Netherlands | The Hague considers 2020 hosting bid if The Netherlands wins

With Eurovision 2019 round the corner and the pre-contest favourites being made, early planning has already started for the 2020 edition of the contest. The Hague has announced that it could potentially put in a bid to host the contest should Duncan Laurence, the 2019 Dutch representative and current bookies favourite to win, take the trophy in Tel Aviv this May. This comes after the parent organisation of the Dutch broadcasters, NPO, announced nearly a month ago that it has made a general plan on hosting in the case of a Dutch win.

After the possibility of hosting was brought up in a city council meeting in the Hague, councillor Ralf Sluijs claims that the city would be a suitable host in 2020 if The Netherlands wins. He also claimed that the 15,000 seater Cars Jeans Stadion, pictured below, could be a potential venue for the contest. Whilst the stadium has a capacity size similar with many previous host venues, it lacks a roof, which one of the main requirements of a host venue. Also, as the venue is the home of AGO Den Haag, a Dutch football club, the contest could potentially cause scheduling conflicts for the club as the football season occurs until late May. So if the Netherlands wins and accepts hosting rights, we would need to wait and see if the venue will be the city's final bid.

The Hague is very familiar with hosting the contest, with the World Forum Convention Centre being the host venue in 1976 as well as in 1980. The contest was also in the Netherlands in two other occasions, in Hilversum and Amsterdam in 1958 and 1970 respectively.

The Netherlands is the current bookies favourite to win at 7/4 at the time of writing. It will be performing 16th in Semi Final 2 on the 16th May.

What do you think about The Hague's potential bid? Do you think it is a suitable venue or is there another venue that you want to see host the contest in 2020? Do you think that the Netherlands will even win the contest this year? Post your opinions in the comments below and be sure to follow us on our social media.