Barclaycard Arena (Hamburg)

Coordinates: 53°35′21″N 9°53′57″E / 53.58917°N 9.89917°E / 53.58917; 9.89917

Barclaycard Arena
Former names Color Line Arena (2002–10)
O2 World Hamburg (2010–15)
Location Sylvesterallee 10
22525 Altona, Hamburg
Germany
Public transit Stellingen
Owner Anschutz Entertainment Group
Capacity 16,000
Construction
Broke ground 13 June 2001 (2001-06-13)
Opened 8 November 2002 (2002-11-08)
Construction cost € 83 million
Tenants
Hamburg Freezers (DEL) (2002–2016)
HSV Hamburg (HBL) (2002–2016)

The Barclaycard Arena (originally known as the Color Line Arena and formerly known as O2 World Hamburg) is a multipurpose arena in Hamburg, Germany. It opened in 2002 and can hold up to 16,000 people (13,800 or 12,947 for sporting events). It is located at Altona Volkspark, adjacent to the football stadium Volksparkstadion and the new Volksbank Arena in Hamburg's western Bahrenfeld district.

The arena is primarily used for pop/rock concerts and was the home of handball club HSV Hamburg and ice hockey team Hamburg Freezers until both teams folded in 2016. The Barclaycard Arena is among the most modern venues in Europe.

History

Interior view during warm-up before a Hamburg Freezers game in 2008.

The arena opened in November 2002, is 150 meters long and 110 metres wide and has an elevation of 33 metres. Construction costs totaled approximately 83 million Euro (ca. US$121.5mn). The construction of the stadium was funded by the Finnish entrepreneur Harry Harkimo and the city of Hamburg, who sold Harkimo the land for a symbolic price of one Mark and also financed infrastructure improvements with 12 million Marks (about 6.1 million euros) as a preparatory measure. In October 2007 the arena was sold to Anschutz Entertainment Group for an estimated 75 million Euros.

On 6 May 2003, Irish vocal pop band Westlife held a concert for their Unbreakable Tour supporting their album Unbreakable - The Greatest Hits Vol. 1.

Naming rights

Logo of the arena during O2 sponsoring

The arena was initially named after Norwegian ferry operator Color Line as the "Color Line Arena". In 2010 the sponsor changed to Spanish telecommunications company Telefónica, naming the arena as "O2 World Hamburg". O2 sponsorship ceased in 2015, changing the arena name yet again, this time into "Barclaycard Arena".

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