Saab Arena

Saab Arena
Former names Cloetta Center (2004–2014)
Location Linköping, Sweden
Owner Linköpings Sportfastigheter AB
Capacity Ice hockey: 8,500
Concerts: 11,500
Construction
Opened 2004
Architect Bergfjord & Ivarsson
Tenants
Linköpings HC (ice hockey)

Saab Arena, formerly named Cloetta Center between 2004–2014, is an arena in Linköping, Sweden. It opened in 2004 and holds 8,500 people during sport events and 11,500 during concerts. On its opening, it became the new home ice for the ice hockey team Linköpings HC, replacing Stångebro Ishall.

The arena has hosted a Melodifestivalen semi-final three times: in 2005, 2008 and 2011. Some other notable music acts include Deep Purple, Europe, John Fogerty, Toto, W.A.S.P. and Whitesnake.

History

The arena cost a total of SEK 249 million to build. Candy manufacturer Cloetta acquired the naming rights prior to the arena's opening and named it Cloetta Center. The name held a double meaning in that "Center" was also one of the company's main brands.[1] On 10 July 2013, Cloetta announced that they wouldn't extend their contracts with the arena after the 2013–14 season, which meant the arena would operate under a new name starting in the 2014–15 season.[2] On 16 June 2014, Saab and Linköpings HC signed an agreement that would rename Cloetta Center to Saab Arena. The change didn't technically take effect before 1 July 2014.[3]

References

  1. "About the Company". Cloetta Fazer. Retrieved 2007-03-28.
  2. Svedin, Ulrik (2013-07-10). "Cloetta lämnar LHC" (in Swedish). affarsliv.se. Retrieved 2013-07-11.
  3. "Linköpings hockey- och evenemangarena byter namn till Saab Arena" (in Swedish). Linköpings HC. 2014-06-16. Retrieved 2014-06-17.

External links

Media related to Saab Arena at Wikimedia Commons

Coordinates: 58°25′03″N 15°38′06″E / 58.41750°N 15.63500°E / 58.41750; 15.63500

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Tuesday, June 02, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.