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 Interactive map of Nationalarenan Strawberry Arena | |
| Full name | Strawberry Arena |
|---|---|
| Former names | Swedbank Arena (2009–2012) Friends Arena (2012–2024) |
| Address | Stockholm Sweden |
| Location | Solna,Stockholm,Sweden |
| Coordinates | 59°22′21″N18°00′00″E / 59.37250°N 18.00000°E /59.37250; 18.00000 |
| Owner | Swedish Football Association,Folksam,Solna Municipality,Jernhusen,Peab,Fabege[3] |
| Executive suites | 92 |
| Capacity | |
| Record attendance |
|
| Roof | Retractable |
| Surface | Grass |
| Construction | |
| Broke ground | 7 December 2009; 15 years ago (2009-12-07)[1] |
| Built | 2009–2012 |
| Opened | 15 October 2012; 13 years ago (2012-10-15)[2] |
| Construction cost | 2.8 billionSEK (€ 300 million) |
| Architect | Arkitekterna Krook & Tjäder,Berg Arkitektkontor,Populous[4] |
| Main contractors | Peab |
| Tenants | |
| Sweden men's national football team (2012–present) AIK Fotboll (2013–present) Melodifestivalen final (2013–2020, 2022–present) | |
Nationalarenan, known asStrawberry Arena since 2024 for sponsorship reasons, is aretractable roofmulti-purpose stadium inStockholm,Sweden. Located next to the lakeRåstasjön inSolna, just north of theCity Centre, it is the largest stadium inScandinavia. Since its opening, the venue has served as Sweden'snational stadium for men's football, hence the nameNationalarenan.
The main tenants of the stadium are Sweden's men'snational football team andAllsvenskan football clubAIK; both relocated from their previous home at theRåsunda Stadium. The venue has a total capacity of 65,000 at concerts and 50,000 seated at football matches, but the stadium can be scaled down to provide for smaller events with approximately 20,000 guests. The arena is designed by DanishC.F. Møller Architects.
65,000 at concerts would require a small stage. The record attendance is just over 60,000. The record attendance for football is slightly over 50,000 for a club league match; for these matches, standing spectators are allowed.[9]
Initially there were plans to build a new national stadium close to the indoor venueEricsson Globe inJohanneshov in southernStockholm, but on 1 April 2006 theSwedish Football Association (SvFF) made the decision to build the new stadium in Solna. It was calculated to cost around 1.9 billion kronor (202 million euro) to complete. The estimated cost before construction had begun was 2.3 billion kronor. It replacedRåsunda Stadium, Sweden's former national arena for football. Råsunda was torn down and replaced by some 700 flats and office buildings.
Swedbank acquired thenaming rights to the stadium in a 153 millionkronor (about 20.5 millioneuro) deal that would last until 2023. While the arena was originally to be known as Swedbank Arena, Swedbank announced in 2012 that it would donate its naming rights toFriends [sv], anonprofit organization againstschool bullying of which Swedbank is a sponsor. Consequently, the stadium was renamed Friends Arena.
On January 13, 2024, a naming rights sponsorship agreement was reached with the Norwegian hotel companyStrawberry. The new name, "Strawberry Arena", took effect on July 12, 2024.[10]
The stadium has a retractable roof, enabling events to take place during the winter season and to host indoor entertainment shows. The facade of the arena can be lit up in 17 million different color schemes. For example, the stadium is lit up in blue and yellow when Sweden's national team is playing matches. Nationalarenan is aUEFA Category 4 stadium, and the natural turf pitch measures 105 x 68 metres. In the middle of the stadium roof, a 240 square metres big media cube is placed where the attendance can follow what is happening. In addition, 647LED-screens are installed throughout the facility to enhance the guest experience.[2]
Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden declared the arena inaugurated at the opening ceremony, which took place in the venue on 27 October 2012. The show, directed by famous Swedish directorColin Nutley, was entitledSvenska ögonblick (Swedish Moments).Popular Swedish artists asAgnes Carlsson,The Hives,Icona Pop, two-timesEurovision Song Contest winnerLoreen,First Aid Kit andRoxette performed in front of a crowd of 46,000 people. Furthermore, 1,700,000 TV viewers watched the inauguration show live atSVT1.[11]
Swedish House Mafia made three concerts during theirOne Last Tour in the arena. A total of approximately 115,000 people visited Nationalarenan during the three sold-out concerts in November 2012.
