Royal Arena

The Royal Arena^[1] is a multi-use indoor arena in the Ørestad South area of Copenhagen, Denmark. The ground was broken for construction on 26 June 2013^[2] and the arena opened in February 2017. It has a capacity of 13,000 for sporting events and up to 16,000 (either sitting or standing) for concerts.

Royal Arena

Copenhagen Arena
Location	Ørestad Syd, Copenhagen
Coordinates	55.624°N 12.574°E / 55.624; 12.574
Owner	Arena CPHX P/S
Operator	Danish Venue Enterprise
Capacity	12,500 (ice hockey) 13,000 (handball) 17,000 (concerts)
Construction
Broke ground	26 June 2013
Built	2013–2016
Opened	3 February 2017
Construction cost	DKK 1 billion EUR € 134 million
Architect	3XN (primary) HKS, Inc. (arena experts) Planit IE (landscape)
Structural engineer	Arup and ME Engineers
Website
www.royalarena.dk

Background

IIHF World Championship 2018. Royal Arena

In Copenhagen, Parken Stadium, which is primarily a football stadium, is the largest indoor arena in Denmark (when its retractable roof is closed), with a seating capacity of 38,065. For most international sporting events, Brøndby Hall and Ballerup Super Arena were not considered large enough, while Parken Stadium is too large.

While the Malmö Arena in Sweden, across from Copenhagen on the eastern side of the Øresund strait (which forms the Denmark–Sweden border), was suitable for regional and international events requiring an indoor arena with a capacity of 10,000–20,000, it could not be expected to serve Danish domestic events. Copenhagen also wished to host its own international events, such as the Eurovision Song Contest, World Men's Handball Championship, Ice Hockey World Championship, FINA World Aquatics Championships, and major concerts. Thus, the decision was made to build an arena of this size in Copenhagen.

Construction

The overall Ørestad area was first chosen by the city council for redevelopment in 1993. The arena project, seen as an important addition to the development plan, was presented at a press conference at Bella Sky Hotel on 23 September 2011. The design of the arena was presented on 7 June 2012. The winning design team consisted of 3XN, HKS, Inc., Arup, ME Engineers and Planit. This team provided a distinctly Nordic design for the arena.^[3][4]

Financing and operation

The arena under construction in September 2016

Realdania and Copenhagen Municipality each made DKK 325,000,000 available for the project, while the Elite Facility Committee provided a construction grant, and operating grants were provided by the National Olympic Committee and Sports Confederation of Denmark. The site was made available by CPH City & Port Development. The chosen operator had to arrange the rest of the financing.

Although five companies qualified to bid as arena operators, Live Nation was selected as operator^[5] ahead of AEG Facilities in December 2011.

In 2014, Danish brewery Royal Unibrew was announced as the commercial sponsor, earning the naming rights ("Royal") on the arena.^[6]

Notable events

2017 European Short Course Championships

On 26 September 2016, Metallica announced via their blog^[7] that they will be "the first event ever held" at the new arena. Their shows are scheduled for the first week of February 2017. The Weeknd performed at the arena as part of his Starboy: Legend of the Fall Tour on 20 February 2017.^[8]

The 2017 European Short Course Swimming Championships was the first major sporting event in the arena, with a capacity of circa 12,500.^[9] The arena was one of two arenas (the other being Jyske Bank Boxen) to host the 2018 IIHF World Championship.^[10][11] The Royal Arena was one of eight venues in Denmark and Germany to host the 2019 World Men's Handball Championship. It was also used for the 2018 Spring European League of Legends Championship Series third-place decider and finals on 7 April 2018, and 8 April 2018, respectively.^[12]

On 28 September 2019, the arena hosted Denmark's first UFC event, UFC Fight Night: Hermansson vs. Cannonier.^[13]

It was announced that the Royal Arena would host the 2021 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships from 18 to 24 October 2021, before the Danish Gymnastics Federation withdrew from hosting in July 2020.^[14] It will be one of eleven venues in Croatia, Denmark and Norway for the 2025 World Men's Handball Championship.

Since 2017, the arena has regularly hosted Counter-Strike: Global Offensive tournaments organized by BLAST Pro Series (now BLAST Premier as of 2020). The Royal Arena will host the first Counter-Strike 2 Major tournament in March 2024 with PGL Major Copenhagen 2024^[15] and Dota 2 premier annual tournament The International in September 2024.^[16]

