Arena Market: The Netherlands

The Netherlands has long been a priority stop on European tours for international acts because of its geographical positioning (close to a variety of key territories), but it has also got a very strong domestic touring market.

The Ziggo Dome (16,800 standing, 12,950 seated) in Amsterdam is the country’s biggest arena and is a major music venue, with 95% of its annual bookings being music-related.

Acts playing this year include Diana Ross, Justin Timberlake & Olivia Rodrigo, and Lenny Kravitz. It also hosts comedy, sport, and family and corporate events.

Irene Peters, business director at Ziggo Dome, says this heavy demand for music is both a blessing and a curse. “The challenge facing the venue sector is scarcity of dates due to high demand, both internationally and domestically,” she says. “In the domestic market, it becomes more and more challenging to organise profitable events. Not only is the increase of costs a factor in this but also the wide offer of events in the Netherlands. This is also traced back to a decrease in ticketing sales for some events that used to be very successful.”

“The challenge facing the venue sector is scarcity of dates due to high demand, both internationally and domestically”

Ronald Fiolet, operations director at Ziggo Dome, says the venue is continually being modernised and its offerings expanded. “We are looking at implementing a QR-code-based pre-ordering system for food and beverages, and we have recently renewed the CCTV system,” he says. “Besides technological updates, we have realised multiple infrastructural changes such as the opening of a brand-new restaurant above our entrance.”

While the venue’s bookings are 50/50 international and domestic, they are experiencing a particular boom around local acts. “We see an increase in the popularity of Dutch artists – both young, new talent as well as well-known artists from the 1990s who are making a comeback,” says Fiolet.

AFAS Live (6,000), part of Live Nation, is the other competing arena in the capital. Acts playing in 2024 include Pulp, Sean Paul, Fontaines D.C., and Itzy. It also offers the Black Box, an adaptable and scalable events space that can work for audiences of 250 to 6,000 people.

The other major arena in the country is the Live Nation- owned Ahoy (16,426 standing, 11,787 seated) in the country’s second-largest city, Rotterdam. Within the venue is the newer RTM Stage (7,842 standing, 4,398 seated), which opened in autumn 2020 and is described as the Ahoy’s “little brother.”

“Rotterdam Ahoy is the only Dutch venue that has two arenas, six event halls, and a convention centre all under one roof”

The Ahoy itself also serves as a nightclub and can be converted to host major tennis tournaments. Events at the Ahoy this year include the North Sea Jazz Festival, Bryan Adams, Jason Derulo, Sting, and The World of Hans Zimmer, while the RTM Stage has Star Wars: A New Hope, Arijit Singh, and Trevor Noah.

Arnaud Hordijk, head of entertainment and sports at the Ahoy, says that dance music and domestic acts perform particularly well at the venue. He adds that having two major venues together gives the venue a unique advantage in the market and also allows acts to scale up or scale down their show depending on demand.

“Rotterdam Ahoy is the only Dutch venue that has two arenas, six event halls, and a convention centre all under one roof,” he says. “When available, an artist can change from the arena to the RTM Stage and vice versa depending on ticket sales.”

Hordijk notes an interesting post-Covid audience trend where “we see that seated tickets sell better than standing tickets,” suggesting venues will have to become more flexible in how they can toggle between seated and standing shows. He also reveals that audiences “are willing to pay more to get an extra experience like VIP treatment and better seats,” showing how upsell options should work today.

He does, however, note that this is only for certain audience members and that price sensitivity for audiences as a whole is paramount, even if wider event costs are rising.

“A challenge is inflation and rising costs for producing large events – materials, labour costs etc.,” he notes, before cautioning. “You cannot keep [increasing] ticket prices.”