“The attendance of O₂ arena is approaching a milestone. We are glad to welcome the 10^th million visitor even before 15th anniversary of arena existence,” says Robert Schaffer, the chairman of board and CEO of Bestsport company and O₂ arena. The biggest Czech arena was opened on the 24^th April 2004 under the name Sazka arena on the occasion of the IIHF World Ice Hockey Championship 2004. In 2017, the O₂ arena has been selected among the five best international venues according the prestigious Pollstar Awards.

The arena’s attendance is of course conditioned by the program which consists of varied mixture of cultural, sporting events and family shows. In the year 2018, the most successful events in the O₂ arena were music shows of Imagine Dragons, Leoš Mareš or Czech group Lucie. Among sporting events we can mention the Fed Cup final, World Floorball Championships and the premiere of the biggest world’s showjumping event Global Champions Prague Playoffs.

“So far, the most successful year for the O₂ arena was the year 2015, when the IIHF World Ice Hockey Championship was held in the Czech Republic. During that year, more than one million visitors came to the O₂ arena,” reminds Schaffer. The arena’s attendance still grows. “If in the past years the annual attendance was around 600 thousand spectators, in recent years it has reached about 800 to 900 thousand, so we have achieved a huge increase in the number of visitors thanks to the suitable program.”

In the year 2019, the visitor with number 10 million should visit the O₂ arena. 

Current program consist of four matches of the ice hockey team HC Sparta Praha, eight shows of Walking with Dinosaurs (January 17 to 20), concert of the Czech group Divokej Bill (January 24) and concert of Italian music composer Ennio Morricone (January 25).

The 10 millionth visitor may look forward several presents in the O₂ arena, including a package of tickets for the events held in 2019, as well as a private tour of the arena’s backstage.