Concerts

Entertainment events in Royal Arena
Date	Artist	Tour	Attendance
2017
3 February	Metallica	WorldWired Tour	46,500
7 February
9 February
17 February	D-A-D & Dizzy Mizz Lizzy		16,000
20 February	The Weeknd	Starboy: Legend of the Fall Tour	15,500
23 February	Rod Stewart	HITS 2017	9,500
4 March	Avenged Sevenfold		10,000
3 March	Drake	Boy Meets World Tour	16,000
18 March	Marcus & Martinus	Together Tour	14,000
23 March	Cirque Du Soleil	Varekai
24 March
25 March
26 March
29 March	Dave Matthews & Tim Reynolds
19 April	We Will Rock You
20 April
21 April
22 April
23 April
27 April
28 April
29 April
30 April
4 May
5 May
6 May
7 May
9 May	John Mayer	The Search for Everything World Tour	16,000
18 May	Bruno Mars	24K Magic World Tour	16,000
24 May	Nik & Jay		14,000
2 June	André Rieu
5 June	Aerosmith	Aero Vederci Baby Tour	12,000
15 June	Celine Dion	Celine Dion Live 2017	13,269
2 September	Metallica	WorldWired Tour	15,500
9 September	Guldtuben
15. September	Riverdance
16. September
24 September	Sting	57th & 9th Tour	8,000
28 September	John Legend		7,000
29 September	Ricky Gervais
5 October	Chris Rock
20 October	Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
25 October	Cats
26 October
27 October
28 October
29 October
4 November	Gorillaz	Humanz Tour	16,000
11 November	Carpark North		6,000
20 November	Five Finger Death Punch & In Flames		10,000
22 November	Queen + Adam Lambert	Queen + Adam Lambert Tour 2017-2018	16,000
29 November	Scorpions		10,000
29. December	Comedy Aid
2018
9 January	Depeche Mode	Global Spirit Tour	15.461
31 January	Zulu Awards
2 February	Gulddreng
8 February	Alex Vargas
10 February	Marcus & Martinus	Moments Tour
11 February	Kygo
25 February	The Killers	Wonderful Wonderful World Tour
1 March	Kendrick Lamar	Damn Tour	15.187
9 March	Erasure
10 March	Chainsmokers
19 March	Harry Styles	Harry Styles: Live on Tour	10.580
7 April	League of Legends	EU LCS Spring 3rd Place Decider	Over 18000
8 April
20 April	Sam Smith	The Thrill of It All Tour	13.404
27 May	Denmark Celebrate The Crown Prince
1 June	Game of Thrones	Game of Thrones Live Concert Experience
3 June	Enrique Iglesias	Enrique Iglesias Live	15,500
5 June	Iron Maiden	Legacy of the Beast World Tour	16,000
8 June	Katy Perry	Witness: The Tour	16, 000
10 June	Judas Priest & Megadeth		6,500
15 June	Fast & Furious	Fast & Furious Live
16 June
16 June
22 June	Runrig
23 June	André Rieu
27 June	Arctic Monkeys
3 July	Paul Simon	Homeward Bound - The Farewell Tour
4 August	Justin Timberlake	Man of the Woods Tour	26,234
5 August
10 August	Roger Waters	Us + Them Tour	23.512
11 August
5 September	Kevin Hart	What Now Tour
15 September	50 Cent	Get Rich Or Die Tryin'
16 September	Jeff Lynne's ELO
22. September	Guldtuben
29 September	U2	Experience + Innocence Tour	31,012
30 September
6 October	Nephew
13 October	Dave Chappelle & Jon Stewart
14 October	Shania Twain	Shania Now Tour
25 October	Anders Matthesen	25th Anniversary
26 October
27 October
28 October	Bon Iver
30 November	Paul McCartney	Freshen Up (tour)	15.143
1 December	MØ	Forever Neverland tour	16,000
3 December	Slayer
4 December	Mariah Carey	All I Want for Christmas Is You, a Night of Joy and Festivity
2019
29 January	Lukas Graham	Purple Tour
30 January
31 January
11 February	Twenty One Pilots	Bandito Tour
21 February	Steve Wilson
23 February	Passionata
1 March	Nicki Minaj & Future	NickiHndrxx Tour
2 March	Post Malone
7 March	Anderson .Paak	Andy's Beach Club World Tour
12 March	Andrea Bocelli
16 March	Shawn Mendes	Shawn Mendes: The Tour	13.297
17 March	Dave Matthews Band
9 April	Michelle Obama
26 April	The Illusionist
27 April
28 April
3 May	Michael McIntyre
10 May	Walking With Dinosaurs
11 May
12 May
17 May	Mumford & Sons	Delta Tour
18 May	Elton John	Farewell Yellow Brick Road	13.186
21 May	Gods Of Rap
31 May	Anne Linnet, Sanne Salomonsen & Lis Sørensen
1 June
4 June	Tenacious D	Post-Apocalypto Tour
6 June	Elton John	Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour	13.279
8 June	Backstreet Boys	DNA World Tour	15.505
10 June	The Eagles
15 June	Mark Knopfler	Down The Road Wherever Tour
22 June	André Rieu
11 July	John Fogerty
8 September	Muse	Simulation Theory World Tour
14 September	Khalid	Free Spirit World Tour	11.993
19. September	Mads & Monopolet
25 September	Alice Cooper
1 October	Ariana Grande	Sweetener World Tour	15.473
5 October	Brad Paisley
6 October	John Mayer
15 October	Cher	Here We Go Again Tour	13.015
26 October	Michael Bublé	An Evening with Michael Bublé
27 October
9 November	Phlake
23 November	The Minds Of 99
29 November	The National
1 December	Volbeat
5 December	Björk	Cornucopia
2020
17 January	Hot Wheels Monster Trucks Live
18 January
24 January	Five Finger Death Punch
15 February	Disney On Ice
16. February
20 February	Slipknot
21 February	Stormzy
22 February	Halsey	Manic World Tour	3.937
29 February	MGP Junior (Danish TV series)
7 March	Dansk Melodi Grand Prix		0 (due to Covid)
2021
11 September	Jesus Christ Superstar
23 October	Rick Astley
2 December	jung
9 December	Ricky Gervais
2022
22 March	Louis C.K.
7 April	The Minds of 99	Infinity Action Tour
8 April
16 April	Dizzy Mizz Lizzy	Alter Eco Tour
23 April	Tool
27 April	Hans Zimmer
29 April	A-Ha
24 May	Trevor Noah	Back To Abnormal Tour
27 May	Kashmir	Reunion Tour
28 May
31 May	Jeff Dunham	Seriously!?
1 June	Gabriel Iglesias
9 June	Alanis Morissette	Alanis Morissette World Tour 2022
11 June	Adam & Noah	Farewell Show (Farvel & Tjak)
14 June	Eric Clapton	Summer 2022 European Tour
15 June
24 June	André Rieu
28 June	Five Finger Death Punch
5 July	Pearl Jam	Gigaton Tour
17 July	Queen + Adam Lambert	The Rhapsody Tour
18 July
20 July	Brad Paisley	World Tour 2022
13 August	Toto
22 August	Tame Impala
7 October	Deep Purple	Whoosh! Tour 2022
14 October	The Cure	2022 European Tour
15 October	Kendrick Lamar	The Big Steppers Tour
21 October	Sting	My Songs Tour
29 October	Gilli
3 November	Cirque du Soleil	Corteo
4 November
5 November
6 November
9 November	Swedish House Mafia	Paradise Again World Tour
11 November	Jada
12 November	Saveus
11 December	Simply Red	Blue Eyed Soul World Tour 2022
15 December	Blackpink	Born Pink World Tour	15,525
2023
16 February	George Ezra
18 February	Lizzo	The Special Tour
27 February	Robbie Williams	XXV Tour
4 March	ATEEZ	THE FELLOWSHIP: BREAK THE WALL
28 March	Andrea Bocelli
30 March	Dean Lewis	The Future is Bright Tour
1 April	Tobias Rahim
30 April	Sabaton	The Tour To End All Tours
2 May	Måneskin	Loud Kids Tour
3 June	Wu Tang Clan Nas	NY State Of Mind Tour
5 July	Elton John	Farewell Yellow Brick Road
7 July	Pet Shop Boys	Dreamworld Tour
30 September	50 Cent	The Final Lap Tour	Busta Rhymes
25 October	Madonna	The Celebration Tour
26 October
2024
1 May	Tenacious D	The Spicy Meatball Tour	Crusade
20 May	Jonas Brothers	Five Albums. One Night. The World Tour
30 May	Olivia Rodrigo	Guts World Tour
11 June	Nicki Minaj	Pink Friday 2 World Tour
29 August	Justin Timberlake	The Forget Tomorrow World Tour
30 August
3 November	NCT DREAM	The Dream Show 3: Dream( )scape

