30.05.2017
Essen applies for the location of the International Broadcast Center

The choice of venues for the 2024 European Football Championship has been made, now the decision on the location of the press center is pending. Essen is applying for the International Broadcast Center (IBC) and is one of the finalists to be visited by the UEFA and the DFB as part of their host city tour. Together with Essen's Lord Mayor Thomas Kufen, Messe Essen received the delegation yesterday and promoted the location as a worldwide broadcasting center. The city of Gelsenkirchen, which with the Arena AufSchalke is one of the host stadiums, is supporting the application of the neighbors from Essen.

The choice of venues for the 2024 European Football Championship has been made, now the decision on the location of the press center is pending. Essen is applying for the International Broadcast Center (IBC) and is one of the finalists to be visited by the UEFA and the DFB as part of their host city tour. Together with Essen's Lord Mayor Thomas Kufen, Messe Essen received the delegation yesterday and promoted the location as a worldwide broadcasting center. The city of Gelsenkirchen, which with the Arena AufSchalke is one of the host stadiums, is supporting the application of the neighbors from Essen.

The delegation, led by Martin Kallen, CEO of UEFA Events SA, and Markus Stenger, Managing Director of DFB EURO GmbH, visited Messe Essen to find out about hall capacities, the technical infrastructure and other decisive criteria for choosing an IBC location. "At Messe Essen, we were welcomed in a highly modern fairground that also scores points for its short distances. This applies not only within the grounds, but also with regard to the proximity to the venues in the region," summarizes Martin Kallen.
"Essen is a soccer metropolis and trade fair city. We share this mixture of passion and cosmopolitanism with the idea of the UEFA European Championship," comments Thomas Kufen, Lord Mayor of the City of Essen. "Messe Essen therefore has my full support in its bid to become the location for the IBC of UEFA EURO 2024".

"I am very pleased that Essen is a stop on the Host City Tour and that we have thus had the opportunity to personally communicate the advantages of our location", said Oliver P. Kuhrt, Managing Director of Messe Essen. "At Messe Essen, we welcome several thousand media representatives from over 50 countries every year, who find perfect working conditions in our modernized exhibition center and relaxation in the greenery of the directly adjacent Grugapark. We would very much like to create this setting for the IBC".
In the next few days, the other applicants for the location of the IBC for UEFA EURO 2024 will be examined technically and organizationally. UEFA has announced the decision on where the central hub for media representatives from all over the world will be located in 2024 for November 2020.