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Helsingin areena, Helsingforsarenan | |
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 Interactive map of Veikkaus Arena | |
| Former names | Hartwall Areena (1997–2014) Hartwall Arena (2014–2022) Helsinki Halli (2022–2025) |
|---|---|
| Address | Areenankuja 1, Helsinki |
| Location | Helsinki,Finland |
| Coordinates | 60°12′20.66″N24°55′44.03″E / 60.2057389°N 24.9288972°E /60.2057389; 24.9288972 |
| Owner | Trevian Kasvu LP Ky (Reima Södervall, Heikki Viitikko) |
| Capacity | 14,000 (basketball) 13,349 (ice hockey) 7,500–15,000 (concerts) 3,000–5,000 (amphitheater) |
| Surface | Versatile |
| Construction | |
| Broke ground | 2 April 1996 |
| Opened | 19 April 1997 |
| Renovated | 2015 |
| Closed | 2 March 2022 |
| Reopened | October 2025 |
| Construction cost | 300,000,000mk (69,000,000 in 2018 euros) |
| Architect | SCI Architects |
| Project manager | Harry Harkimo |
| Main contractors | Skanska |
| Tenants | |
| Jokerit (1997–2022, 2025–present) | |
| Website | |
| https://www.veikkausarena.fi/ | |
Veikkaus Arena (formerlyHartwall Arena andHelsinki Halli) is a large multi-functional indoorarena located inHelsinki,Finland.[1] It was opened in April 1997 and the arena is convertible for various events. The total seated capacity duringice hockey games is 13,349 (about 14,000 for basketball, forconcerts up to 15,000) and as anamphitheatre, it is significantly reduced to between 3,000 and 5,000.
Formerly under Russian ownership,[2] it was closed in 2022 and left unused for over three years due to EU sanctions related to theRussian invasion of Ukraine. The main sponsor,Hartwall, also ended its sponsorship and the arena's name was changed.[3] In February 2025, the sale of the facility to new owners was concluded, with the arena scheduled to re-open in April or May.[4] In July 2025, the arena's new sponsor name was announced asVeikkaus Arena.
The initiative for building the arena came fromHarry "Hjallis" Harkimo in 1994. It was built to be ready for theIce Hockey World Championships in 1997, and was delivered by the constructor on 11 April 1997. The building is elliptical, 153 metres long and 123 metres wide. It also has a practice arena 37 metres underground, used by many hockey teams. It is connected to amulti-storey carpark, which has a total capacity of 1,421 vehicles.
The arena is situated next toPasila railway station, which is the second busiest railway station in Finland, 3.5 km north ofHelsinki Central Station.
The national broadcasterYle calls the arena "Helsingin areena" or "Helsingforsarenan" ("the Helsinki Arena" in Finnish and Swedish). The newspaperHelsingin Sanomat calls it "Helsinki-areena".
It was branded as "Hartwall Areena" from its opening until 2014, and as "Hartwall Arena" thereafter until 2 March 2022.[5] The beverage companyHartwall, also based in Helsinki, was its largest sponsor, and thus got thenaming rights.[6] Hartwall ended its sponsorship in March 2022, to avoid association with the then-Russian owners of the arena,Roman Rotenberg andGennady Timchenko,[7] in the wake of theRussian invasion of Ukraine.[6] In September 2024, theFinnish government announced that it would spend €200,000 on drafting a law that would allow the seizure of the arena from Rotenberg and Timchenko.[8] That November, Rotenberg and Timchenko sold their ownership of the arena to Finnish real estate investment company Trevian,[2][9] with its CEO Reima Södervall along with Heikki Viitikko planning to have the venue reopened by early 2025.[10] In February 2025 the deal was finalised,[4] with the facility scheduled to re-open in October.[11]
The arena was the home venue of the ice hockey teamJokerit from 1997 to 2022, then became their home again in 2025 with a plan to play a handful of games at the arena with the possibility of returning full time to the arena.[12]
The arena has also been used forIce Hockey World Championships,World Figure Skating Championships,NHL Challenge, andWorld Cup of Hockey. On 2 October 2009, the NHL opened its season in the arena with a matchup between the Chicago Blackhawks and the Florida Panthers, making it the first NHL game to be held in Finland. In May 2011, the arena served as the main venue of the2012 IIHF World Championship. It hosted all Group A games and quarterfinals, all semifinals and the bronze and gold medal games. Group B games and quarterfinals were hosted inEricsson Globe,Stockholm. It also co-hosted the2013 IIHF World Championship with Ericsson Globe, but in 2013 all games after quarterfinals were played in Stockholm.
The arena was one of the host venues of the2016 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships. Its assignment included hosting the gold-medal game, in whichKasperi Kapanen scored an Overtime goal to win Gold for Finland on home ice.
One of the group stages ofEuroBasket 2017, was also played at the arena.
The arena hosted two 2018–19 regular season NHL games between theWinnipeg Jets andFlorida Panthers on Thursday, 1 November 2018 and Friday, 2 November 2018 as part of the 2018 NHL Global Series.[13]
Media related toHartwall Arena at Wikimedia Commons| Events and tenants | ||
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| Preceded by | Jokerit Home arena 1997–present | Succeeded by Current |
| Preceded by | Eurovision Song Contest Venue 2007 | Succeeded by |
Authority control databases: Geographic |
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