Avicii Arena

Aerial view, April 2018

When constructed, Avicii Arena was the largest spherical building on Earth and took two and a half years to build.[3] It remained the largest spherical structure in the world until the opening of Sphere at The Venetian Resort on 4 July 2023. It has a diameter of 110 metres (360 ft) and an inner height of 85 metres (279 ft). The volume of the building is 605,000 cubic metres (21,400,000 cu ft) and it has a seating capacity of 16,000 spectators for shows and concerts, and 13,850 for ice hockey. In the upper area there are 40 VIP boxes and a restaurant.

The steel, concrete and glass construction designed by the architects Berg Arkitektkontor AB is supported by a MERO space structure. It represents the Sun in the Sweden Solar System, the world's largest scale model of the Solar System.[4]

View of Globen from the east side

Globen was inaugurated on 19 February 1989 after a construction period of less than three years. The first major events were Melodifestivalen, the Ice Hockey World Championships and the Men's European Volleyball Championships.

In 2009, the naming rights to the Stockholm Globe Arena were officially acquired by Swedish telecommunications company Ericsson, and it became known as the Ericsson Globe.[5]

In 2021, it was announced that the arena would be renamed the Avicii Arena in honour of the late Swedish DJ Avicii, who died in 2018. To commemorate the new name, the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra recorded a performance of the Avicii song "For a Better Day", with vocals provided by fourteen-year-old Swedish singer Ella Tiritiello.[2][6]

In June 2022, it was decided to renovate and modernize the arena throughout 2024, with a view of hosting the 2025 IIHF World Championship, which is to be jointly held in Sweden and Denmark. After the scheduled reopening at the start of 2025, the neighboring Hovet arena is to be demolished and the site is to become part of the new district of Soderhov.[7]

Globen from the inside

The Globe is primarily used for ice hockey, and is the former home arena of AIK, Djurgårdens IF, and Hammarby IF. It is also used for musical performances as well as other sports than ice hockey, for example futsal (indoor football). The third team to play a home game in their league was Huddinge IK (three home games there, all in 1993), followed by Hammarby IF (20 home games in The Globen to this day) and AC Camelen (one game in 1998, in the sixth level league, with 92 spectators).

The first international game played in Globen was between Hammarby IF (Sweden) and Jokerit (Finland) a couple of weeks before the grand opening, although the players were only 12 years old at the time (born 1977) and it was a friendly game.

The arena hosted the final of Sveriges Television's yearly music competition Melodifestivalen, Sweden's qualifier show for the Eurovision Song Contest, until 2012. The show returned to the arena for the first three heats of the 2022 competition.[8] It also hosted the Eurovision Song Contest in 2000 and 2016.

In March 2021, it hosted the World Figure Skating Championships despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. In November 2021, it hosted the Counter-Strike: Global Offensive tournament Major Stockholm 2021.

Since 2000, the National Hockey League has used the arena for occasional games, both in the preseason and the regular season. The most recent games at the arena were two regular-season games between the Buffalo Sabres and Tampa Bay Lightning in November 2019, part of the NHL Global Series event. The Global Series will return to Avicii Arena in November 2023, with the Senators returning and being joined by the Detroit Red Wings, Minnesota Wild, and Toronto Maple Leafs. Each team will play two games during the event.[9]

A small cottage bolted to the top of the Globe

A small cottage in aluminum with a 12-square-metre (130 sq ft) base was placed upon the Globe on 26 May 2009. The artist, Mikael Genberg, intended it to illustrate two important symbols for Sweden: the high-technology Globe building and the traditional, simple small countryside cottage in Falu red with house corners painted in white. The house was positioned some distance from the exact top position of the Globe. Genberg also hoped to eventually place a similar cottage on the Moon. The cottage remained on the Globe until October 2009.[10][11]

'Skyview' elevator transporting visitors to the top of the arena

Skyview is an exterior inclined elevator which transports visitors to the top of the arena for a virtually unobstructed view of Stockholm.

It has two spherical gondolas, each able to accommodate up to 12 passengers, which travel along parallel tracks on the exterior of the south side of the globe.

Skyview opened in February 2010 and carried 160,000 people during its first year of operation.

• Architecture of Stockholm
• Hovet
• Tele2 Arena
• MSG Sphere London
• MSG Sphere at The Venetian
• List of indoor arenas in Nordic countries
• List of European ice hockey arenas

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Avicii Arena.

• Stockholm Globe Arenas, website. (English).
• Stockholm Globe City Archived 7 May 2008 at the Wayback Machine
• Hockeyarenas.net entry
• Web cams monitoring the construction on the Globe Arena Archived 1 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine