Eurovision Song Contest 2009 has been labeled the most expensive and unprofitable event in the 54-year song contest history. 40 million Dollars is an absolute record. For instance, last year’s competition in Belgrade cost about $ 33 million. The earlier two contests in Helsinki and Athens cost about $16,6 million. However, the Serbs managed to cover half of the expenses with ticket sales, advertising and souvenirs. Greece has earned three-quarters of the spent sum, and Finland earned back the entire sum.
The general director of Russian Channel One, which organized with EBU the event, told ‘Itogi magazine’ that Channel One covered about one-third of the contest’s total expenses. According to Ernst, this sum includes “everything from the VIP hall for arriving guests and Moscow scenic tours to renting viewing screens in the different parts of Europe and the purchase of the Beijing television station.” Expenses on the show itself were said to be not “so great”.
“Holding this competition, on the average, costs $16-21 million,” said Svante Stockselius, the supervisor of the contest and member of EBU, during an interview with Newsweek. Ernest explained that the high cost of the Russian competition included building the largest stage and the renovation of Olympiisky Arena, where the contest was held. He also added that Moscow is “a very expensive city.” However, the song contest in Moscow was too expensive to earn back a significant part of the money spent. The Channel One director said that “Six million Swiss Francs [about $ 5,6 million] should be repaid by the EBU (European Broadcasting Union), but this money has not yet been received.” Sponsors paid some money, funds were also collected from ticket sales, but this “hasn’t covered the expenses.” But, “we also did not count on it…The Olympic Games and the Cannes film festival are also not primarily held for the sake of earnings,” Ernst noted.
Speaking of televising equipment purchased for the contest, Ernst said that it cost almost $10 million and is “the best among all existing television stations today.