On 14 November 2012, the stadium hosted its firstfootball game.Zlatan Ibrahimović scored the first goal atSweden's new national stadium in the 4–2 victory againstEngland. The game was seen by 49,967 people, which until 2017 was the attendance record for a sport event.[12]
A new record for Swedishbandy was set at the2013 Swedish Bandy Championship Final, whenHammarby IF defeatedSandvikens AIK ahead of an audience of 38,474 persons under the closed roof.[13]
AIK played their first competitive football match on 7 April 20
On 28 July 2013, thefinal of theUEFA Women's Euro were played. 41,301 people watched Germany overcome Norway with a score of 1–0. The game set a new attendance record for aWomen's Euro fixture. Solna became also the first city in Europe which has hosted all four big football championships (FIFA World Cup,FIFA Women's World Cup,UEFA European Championship andUEFA Women's Championship). The arena also hostedMotorcycle speedway as part of theSpeedway Grand PrixWorld Championship series and held theSpeedway Grand Prix of Scandinavia from 2013 to 2017. The temporary track at the arena was 275 metres (301 yards) in length.
The arena has also hosted the final ofMelodifestivalen every year since2013, with the exception of2021 due to theCOVID-19 pandemic. In2022, the arena also hosted the fourth heat and the semi-final of that year's competition. The stadium was chosen as the venue for the2017 UEFA Europa League Final.
| Concerts at Friends Arena | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Artist | Event | Attendance | Revenue |
| 22 November 2012 | Swedish House Mafia | One Last Tour | – | – |
| 23 November 2012 | ||||
| 24 November 2012 | ||||
| 3 May 2013 | Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band | Wrecking Ball World Tour | 169,325 / 169,325[14] | $17,932,099[15] |
| 4 May 2013 | ||||
| 8 May 2013 | One Direction | Take Me Home Tour | 29,723 / 29,723 | $1,783,380 |
| 11 May 2013 | Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band | Wrecking Ball World Tour | — | — |
| 1 June 2013 | Kiss | Monster World Tour | — | — |
| 13 July 2013 | Iron Maiden | Maiden England World Tour | 55,531 / 55,531 | $5,001,410 |
| 22 November 2013 | Black Sabbath | Black Sabbath Reunion Tour | — | — |
| 13 December 2013 | Elton John | The Diving Board Tour | — | — |
| 13 June 2014 | One Direction | Where We Are Tour | 88,978 / 88,978 | $7,358,040 |
| 14 June 2014 | ||||
| 28 June 2014 | Pearl Jam | Lightning Bolt Tour | — | — |
| 19 July 2015 | AC/DC | Rock or Bust World Tour | — | — |
| 19 March 2016 | Simple Minds | Big Music Tour + Greatest Hits 2016 | — | — |
| 3 July 2016 | Coldplay | A Head Full of Dreams Tour | 53,575 / 53,575 | $3,970,140 |
| 9 July 2016 | Black Sabbath | The End Tour | — | — |
| 26 July 2016 | Beyoncé | The Formation World Tour | 48,519 / 48,519 | $3,937,498 |
| 5 May 2017 | Depeche Mode | Global Spirit Tour | 36,400 / 36,400 | $2,734,164 |
| 8 May 2017 | Ariana Grande | Dangerous Woman Tour | 14,106 / 14,106 | $995,461 |
| 29 June 2017 | Guns N' Roses | Not in This Lifetime... Tour | 53,654 / 53,654 | $4,460,555 |
| 12 October 2017 | The Rolling Stones | No Filter Tour | 53,770 / 53,770 | $7,880,697 |
| 21 November 2017 | Queen + Adam Lambert | Queen + Adam Lambert Tour 2017–2018 | — | — |
| 25 June 2018 | BeyoncéJay-Z | On the Run II Tour | 46,647 / 46,647 | $4,610,554 |
| 2 July 2018 | Eminem | Revival Tour | — | — |
| 14 July 2018 | Ed Sheeran | ÷ Tour | 54,234 / 54,234 | $4,818,972 |
| 31 July 2018 | Justin Timberlake | The Man of the Woods Tour | 23,303 / 23,303 | $1,818,015 |
| 18 August 2018 | Roger Waters | Us + Them Tour | 19,043 / 19,238 | $1,782,758 |
| 12 June 2019 | Phil Collins | Not Dead Yet Tour | — | — |
| 17 October 2019 | Cher | Here We Go Again Tour | 27,025 / 27,025 | $2,274,898 |
| 5 December 2019 | Avicii Tribute Concert | Tim Bergling Foundation - Concert for Mental Health Awareness | 58,163 / 58,163 | — |
