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The big screen was ready – then the shock bill arrived
🇳🇴 Norway /Culture & Society

The big screen was ready – then the shock bill arrived

From Aftenposten · () Norwegian

Translated from Norwegian, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

Analysis Sources not specified Context piece
  • Public viewing of the FIFA World Cup was unavailable in 82.3% of Norwegian towns due to high costs.
  • Restaurants faced prohibitive fees of up to 80,000 kroner for public screenings, leading many to decline.
  • The article calls for a government review of public viewing rights to ensure smaller communities can participate in national sporting events.

The dream of a village gathering to watch Norway play in the World Cup on a big screen at Harrys Spiseri in Leksvik dissolved with a shocking invoice. The cost for public viewing was 64,000 kroner before tax, totaling 80,000 kroner with tax, a price too steep for the restaurant with 80 seats.

Public viewing would have cost 64,000 kroner excl. VAT – 80,000 kroner incl. VAT – for a serving establishment with 80 seats.

— Article authorDescribing the prohibitive cost of public World Cup screenings for a restaurant.

This was not an isolated incident. A subsequent offer for public viewing of the next six national matches from TV distributor Allente came in at 23,938 kroner per month with a 12-month commitment, confirming the issue extends beyond the World Cup. This pricing structure effectively excludes many small businesses.

Data reveals a stark reality: only 650 registered viewing locations existed across Norway, a mere 4.5% of the country's approximately 14,500 eateries. Furthermore, only 214 out of 1208 towns had a registered public viewing option, meaning 82.3% of Norwegian towns lacked access to watch the national team's matches.

This week we received a new offer from the TV distributor Allente for public viewing of the next six national matches. The price was 23,938 kroner per month, with a 12-month binding period.

— Article authorIllustrating that the high cost issue is ongoing and not limited to the World Cup.

This situation contradicts political rhetoric about vibrant local communities and support for small businesses. While politicians speak of national celebrations, the high cost of broadcasting rights prevents many local meeting places, which also serve as hubs for sports, culture, and social events, from participating. The article argues this is not merely a market issue but a failure to align political goals with reality.

This means that only 4.5 percent of the country's serving establishments showed the World Cup.

— Article authorPresenting a statistic on the low participation of Norwegian eateries in public World Cup screenings.

The author urges the government to initiate a review of public viewing rights with three key objectives: enabling small eateries to participate, ensuring fairer competition between businesses of different sizes, and allowing more communities to share in national sporting events. A turnover-based payment model is suggested as one potential solution to balance revenue for rights holders with accessibility for local communities. The true measure of a national celebration, the article concludes, lies not just in viewership numbers but in the number of communities that had the opportunity to come together.

This means that 82.3 percent of Norwegian towns did not have a registered offer for public viewing of Norway's matches.

— Article authorHighlighting the widespread lack of public viewing options in Norwegian towns.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Aftenposten in Norwegian. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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