Malmö Arena

History

Though it is Sweden's third most populous city, Malmö often missed the possibility to host larger concert and music events because it lacked a suitable indoor arena. When the City Tunnel project was initiated by Malmö Stad in the late 1990s, the city began to plan a new district in Hyllievång. This led to the decision to build Hyllie station in 2001, as a part of the tunnel project, to boost the development of the new district. The ice hockey club Malmö Redhawks, which was the proposed main tenant of the new arena, was initially uncertain of the new project and wanted to renovate its present home, the Malmö Isstadion, instead of moving to an entirely new arena. However, the Redhawks were convinced when Percy Nilsson of Parkfast AB contributed seven million kronor to help the club's financial situation.

The decision to build an arena in the area was first presented by Nilsson in May 1997, and developed further over the following decade. The permit to start building Malmö Arena was granted in September 2006, and the first sod was turned on 10 January 2007 by Nilsson, hockey players Pekka Lindmark, Juha Rihiijärvi, and Carl Söderberg, and two politicians from Malmö Stad. The main contractors for the building of the arena were Parkfast AB, with the collaboration of the structural engineer Byggteknik i Skåne. The arena was designed by Mats Matson of MM Matsson Konsult AB, Hannu Helkiö of Pöyry Architects, and Gert Wingårdh of Wingårdh arkitektkontor. The final construction cost for the arena was 750 million kronor – 100 million kronor over budget because of additions to the initial plan. The arena was entirely financed by Percy Nilsson of Parkfast AB. Malmö Arena was inaugurated on 6 November 2008 with a large concert featuring a variety of artists, among them Robyn, Helen Sjöholm, Sanne Salomonsen, and Jill Johnson.

The name of the arena was discussed during 2007, with Malmö Arena or Hyllie Arena discussed as potential options. The naming rights were eventually sold to Malmö Stad for 10 years in a deal worth 50 million kronor. Nilsson wished for the arena to have "Malmö" in its name because the city's new association football stadium, Swedbank Stadion, did not.

Sports

Malmö Arena has hosted the home matches of the ice hockey club Malmö Redhawks since 2008, replacing their former home, the Malmö Isstadion. The team play their matches in the SHL, the first tier of Swedish ice hockey. Malmö Redhawks play 26 matches per season at the arena (excluding play-offs), making them the arena's most regular tenant. Malmö Arena was the main venue for the 2014 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships.

In addition to ice hockey, Malmö Arena hosted 22 matches of the 2011 World Men's Handball Championships, including the bronze medal match, and the final, between France and Denmark, which was won by France. Malmö Arena hosted the playoff finals of the men's and women's Swedish national team handball championship in 2010 and 2012. Malmö Arena was also scheduled to host the 2013 finals, but they were moved elsewhere when the arena was chosen as the host for the 2013 Eurovision Song Contest, which is scheduled to take place five days after the handball finals. In floorball, the arena served as the final venue for the 2010–11 and 2011–12 Swedish Super League finals.

Malmö Arena was used for athletics in February 2009, when the arena hosted "Malmö Indoor Gala", a newly founded indoor athletics competition, organised by Malmö Allmänna Idrottsförening (MAI). Several international athletes were invited to compete, including pole vault Olympic champion Yelena Isinbayeva, but she turned down the invitation due to illness. Many other major athletes refused their invitations for a variety of reasons, causing the competition to attract only meagre interest from the public. No more than 7,000 spectators attended, making the competition a financial failure. The competition was therefore not held again.

Other events

Malmö Arena has hosted several concerts as well as other music events such as Christmas shows and musicals. Britney Spears performed at the arena on 11 October 2011 during her Femme Fatale Tour. Rihanna was scheduled to bring her Loud Tour to Malmö Arena on 31 October 2011, but the event was cancelled with only a few hours' notice because of health issues - she eventually did perform at the venue in August 2016. Other international artists who have performed at the arena are Bob Dylan, Cliff Richard, Tom Jones, Lady Gaga, and many others. The Lady Gaga show holds the attendance record for concerts at the arena, having drawn a crowd of 11,300; the cancelled Rihanna concert would have set a new record with 11,700 tickets sold. The semi-finals of Melodifestivalen, Sweden's national song contest, were held at the arena in 2009, 2010, 2011, and 2012. Malmö Arena also hosted Fotbollsgalan, Sweden's award ceremony for domestic football, in 2009 and 2010.

The arena was selected to host the 2013 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place in May that year. Malmö Arena's main contenders for this were the Friends Arena in Stockholm and Scandinavium in Gothenburg. Sveriges Television (SVT) decided on Malmö Arena because of the good transport links around the arena, as well as SVT's previous experiences hosting Melodifestivalen heats at the arena. SVT also expressed the desire to host the contest at a slightly smaller venue than previous years to increase the Eurovision experience.

Structure and facilities

Malmö Arena has an overall capacity of 13,000 for sporting events; for concerts and other events, the capacity can be as low as 500 or as high as 15,500, depending on where the stage is placed. The lower tier of the northern stand of the arena can be turned into terracing for sports. The arena can also be used for dancing and dining: the capacity is 5,000 for dancing, and between 50 and 2,000 for dining events. The arena has 72 luxury suites, which can be rented for different events. Of these, 60 have an area of between 27 m² (290 sq ft) and 40 m² (430 sq ft), and 12 have an area of 70 m² (750 sq ft). There are also two restaurants and four bars in the arena, with a total capacity of 3,250, 20 kiosks, and fast food locations. There are 370 toilets in the arena.

The floor area of the inner part of the arena is 3,200 m² (34,000 sq ft) at its maximum, and the maximum ceiling height is 22.5 m (74 ft). The total floor area of the entire arena, including corridors and interior space, is 51,000 m² (550,000 sq ft). There are a total of eight changing rooms for athletes and performers, two of which are adapted for use by the disabled. The southern part of the arena has offices on six different floors. Office space in the arena totals 7,950 m² (85,600 sq ft). Malmö Redhawks and other companies have offices in these areas.

The arena has a stand on each of the floor area's four sides. The northern part of the arena has two tiers for seating, while the south stand has only one tier for seating; the upper tier is reserved for executive suites and restaurant space. The southern stand also has 53 disabled places, with the same number of spaces for their companions. There are 36 entrances to the inner part of the arena. In the northern part of the arena, there are facilities for ice hockey practice.

The shopping mall Emporia is located next to the arena.

Transport

Malmö Arena is currently served by Malmö bus lines 6, 8, 33, as well as several regional bus lines, all of which stop in the vicinity of the arena. The stadium is also located close to the partially underground railway station Hyllie, which opened in December 2010 as a part of Citytunneln. The station is served by Pågatåg and Öresund Trains, and is reachable non-stop from many parts of the Øresund Region. From Hyllie railway station, spectators can reach Malmö Central Station in 7 minutes, or Copenhagen Airport in 12 minutes.

Parking is available on the western, northern, and eastern sides of the arena. In total, 3,400 parking spaces are available. These areas are operated by Malmö Stad. There is also a parking garage named "P-huset Hyllie" located on the eastern side of Hyllie station. This garage is open all hours and can accommodate 1,400 vehicles. There is also an interior parking garage in the arena with room for 200 vehicles.

It is also possible to walk or cycle to the arena from central Malmö via Kroksbäck and Kroksbäcksparken. An area reserved for the parking of up to 1,000 bicycles is located on the eastern side of the arena. There are areas for charter buses as well as taxis beside the arena's main and side entrances.