See also

• List of indoor arenas in Denmark
• List of indoor arenas in Nordic countries

References

1. "Den kommende arena i hovedstaden hedder nu Royal Arena". Retrieved 30 April 2014.
2. "Nyheder: Nu begynder byggeriet af Københavns nye arena". Copenhagen-arena.dk. 26 June 2013.
3. Gregersen, Rasmus. "Copenhagen Arena får markant nordisk design". Building Supply. Retrieved 6 June 2012.
4. "Copenhagen Arena". 3XN. Retrieved 13 June 2012.
5. Hanley, James (9 December 2016). "Live Nation to manage Copenhagen's Royal Arena". Music Week. Retrieved 16 December 2016.
6. "Royal Unibrew lægger navn til Københavns nye multiarena" (PDF). Press release by Royal Unibrew and Danish Venue Enterprise. 30 April 2014. Retrieved 7 December 2017.
7. "WORLDWIRED TOUR TRAVELS TO COPENHAGEN". Retrieved 29 September 2016.
8. Yoo, Noah (31 October 2016). "The Weeknd Announces Tour". Pitchfork. Retrieved 31 October 2016.
9. Butler, Nick (20 October 2015). "Copenhagen to host 2017 European Short Course Swimming Championships". Inside the Games. Retrieved 6 December 2015.
10. "Denmark to host Ice Hockey World Championship in 2018". TASS. 23 May 2014. Retrieved 31 August 2018.
11. To Denmark in 2018
12. Adam Newell (16 February 2018). "The EU LCS Spring Split Finals will take place in Copenhagen's Royal Arena on April 7 to 8 s". Dot Esports. Retrieved 6 March 2021.
13. "UFC Fight Night: Hermansson vs. Cannonier". www.ufc.com. UFC. Retrieved 22 August 2019.
14. "FIG - Event Detail".
15. "PGL announces Counter-Strike 2 Major Copenhagen 2024". Esports Insider. 28 March 2023. Retrieved 6 February 2024.
16. "The International 2024". Dota 2. Retrieved 9 March 2024.

External links

Media related to Royal Arena at Wikimedia Commons

• Official website