Now 2030 as the goal

Event arena for Vienna, but now for real

The new arena is expected to seat up to 20,000 visitors.

(Bild: Kronaus/Mitterer/Gallister/expressiv.at)

Now the German organizer CTS Eventim is building the Vienna Event Arena in St. Marx, which the city has been struggling with for four years. It had originally lost out as the bidder. The city believes that additional costs of around 100 million euros are justified.

Vienna's "strategic partner" for the construction of the long-promised event arena in St. Marx is the German promoter CTS Eventim - the losing bidder that had filed a lawsuit against the original bid for the US competitor OVG. In the subsequent renegotiations, CTS got it cheaper: instead of around 800 million euros, the hall will now cost 500 million. CTS boss Klaus-Peter Schulenberg explains this by saying that the original offer could now be implemented with "fewer rooms".

"A maximum of around 153 million euros" to be paid by the city
The city is paying "a maximum of around 153 million euros". That is around 100 million euros more than OVG wanted. Vienna Holding boss Kurt Gollowitzer justifies this with the "super offer" that Eventim is planning for the arena. Schulenberg promises "maximum quality of stay" at "the very highest level". Vienna had been promised "one of the best indoor arenas, and we will now plan, build and operate it".

Vienna Holding CEO Kurt Gollowitzer, CTS boss Klaus-Peter Schulenberg and City Councillor for Economic Affairs Peter Hanke

(Bild: Holl Reinhard/Reinhard Holl)

Hanke happy that a decision has been made
After a "long wait", City Councillor for Economic Affairs Peter Hanke expressed his satisfaction that a decision has now been made. Vienna needs a large event arena. The city is in competition with other European cities in this respect. Hanke estimates that the arena will trigger 800 million euros in investment in Vienna, with a further 160 million euros in indirect profitability each year.

2030 as the target

The target opening date for the Vienna Arena is now 2030, although the ground-breaking ceremony may not take place until 2027.

OVG wants to "observe further events with interest"
According to their own statements, neither Hanke nor Gollowitzer have a stomach ache when they look to Milan. There, Eventim is about to open the first arena ever to be built entirely on its own - with considerable construction problems and additional costs for the city. These were only caused by delays in approvals, says Schulenberg. Under these circumstances, OVG intends to "observe further events with interest" and has informed Vienna that it is "still prepared to implement this important project".

What will happen to the Stadthalle?

Parallel to the construction of the Vienna Arena, the subsequent use of the Stadthalle is to be discussed, presumably as a center for smaller events. The listed landmark will "of course continue to exist", promises City Councillor Hanke.

Opening originally planned for 2025
With the current decision, however, the arena plans have at least taken a step towards realization. If the original plans had gone ahead, the arena would have opened soon. The plans were presented in 2020, with 2025 as the planned opening date and Wien Holding as the sole responsible party at the time. However, the holding company then outgrew the project and the search for a "strategic partner" began at the end of 2021.

The partner was found in the Oak View Group (OVG) in the summer of 2023. The US event multinational made the city a tempting offer: it would only have been necessary to invest around 50 million euros, and OVG would have taken care of everything else - from construction to booking the stars who would tour the USA and Europe for the group. The city liked the offer and agreed. However, the unsuccessful competitor CTS Eventim did not like it and successfully challenged the decision before the administrative court.

A year ago, the project therefore had to go back to the drawing board - and the city had a choice: either a completely new tender (with further delays and additional costs) or renegotiations. In these renegotiations, Eventim was able to push down the price, but the German organizer had the leverage to force Vienna to retender if no agreement was reached.