Mega event with manageable benefits

ORF pays 16 million euros

At the same time, the event is not entirely cheap. The costs for ORF as organizer amount to 16 million euros. The sale of around 100,000 tickets for the ESC live shows is expected to generate income of around eight million euros. As far as advertising revenue and sponsorship are concerned, no amount can yet be given. The final commercial settlement will not take place until autumn.

The city of Vienna is providing a budget of 22.6 million euros for the event. This sum includes direct cash benefits as well as “extensive benefits in kind,” it says. When asked, the city did not disclose where the money would go in detail.

One of the largest blocks, in addition to security and the official accompanying events, would be the venue, the Wiener Stadthalle.

The event venue, which is owned by the city through Wien Holding, is blocked at staggered times as part of the preparations and implementation of the ESC. There were 18 events in the affected period last year. Eight events have already been planned this year, and suitable alternative dates have been found for the majority.

The city government’s goal is “ideally not to fully utilize the budget,” according to the KURIER. Because of the existing infrastructure, the financial framework is significantly lower than that of the city of Basel last year, which provided around 36 million euros for hosting the ESC – plus around 16 million euros from the Swiss broadcasting company SRG.

The city of Vienna also uses Basel as an example with regard to the expected value creation effect: the ESC 2025 was a “strong economic stimulus”. The region achieved added value of around 57 million euros, and the overall economic effects for Switzerland amounted to more than 108 million euros. There were clearly positive effects in the hotel industry, for example. According to a study by the economic research institute Eco Austria, around 88,000 additional guests are expected in this country because of the ESC, of ​​which 53,000 will spend the night in Vienna. The study also suggests a possible value creation effect of a total of 52 million euros.

Manageable effects

However, the significance of the study can be doubted, says Oliver Fritz, from the Economic Research Institute (WIFO) to the KURIER. It was created in the summer of 2025, when it was not yet clear that the ESC would take place in Vienna. In fact, the effects on tourism appear to be manageable. According to the Vienna Chamber of Commerce (WKW), many hotels are fully booked, but overall they are at about the “very high” level that is also achieved in May in other years.

All in all, hosting the event cannot be expected to be a “mega-business,” says Fritz. But that is not the primary goal of the cultural event. “The main thing is to make the participants and the viewers – to put it bluntly – a little happier. An effect that can also be measured in studies.”

Of course there should be a certain advertising value for Vienna and all of Austria. At least it existed in 2015: “Over the last ten years, the number of overnight stays has increased significantly, and the ESC 2015 made a contribution to this,” says WKW President Walter Ruck to the KURIER. Wifo expert Fritz doubts that Vienna needs this year’s ESC to grow in terms of tourism. “You also have to ask yourself how long Vienna still wants to grow. This is a political decision that will be increasingly discussed in the future.” After all, the goal must be to avoid an overtourism situation like in Barcelona or Venice.

Graz would have benefited more

Greater tourism effects could have been achieved if the event had taken place in a city that is less heavily used by tourists. “We should have thought more seriously about Graz, for example. The city could actually have benefited from it.”

Fritz is also skeptical about the advertising value for the host country. The European Broadcasting Union EBU expects the ESC to have an advertising value of 730 million euros.

The EBU’s calculation method is of course incomprehensible to WIFO expert Fritz: “If people in Japan watch the song contest for two hours, then it is calculated as if Austria Advertising had bought this amount of advertising minutes. That is not very meaningful.”

According to Fritz, the duration of how long the advertising actually has an impact is also limited: “There are countless events and they only stay in your mind for a very short time. Soon the next event will come up that will capture the audience’s attention.”