London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Friday, Sep 19, 2025

Eurovision in Liverpool will come at a significant cost

Eurovision in Liverpool will come at a significant cost

If, like me, you follow Eurovision intently throughout the year, you'll know Liverpool beating (the bookies' favourite) Glasgow to host the song contest next year is huge.

Sam Ryder came second at this year's Eurovision Song Contest

Ahead of this year's Eurovision final in May, Scott Mills, Rylan and myself were backstage wildly speculating where the song contest would be in 2023 if Sam Ryder won.

"Can we just take a moment to think... we're actually talking about what if we host Eurovision?" BBC Radio 2's Mills asked in Turin after years of dismal results for the UK.

Glasgow was always the one to beat, and, over the past two months, Liverpool was convincing the BBC it had the passion, enthusiasm and infrastructure for the eyes of Europe (and Australia) to be on the city.

More than 160m watched this year's competition which saw Ukraine win the public vote


Ukraine's Kalush Orchestra won this year's competition after an outpouring of support from other countries, following Russia's invasion of the country.

But the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), who organise the competition, said Ukraine couldn't host the event next year for safety reasons.

Because UK entrant Sam Ryder had come second, the BBC was invited to be the host broadcaster instead. At a time when the corporation is closing channels, cutting jobs and committing to saving money, it could have said no.

The BBC is expected to spend between £8m and £17m on broadcasting the world's largest live music event - significantly more than its annual participation fee.

We don't know exactly how much it normally pays to enter - in addition to what it pays for the rights to broadcast the two semi-finals and grand final - because the BBC hasn't made the figure public.

However, we are told that the combined total cost for all 40 broadcasters taking part adds up to around £5m.

Yes, Eurovision is a TV show, and a highly entertaining one at that, but it's also a huge international event taking over a city for weeks, with thousands travelling to attend it each year.

If you've been to a football tournament but not Eurovision (you don't know what you're missing) then you can imagine what it's like - there's a designated fan zone, flags draped around the city and pop music blaring from bars and restaurants. Plus lots of glitter.

Liverpool's streets are expected to sparkle with events put on outside of the arena and, at a time when we're all tightening our budgets, there will inevitably be scrutiny on how much public money is used.

Liverpool's arena and exhibition centre on the banks of the River Mersey will play host to Eurovision next year


I travelled back to a much quieter Turin in May (no glitter in sight) and its deputy mayor Michela Favaro told me the hospitality sector made seven times more than the £10m the city spent on the event, claiming it "was a success well beyond our expectation".

Another official though admitted it would have been difficult to justify the expense if Italy's cost of living crisis hit earlier.

So far, the Department for Culture Media and Sport (DCMS) hasn't committed to a figure it will contribute to Liverpool's bill as the government continues to be pressured on its response to rising energy bills.

Something else that needs to be settled is rescheduling events already booked at the M&S arena when the Eurovision production needs the space.

At the time of writing, it's still unclear who's responsible for refunding tickets to shows like Magic Mike on 24 April and André Rieu on 12 May.

One thing is certain for May 2023, though - Mills, Rylan and myself are unlikely to be repeating our conversation about which British city should host the following year as the UK is unlikely to want to repeat the cost the song contest brings any time soon.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Massive Strikes in France Pressure Macron and New PM on Austerity Proposals
Trump Seeks Supreme Court Permission to Remove Fed Governor Lisa Cook
Hillary Clinton’s Reckless Rhetoric Fuels Division After Charlie Kirk’s Assassination
NASDAQ Rises to Record as Intel Soars More Than 20%, Nvidia Gains 3%
Nvidia’s $5 Billion Bet on Intel Reshapes AI Hardware Landscape
Trump and Starmer Clash Over UK Recognition of Palestinian State Amid State Visit
Trump’s Quip on Biden and Google Lawsuit Revives Debate Over Antitrust Legacy
Macron and his wife to provide 'scientific photographic evidence' that she is a real woman
US Tech Giants Pledge Billions to UK AI Infrastructure Following Starmer's Call
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
DeepMind and OpenAI Achieve Gold at ‘Coding Olympics’ in AI Milestone
SEC Allows Public Companies to Block Investors from Class-Action Lawsuits
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Federal Reserve Cuts Rates by Quarter Point and Signals More to Come
Effective and Impressive Generation Z Protest: Images from the Riots in Nepal
European manufacturers against ban on polluting cars: "The industry may collapse"
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Trump: Cancel quarterly company reports and settle for reporting once every six months
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
US Launches New Pilot Program to Accelerate eVTOL Air Taxi Deployment
Christian Brueckner Released from German Prison after Serving Unrelated Sentence
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Hong Kong Industry Group Calls for HK$20 Billion Support Fund to Ease Property Market Stress
Joe Biden’s Post-Presidency Speaking Fees Face Weak Demand amid Corporate Reluctance
Charlie Kirk's murder will break the left's hateful cancel tactics
Kash Patel erupts at ‘buffoon’ Sen. Adam Schiff over Russiagate: ‘You are the biggest fraud’
Homeland Security says Emmy speech ‘fanning the flames of hatred’ after Einbinder’s ‘F— ICE’ remark
Charlie Kirk’s Alleged Assassin Tyler Robinson Faces Death Penalty as Charges Formally Announced
Actor, director, environmentalist Robert Redford dies at 89
The conservative right spreads westward: a huge achievement for 'Alternative for Germany' in local elections
JD Vance Says There Is “No Unity” with Those Who Celebrate Charlie Kirk’s Killing, and he is right!
Trump sues the 'New York Times' for an astronomical sum of 15 billion dollars
Florida Hospital Welcomes Its Largest-Ever Baby: Annan, Nearly Fourteen Pounds at Birth
U.S. and Britain Poised to Finalize Over $10 Billion in High-Tech, Nuclear and Defense Deals During Trump State Visit
China Finds Nvidia Violated Antitrust Laws in Mellanox Deal, Deepens Trade Tensions with US
US Air Force Begins Modifications on Qatar-Donated Jet Amid Plans to Use It as Air Force One
Pope Leo Warns of Societal Crisis Over Mega-CEO Pay, Citing Tesla’s Proposed Trillion-Dollar Package
Poland Green-Lights NATO Deployment in Response to Major Russian Drone Incursion
Elon Musk Retakes Lead as World’s Richest After Brief Ellison Surge
U.S. and China Agree on Framework to Shift TikTok to American Ownership
London Daily Podcast: London Massive Pro Democracy Rally, Musk Support, UK Economic Data and Premier League Results Mark Eventful Weekend
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Le Pen Tightens the Pressure on Macron as France Edges Toward Political Breakdown
Musk calls for new UK government at huge pro-democracy rally in London, but Britons have been brainwashed to obey instead of fighting for their human rights
Elon Musk responds to post calling for the murder of Erika Kirk, widow of Charlie Kirk: 'Either we fight back or they will kill us'
Czech Republic signs €1.34 billion contract for Leopard 2A8 main battle tanks with delivery from 2028
USA: Office Depot Employees Refused to Print Poster in Memory of Charlie Kirk – and Were Fired
Proposed U.S. Bill Would Allow Civil Suits Against Judges Who Release Repeat Violent Offenders
Penske Media Sues Google Over “AI Overviews,” Claiming It Uses Journalism Without Consent and Destroys Traffic
×