Eurovision 2024: Sweden's possible venues

The dust is settling on Loreen's historic victory at Eurovision 2023 in the UK - and attention is now starting to turn to where in Sweden we'll be heading for next year's contest.

While it is still very early days and there has been no official news or indications whatsoever, one thing for certain is as this year's winners, Sweden will host the contest for the seventh time in May 2024.

It last hosted Eurovision in Stockholm in 2016 on the back of Måns Zelmerlöw's victory in Austria in 2015 with 'Heroes'.

Much has been said about the timing of Eurovision's return to Sweden, as next year will mark 50 years since ABBA triumphed with 'Waterloo'. But as widely reported, members Bjorn and Benny have effectively ruled out a reunion for the event.

Here at Aussievision we're sizing up some of the options so we can start planning our possible adventures to the epicentre of pop music. Here's your guide:

Stockholm

• Avicii Arena (Globen): 16,000 capacity

• Friends Arena: 50,653 capacity

• Tele2 Arena: 45,000 capacity

The Swedish capital is certainly an early favourite to be host city - and has no shortage of options along with other desired infrastructure by the EBU. Having said that, all three of its well-sized venues have potential issues.

The more intimate Avicii Arena, which staged the 2000 and 2016 contest, is scheduled to have renovations sometime in 2024 and may not be available.

And Friends Arena, Sweden's national stadium and the home of the Melodifestivalen Grand Final, is also used by the Swedish soccer team and local club side AIK. The same applies for Tele2 Arena, which is also home to a number of local soccer teams.

Friends Arena in Stockholm holds more than 50,000 fans and is used for the Melodifestivalen Grand Final. Credit: Friends Arena website.

With Eurovision scheduled at the pointy end of the European football season, it might be hard to secure exclusive use of the venue for several weeks. And according to EurovisionFun, the clubs are already offside with the idea, shall we say.

But Friends Arena and Tele2 Arena have retractable roofs and obvious capacity benefits to let more fans in. Tele2 Arena was also reportedly Swedish broadcaster SVT's first choice to host Eurovision in 2016.

Malmö

Malmö Arena: 15,500 capacity

The Malmo Arena hosted the 2013 Eurovision contest in Sweden.

Sweden's third largest city has a tried, tested and proven option with its arena, which hosted the 2013 competition won by neighbours Denmark.

However, with Malmö's metropolitan population around 700,000, is it big enough to host a modern day Contest?

Gothenburg

Scandinavium: 14,000 capacity

Gothenburg's Scandinavium is a famous and longstanding venue in Sweden. Picture: WeGow.

The Scandinavium (great name) is in Sweden's second biggest city and hosted the 1985 contest. However, a short ceiling height and limited rigging weight on its roof may be its downfall.

Finally, there are two other cities which could bid which have 10,000 capacity arenas - Gälve (Monitor ERP Arena) and Sandviken (Göransson Arena). Both previously bid to host Eurovision 2016 but were overlooked, and have populations of less than 100,000. Infact, Sandviken's overall population (39,000) would boom by more than a quarter if it held the contest, just with the arena packed out.

Which city and venue would you like to see host Eurovision 2024 in Sweden? Let us know by leaving a comment below or on our social pages.

For continued updates on all the Eurovision 2024 news follow Aussievision on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube. All links at: https://linktr.ee/aussievisionnet