Lanxess Arena (stylized as LANXESS arena; originally Kölnarena, German for "Cologne arena") is an

indoor arena An arena is a large enclosed venue, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, Music, musical performances or Sport, sporting events. It comprises a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for specta ...

, in

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia or North-Rhine/Westphalia, commonly shortened to NRW, is a States of Germany, state () in Old states of Germany, Western Germany. With more than 18 million inhabitants, it is the List of German states by population, most ...

, Germany. It is known as the 18,500-capacity home of the Kölner Haie and as one of Germany's major music venues. As of 2019, Lanxess Arena was the highest-attended arena worldwide, with 699,924 tickets sold. The arena is spanned by a notable steel arch supporting the roof via steel cables. The height of the arch is and its weight is 480 tons.

History

On June 2, 2008, it was announced that Kölnarena would be renamed Lanxess Arena, for a period of ten years. The sponsor,

Lanxess AG Lanxess AG is a German specialty chemicals company based in Cologne, Germany. It was founded in 2004 after Bayer AG spun off its chemicals division and parts of its polymers business. History The company's roots trace back to 1863, with the fo ...

, is a

specialty chemicals Specialty chemicals (also called specialties or effect chemicals) are particular chemical products that provide a wide variety of effects on which many other industry sectors rely. Some of the categories of speciality chemicals are adhesives, agr ...

group based in the Lanxess Tower in

Deutz, Cologne The Cologne borough of Deutz ( ; ) is a part of central Cologne, Germany, and was once an independent town. History Deutz was established under Roman Emperor Constantine I in 310 AD, when he established ''Castrum Divitia'', a military camp bu ...

. This naming-rights deal was extended in 2017 until December 31, 2023. Then in October 2023, it was announced that the cooperation between the arena and Lanxess had been extended for another 5 years until 2028.

Events

The arena is primarily used by Kölner Haie (

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

), VfL Gummersbach (

handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball, Olympic handball or indoor handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of thr ...

), Köln RheinStars (

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

), and as a

concert A concert, often known informally as a gig or show, is a live performance of music in front of an audience. The performance may be carried by a single musician, in which case it is sometimes called a recital, or by a musical ensemble such as an ...

venue.

Concerts

Lanxess Arena has been one of the top entertainment venues in Cologne since its opening. Many international artists have performed at the venue, spanning a wide range of music genres. Artists that have performed their concerts at the venue are listed in the table below.

Sports and computer gaming

*The arena was used for the 2007 World Men's Handball Championship, including the third place game and the final game. *On June 13, 2009, the Ultimate Fighting Championships held UFC 99 at the Lanxess Arena. This was the first time the UFC had made its way to Germany. *From 2010, the arena host the handball

EHF Champions League The EHF Champions League is the most important club handball competition for men's teams in Europe and involves the leading teams from the top European nations. The competition is organised every year by EHF. The official name for the men's com ...

Final Four. *The arena was one of the venues for the

2010 IIHF World Championship The 2010 IIHF World Championship was the 74th IIHF World Championship, an annual international ice hockey tournament. It took place between 7 and 23 May 2010 in Germany. The games were played in the Lanxess Arena in Cologne, SAP Arena in Mannh ...

, including both semi-finals, the Bronze medal game and the Championship game. *On August 22–23, 2015, the arena hosted

ESL One Cologne 2015 ESL One Cologne 2015 was the sixth '' Counter-Strike: Global Offensive'' Major Championship that was held from August 14–18, 2015 at the Lanxess Arena in Cologne. It was organized by Electronic Sports League. The Cologne event was the first ESL ...

, one of three major Counter-Strike: Global Offensive tournaments to be held throughout 2015. *On July 5–10, 2016, the arena hosted

ESL One Cologne 2016 ESL One Cologne 2016, also known as ESL Cologne Major 2016 or Cologne 2016, was an Electronic Sports League Counter-Strike: Global Offensive tournament. It was the ninth '' Counter-Strike: Global Offensive'' Major Championship and was held at ...

, the second $1,000,000 Counter-Strike: Global Offensive major tournament. *From May 5–21, 2017, the arena co-hosted the IIHF ice hockey world championship, including all the final games. *On July 7–9, 2017, the arena hosted ESL One Cologne 2017, a Counter-Strike: Global Offensive tournament with a prize pool of $250,000. *From July 6–8, 2018, the arena hosted ESL One Cologne 2018. This event earned Lanxess Arena the nickname “The Cathedral Of Counter-Strike”. *On October 8, 2018, the arena hosted an exhibition ice hockey game between Kölner Haie and the

Edmonton Oilers The Edmonton Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Edmonton. The Oilers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. Th ...

, part of the 2018 NHL Global Series Challenge. *On July 5–7, 2019, the arena hosted another edition of the ESL One Cologne, a Counter-Strike: Global Offensive tournament with a prize pool of $300,000. *From July 12–13, 2019, the arena will host the 2019 German Darts Masters, part of the

Professional Darts Corporation The Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) is a professional darts organisation in the United Kingdom, established in 1992 when a group of leading players split from the British Darts Organisation (BDO) to form what was initially called the Wor ...

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB). It has been contested since between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winning team, determined through a best- ...

. *From May 22–24, 2020, the arena will host the 2020 Euroleague Final Four, part of

Euroleague Basketball Euroleague Basketball, run by Euroleague Commercial Assets (ECA), is a private company that runs and operates men's professional basketball club competitions in Europe, the first-tier level EuroLeague, and the second-tier level EuroCup. It has ...

. *In 2020 the arena hosted back-to-back ATP 250 events: from October 11–18, Bett1Hulks Indoors, and from October 17–25, Bett1Hulks Championship. *From July 15–17, 2022, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive returned to the arena after a two–year hiatus caused by the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, under the moniker IEM Cologne 2022, as ESL merged their ESL One brand into their

Intel Extreme Masters The Intel Extreme Masters (IEM) is a series of international esports tournaments held in countries around the world. These Electronic Sports League (ESL) sanctioned events, sponsored by Intel, currently host events in ''Counter-Strike 2''. Oth ...

brand. The event offered an increased prize pool of $1,000,000. *The venue hosted some group phase matches at the FIBA EuroBasket 2022 which the country and

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

alongside Czech Republic in

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

, Georgia in

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი, ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), ( ka, ტფილისი, tr ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia ( ...

and Italy in

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

. *The annual Counter-Strike: Global Offensive event, IEM Cologne 2023, returned to the venue on August 4 to 6, 2023, when the prize pool offered was once again $1,000,000, matching that of the previous year. The winners,

G2 Esports G2 Esports (or simply G2) is a European esports organization headquartered in Berlin, Germany, with players competing in ''League of Legends'', ''Valorant'', ''Counter-Strike 2'', ''Hearthstone (video game), Hearthstone'', ''Rocket League'', '' ...

, took first place and $400,000.

Notes

External links