the budget will surpass the 2.5 million Euros commitment coming from Sweden's third-largest city.

Considering the UK Eurovision 2024 preparation and the commitment of other frontliners in this annual song contest, Slotsjudge analysts estimate the budget to be in the tens of millions of euros.

Return on Investment (ROI)

2.5 million euros is no small amount to cough out for a less than a month tournament. However, the board members of the municipal view this amount as an investment that will bring massive returns.

Citing the city’s last hosting as a justification for this huge investment, Katrin Stjernfeldt Jammeh, the board’s chairman said: “We organised Eurovision ten years ago, and the calculations that were made then showed approximately SEK 185 million in tourism revenue. When Malmö hosted ESC 2013, approximately SEK 25 million (2.09 million euros) was invested.”

Ultimately, the revenue made from people trooping into the city for this competition eventually cancels out the investment input. As such, the Swedish city has got an excellent business deal by hosting Eurovision Song Contest 2024.

Wrapping up

UK Eurovision 2024 was dashed as Switzerland eventually carried the day. Regardless, the competition is about celebrating diversity and not superiority. From all indications, it seems this was achieved.