Amsterdam will not host Eurovision 2020. In an official statement, the local government states that the city “does not have the right venue that is available for long enough.” Five cities remain in the race to host the contest in the Netherlands.
As the capital city, Amsterdam was hot favorite to host Eurovision. However, there were doubts with the Amsterdam bid. Our co-editor Dennis van Eersel explained that Rotterdam had a more flexible venue (Read more here)
Meanwhile, all the possible venues in Amsterdam created some sort of problem. The Johan Cruijff Arena could not be set-up during football season, while ZiggoDome and RAI were unavailable. AFAS Live turned out not big enough to host Eurovision.
Amsterdam has a “no tourists policy”
Another issue with Amsterdam hosting Eurovision was the local governments “no tourist policy”. The mayor Femke Halsema, from the country’s Green Party, has tried to get tourists to visit other parts of the country instead of staying within the rather small city centre. This policy is also supported by the Netherlands’ tourist agency.
Rotterdam or Maastricht to host Eurovision?
With Amsterdam out of the race, 5 cities remain to potentially host Eurovision 2020 in The Netherlands. As ESCDaily explained before, Rotterdam and Maastricht are the two most serious options. Arnhem, Utrecht and Den Bosch are also officially still in the race. You can read more about it here.