Who paid for Madonna’s concert? Understand how the show was made possible

The historic show Madonna at the Rio de Janeiro last Saturday, 4th, took around 1.6 million people to Copacabana beach, according to Riotur estimates. The performance surpassed the record of the also memorable show by Rolling Stones in Copacabana.

Around R$59.9 million was spent on the event, according to a spreadsheet sent by the production company Bonus Track to the government of the State of Rio de Janeiro. Most of this amount was paid by sponsoring brands. Furthermore, the show significantly impacted Rio’s economy last weekend.

Who paid for the show?

Madonna’s show was sponsored by Itaú and Heineken. The brands paid for most of the event.

The city council invested R$10 million to hold the show, the same amount invested by the government of the state of Rio de Janeiro. No federal government resources were spent on Madonna’s presentation.

A lot of fake news circulated last weekend, claiming that the federal government had spent money on the event. The information was denied by the chief minister of the Social Communication Secretariat of the Lula government, Paulo Pimenta, on social media last Sunday, 5th.

“The Madonna Show did not receive money from the Federal Government, the show was sponsored by Itaú and Heineken, in addition to support from the Government of RJ and the City of RJ”, he wrote.

What was the response from the event?

In a projection released by the city hall before the event, it was estimated that Madonna’s show would generate around R$293 million in the local economy.

The study also concluded that the extra collection of Service Tax (ISS) in May would be sufficient to recover the contribution of public resources.

“Based on data from the event organization, compiled by SMTUR, the international media exposure of Madonna’s show in Rio, after the official announcement, reached US$43.9 million in advertising terms – the equivalent of R$217.6 million (more than 20 times the City Hall’s investment). This means that the City of Rio, if it carried out an advertising campaign in the international press, would have to spend more than R$ 200 million, achieved, spontaneously, with the officialization of the show. “, argues the note from Rio’s city hall.