The society supports opera and ballet arts to give everyone an opportunity to enjoy live performances. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Finnish National Opera and Ballet had to put its performances, free events, and activities for children on hold from 12 March to 3 June 2020 and 23 November to 31 December 2020, following decisions made by the authorities. During these periods, efforts concentrated on offering live streamed and recorded opera and ballet performances via the Stage24 online service, which became the FNOB’s third, digital stage.
The total operational cost of the Finnish National Opera and Ballet in 2020 was 68.3 million euro and the net cost, taking into account the rent grant from the state, was 52.1 million euro. 61.7% of the financing was covered by government funding.
The self-financing ratio in 2020 was 10.3%. This was significantly reduced due to the disrupted operations and restricted auditorium capacity (down from 21.3% in 2019). The municipalities of the metropolitan region (Helsinki, Espoo, Vantaa and Kauniainen) together contributed 8.4% of the total budget, weighted by the number of visitors from each municipality. The rent grant from the state for the Opera House, which is owned by Senate Properties, covered 18.3% of the financing. In addition to this, the state provided 1.3% of the financing of the Ballet School of the Finnish National Opera and Ballet.
As creating a performance requires dozens of pairs of hands, personnel costs account for 80% of the total operating cost. The Finnish National Opera and Ballet has nearly 300 000 visitors per year.