Tampere arena company posts €1.2 million loss as result worsens

The company leasing Tampere’s multi-purpose arena recorded a loss of nearly €1.2 million in 2025, compared with a loss of about €400,000 the previous year, Yle reports.

The company’s revenue also fell, from approximately €16.7 million in 2024 to around €14 million last year.

According to the financial statements, revenue was reduced by the end of a significant rental agreement and a 25 per cent decrease in the number of ice hockey playoff games held at the arena. The terminated agreement was linked to the closure of the Veikkaus casino.

Tampere’s ice hockey league teams Tappara and Ilves play at the arena.

Nearly €80 million in external capital

The arena company said its main business risks were linked to the general global political situation and its impact on the world and Finnish economies. It said the risk had already begun to show in weaker consumer spending.

The company said its operational activities remained profitable and were expected to remain so. However, substantial financing costs pushed the overall result into the red.

At the end of 2025, the company had approximately €77.6 million in external capital. This included €36.4 million in long-term financing loans and €1.2 million in short-term loans from financial institutions due for repayment during 2026.

The company also had approximately €36.9 million in loans from shareholders and interest capitalised into loan capital.

The arena is owned by LähiTapiola, OP, Ilmarinen, SRV and the City of Tampere. Investors own 60 per cent of the arena and the city owns 40 per cent.

In 2023, the owners converted approximately €26.2 million of loans granted to the company into the invested unrestricted equity fund. This means the company no longer has to repay that portion of the loans to the owners.

For the investors, the arena is part of a larger development that also includes a hotel built next to the arena and nearby tower buildings. The investors had to commit to the arena project in order to obtain the right to build those properties, according to the article.

In the spring, it was reported that the investors sold the hotel connected to the arena for €40 million to a property investment company belonging to a Swedish listed company. The owners may also sell the arena at some point in the future.

The City of Tampere did not own the hotel and receives income only from a possible future sale of the arena.

Tampere and Helsinki have competed for events

The arena began operating at the end of 2021 and was expected to become a strong competitor to Helsinki’s arena.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 changed the situation in Tampere’s favour. Event organisers cancelled concerts planned for Helsinki because the arena there was Russian-owned. Eric Clapton’s concert and a Queen concert with Adam Lambert were moved from Helsinki to Tampere.

Live Nation brought those artists to Tampere, along with other performers including Bryan Adams and Duran Duran.

The balance later shifted back towards Helsinki. In winter 2025, Helsinki’s arena was transferred to Finnish investors, and its event calendar soon became active again. Live Nation now operates the Helsinki arena.

In recent times, Tampere’s arena has had noticeably fewer international performers on its calendar than Helsinki’s arena.

Tampere continues to attract major sports events

Tampere’s arena is primarily the home venue of Tappara and Ilves. In addition to ice hockey league games, the city hopes to host events that bring customers to hotels, restaurants and other services in Tampere.

That has happened, according to the article. In addition to major concerts, the arena has hosted two ice hockey world championships and several NHL games.

The next ice hockey world championships to be held in Finland went to Helsinki instead of Tampere. The same happened with upcoming NHL games.

Despite this, the Tampere arena is expected to host significant sporting events in the future.