| 21 July 2022 | Lady Gaga | The Chromatica Ball | 34,934 / 34,934 | $3,540,732 |
| 31 July 2022 | The Rolling Stones | Sixty | 50,889 / 50,889 | $6,916,424 |
| 10 May 2023 | Beyoncé | Renaissance World Tour | 90,169 / 90,169 | $9,802,155 |
| 11 May 2023 | ||||
| 23 May 2023 | Depeche Mode | Memento Mori World Tour | 43,876 / 46,816 | $3,656,147 |
| 17 May 2024 | Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour | 178,679 / 178,679[7] | |
| 18 May 2024 | ||||
| 19 May 2024 | ||||
| 15 July 2024 | Bruce Springsteen & E Street Band | Springsteen and E Street Band 2023–2025 Tour | 108,202 / 108,202 | |
| 18 July 2024 | ||||
| 25 July 2024 | Pink | Pink Summer Carnival | ||
| 4 July 2025 | Guns N' Roses | Because What You Want & What You Get Are Two Completely Different Things Tour | ||
| 22 August 2025 | Ed Sheeran | +–=÷× Tour | ||
| 23 August 2025 | ||||
| 10 July 2026 | Bad Bunny | Debí Tirar Más Fotos World Tour | ||
| 11 July 2026 | ||||
| 8 August 2026 | The Weeknd | After Hours til Dawn Tour | ||
| 9 August 2026 | ||||
| 10 August 2026 | ||||
The stadium is located a 700-metre (800 yards) walk from the Solnacommuter train station, where theTvärbanan tramway and local buses are also available (a slightly longer walk away). Slightly further away (1.4 km, 0.9 mi) theNäckrosen metro station is found. The18th meridian east runs through Nationalarenan. By 2028 there will be another metro station,Arenastaden metro station 800m away. There are two boards informing that the eighteenth meridian has passed through this point, at the entrance B and F.[16]
The arena, located about six km (3,7 miles) fromStockholm Central Station, has parking for 300 charter buses and 4,000 cars. Along with the stadium, there will also be built a number of hotels with a total of approximately 400 rooms, restaurants for 8,000 guests, office areas for 10,000 employees, conference/exhibition centres and 2,000 flats. Moreover, a shopping mall,Mall of Scandinavia, with 240 shops and a multi screen cinema, opened near the stadium in 2015. The mall is the biggest shopping centre in Sweden.
The total project was calculated to cost more than 4 billionSEK.[17]
| Season | Sweden national team | AIK | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Games | Season Average | Highest Gate | Lowest Gate | Games | Season Average | Highest Gate | Lowest Gate | |
| 2012 | 1 | 49,967 | 49,967 vs England | 49,967 vs England | ||||
| 2013 | 7 | 41,973 | 49,766 vs Portugal | 13,438 vs Norway | 15 | 18,900 | 43,466 vs Syrianska FC | 9,388 vs Östers IF |
| 2014 | 4 | 27,926 | 49,023 vs Russia | 15,421 vs Estonia | 15 | 16,446 | 30,650 vs IFK Göteborg | 11,408 vs Falkenbergs FF |
| 2015 | 5 | 34,925 | 49,053 vs Denmark | 25,351 vs Montenegro | 15 | 20,983 | 43,713 vs IFK Göteborg | 10,701 vs Falkenbergs FF |
| 2016 | 4 | 28,581 | 37,942 vs Wales | 18,475 vs Czech Republic | 15 | 16,431 | 30,843 vs Hammarby IF | 8,507 vs BK Häcken |
| 2017 | 4 | 44,810 | 50,022 vs Luxembourg | 31,243 vs Belarus | 15 | 17,807 | 33,157 vs Djurgårdens IF | 10,342 vs Halmstads BK |
| 2018 | 5 | 28,325 | 48,134 vs Chile | 9,876 vs Slovakia | 15 | 23,671 | 50,128 vs GIF Sundsvall | |
| 2019 | 5 | 32,863 | 48,134 vs Spain | 19,737 vs Slovakia | 15 | 18,970 | 45,367 vs Djurgårdens IF | |
| 2020 | 3 | 0 | 15 | 0 | ||||
| 2021 | 8 | 15,238 | 47,314 vs Greece | 500 vs Armenia | 15 | 12,364 | 42,539 vs Djurgårdens IF | |
| 2022 | 4 | 34,492 | 48,628 vs Czech Republic | 22,895 vs Slovenia | 15 | 25,275 | 45,117 vs Hammarby IF | |
| 2023 | 6 | 26,337 | 49,296 vs Belgium | 10,097 vs Moldova | 15 | 25,739 | 41,327 vs Djurgårdens IF | |
| 2024 | 5 | 25,250 | 46,956 vs Serbia | 10,127 vs Azerbaijan | 15 | 28,589 | 47,129 vs Hammarby IF | |
| 2025 | 4 | 26,293 | 50,151 vs Switzerland | 14,147 vs Northern Ireland | ||||
| Preceded by | UEFA Women's Championship Final venue 2013 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | UEFA Europa League Final venue 2017 | Succeeded by |
