The compiled data includes the estimated Ft 200 billion cost of the athletics arena built for the 2023 World Athletics Championship held in Budapest.

The Pancho Arena in Felcsút, the home village of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, marked the beginning of the stadium development programme aimed at modernising rundown sport infrastructure.

Construction of many stadiums, including the one in Felcsút, was funded through the corporate tax benefit scheme (Tao), introduced in 2011. This provides tax deductions to companies that sponsor sports clubs. Although Orbán claimed that Tao did not constitute public money, the Supreme Court later ruled otherwise.

In Budapest alone, seven new stadiums have been built or renovated.

The construction fever eased early in this decade as new arenas were opened in 2021 and 2022, and only one was completed in 2023.

Fans of Nyíregyháza, promoted to the football league’s top level last season, are awaiting the official opening of the new stadium, which still lacks the financial license to hold matches.

The construction costs overshot the original Ft 13.8 billion target by Ft 3.7 billion, according to an earlier report by Átlátszó.
 

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