Life begins at 40 for Paris’ Accor Arena
The team behind Paris’ Accor Arena tell IQ they are laying the groundwork for a new chapter for the French venue after celebrating its 40th anniversary.
The 20,300-cap arena in Bercy reached the milestone this year, marking the occasion with a live recording of flagship French TV show Taratata on 19 September.
The charity show, which saw the building return to business as usual after serving as a host venue for the Paris Olympics, starred a number of acts with links to the venue.
“We had 70 artists who had played at the arena in the last 40 years, so part of our history was represented on stage,” reports Accor Arena CEO Nicolas Dupeux. “We celebrated big time, but it was very emotional as well.
“2024 is a special year for us for two reasons. One, is because we hosted the Olympics. That is something you get to do just once in your life, so you can never forget it. And it’s our anniversary as well, so we combined two very strong events in the same year.”
“Artists wanted to go to Paris before, but they want now to come here even more”
Dupeux suggests the disruption caused to the arena’s traditional schedule by the Olympics was minimal, adding that the Games acted as the ultimate advert for the city.
“We closed on 15 June, meaning that we just lost two weeks of our normal period so there was not such a big impact on our calendar,” he says. “When you saw the opening ceremony on the river, you could see that Paris is the centre of the music stage in the world. Artists wanted to go to Paris before, but they want now to come here even more.”
Concert bookings at Accor Arena over the next few months include Ms Lauryn Hill & the Fugees, Cigarettes After Sex, Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds, Childish Gambino, Kygo, SCH, Slipknot, Justice, Sabrina Carpenter, Cyndi Lauper, Usher, Twenty One Pilots, DJ Snake and Billie Eilish.
According to Dupeux, live music accounts for 75-80% of the arena’s programming, with a roughly even split between domestic and international artists. However, a major annual draw is a sporting event – the NBA Paris Games, with San Antonio Spurs set to take on the Indiana Pacers at Accor Arena on 23 & 25 January 2025.
Demand for tickets is expected to be even higher than normal due to the popularity of French basketball superstar Victor Wembanyama (aka “Wemby”), who plays for the Spurs.
“Our first ever NBA game was in 2020 and then in 2025 we will host two games with Wemby, and it will be amazing, because Wemby is French and is an icon of the NBA in the US,” smiles Dupeux.
“2025 will be one of our best years ever. We should break records in terms of the number of events hosted at the arena”
Next year, which also marks a decade of the venue’s ongoing naming rights deal with hospitality giant Accor, is on track to be its biggest yet, he adds.
“2025 will be one of our best years ever,” says Dupeux. “We should break records in terms of the number of events hosted at the arena. We recovered very fast after the pandemic and three years later, it’s even stronger than before. The live sector is very strong, so it will be a crazy year.”
Accor Arena has hosted icons such as Queen, Madonna, U2, Celine Dion, Metallica, Prince, Bruce Springsteen, Beyoncé and Paul McCartney since opening in 1984. Dupeux, who has led the venue for six years, considers U2’s 2018 concerts to be a personal highlight.
“We have a special relationship with U2, because they played the day before the attacks in Paris in 2015,” he explains. “They had to stop their two other shows because it was after the attack and they came back a few months later, so we already had a strong relationship with them.
“They are one of my favourite bands as well, so when I had the chance to get them in 2018 – and it was just six months after my arrival at the arena – it ticked a lot of boxes, emotionally speaking. But every show is very important and brings a different memory.”
Looking ahead, Dupeux speaks of plans to transform the venue and the surrounding area into a fully-fledged entertainment district, complete with facilities such as bars, restaurants and an outdoor cinema.
“We did that this year and last year, and we want to go further,” he adds. “We want to amplify this strategy: to create events, to create activities before, after and outside events to make our venue a real destination for everybody. We are thinking about creating some summer events in the park next to the arena and we want to create sports events outdoors to make people come to our destination every day.”
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EAA appoints PEC chief as director, adds new arena
The European Arenas Association (EAA) has appointed Paris Entertainment Company CEO Nicolas Dupeux to its the board of directors effective immediately and welcomed the UK’s Co-op Live as a new member.
The announcements were made at the association’s recent spring general meeting at the Schleyer-Halle and Porsche Arena in Stuttgart, Germany.
PEC is the umbrella organisation operating Accor Arena, the Bataclan, and Adidas Arena. Prior to taking up his position at with the company in 2018, Dupeux was general manager of business solutions.
“I look forward very much to welcoming Nicolas as a board member,” says EAA president Olivier Toth. “His extensive
experience and industry presence will add great value to the association as we continue to develop our activity across the key pillars of knowledge-sharing, networking and representation.”
Dupeux will be directly responsible for the members from the central European region and joins board members Jorge Vinha da Silva of Altice Arena Lisbon covering the southern region, Konrad Koziol of Arena Gliwice covering the eastern region, Lotta Nibell, of Got Event AB Gothenburg covering the northern region and Adrian Doyle of The Odyssey Trust Belfast covering the western region.
“The demand for entertainment is booming in Europe”
“The demand for entertainment is booming in Europe and we have taken this into account in the development of the customer experiences at the Accor Arena,” adds Dupeux. “I’m really enthusiastic to discuss with my counterparts about their ecosystem and to share with them what we’ve learned about our transformation and the creation of a unique business model in France”.
Meanwhile, Co-op Live, which is under construction in Manchester, UK, is the fifth new arena to become a member since the EAA set out its realigned vision in 2021 to become the leading authority on arenas in Europe.
The purpose-built, music-first Co-op Live will have a maximum capacity of 23,500, making it the largest indoor live entertainment venue in the UK. It will also be one of the most sustainable live entertainment venues, supporting Manchester’s net zero carbon pledge.
“We continue to follow our policy to embrace new members that enhance our existing expertise,” says Toth. “Co-op Live is setting the standard for the modern arena to deliver a safe, sustainable and inclusive entertainment environment for all stakeholders and we are very pleased they are joining us in our efforts to build a better and stronger industry.”
“We look forward to working closely with The EAA to further cement the evolving role of venues on a local, national, and international scale”
EVP business development OVG International Brian Kabatznick says: “We are delighted to have Manchester’s innovative Co-op Live join the European Arenas Association, of which many of our senior executive team have previously been members. As part of the EAA, we look forward to sharing and learning best practice to further develop our industry, and to keep Co-op Live at the top of its game.”
Co-op Live executive director and general manager Gary Roden adds: “Co-op Live is preparing to bring the best global talent to Manchester with a strong commitment to community and planet. As the UK’s largest and most sustainable live entertainment arena, we look forward to working closely with The EAA to further cement the evolving role of venues on a local, national, and international scale.”
The EAA represents 37 arenas in 20 European countries. In 2022, the association’s member arenas hosted over 2,700 annual events attracting a total audience of more than 18 million people.
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