Arena Market: Czechia

A long-time EU and Schengen member sitting at the heart of Europe with a burgeoning tech and tourism scene and excellent transport links, Czechia is obviously a natural location for many big concerts. Its proximity to the major territories of Austria and Germany, and good rail and road links to both, allows it to tap into larger markets than might be expected.

The country also loves basketball and ice hockey – both arena sports. The extremely well-regarded Colours of Ostrava Festival brings big names and cool newer acts to Ostrava in the east of the country each July.

The largest arena in the nation is the 18,500-capacity O2 arena in Prague, which celebrates its 20th birthday this year. Depeche Mode played there earlier this year, and it also hosted a K-Pop festival, as well as selling out for local act Ewa Farna. Operators Bestsport partnered with Ticketmaster five years ago on the venue.

“O2 arena enjoyed a successful year in 2023, attracting the third-highest number of visitors in its history over the 91 events it held.”

In a statement, Bestsport said: “O2 arena enjoyed a successful year in 2023, attracting the third-highest number of visitors in its history over the 91 events it held. Close to 1m people attended musical, sports, and other events, bringing the total number of visitors since 2004, when the arena opened, to almost 13.3m.

“The biggest draws last year included concerts by Iron Maiden, Roger Waters, and local band Queenie’s Queen Relived, all of whom performed twice in a row. Bryan Adams, KISS, and Måneskin filled the O2 arena to capacity.” The complex also includes the O2 universum and a hotel.

Other venues in Czechia include TipSport Arena in Prague (15,000), Winning Group Arena in Brno (7,200), and Enteria Arena in the secondary city of Pardubice (10,000). The latter has lined up Alice Cooper and Seal as part of its 2024 programme.

Tipsport Arena has actually been around since 1962 as primarily a multisport arena for ice hockey and tennis. It hit the headlines in 2018 when Jason Derulo was forced to cancel a gig there and instead sang to fans from the balcony.