Sportovní hala Fortuna is a multi-purpose

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 ...

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 ...

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

, whose naming rights are currently leased to Czech betting company Fortuna. It opened in 1962 with a capacity of 18,500. Its current capacity is 13,238 for

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 ...

games. The arena hosted the

Ice Hockey World Championships The Ice Hockey World Championships are an annual international men's ice hockey tournament organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), first officially held at the 1920 Summer Olympics. The IIHF was created in 1908 while the I ...

four times between 1972 and 1992. From 1962 to 2015, it was the home arena of

Czech Extraliga The Czech Extraliga () is the highest-level ice hockey league in the Czech Republic. It was created in 1993 following the peaceful dissolution of Czechoslovakia midway through the 1992–93 Czechoslovak Extraliga season (which all Slovak and ...

team

HC Sparta Praha Hockey Club Sparta Praha, commonly known as HC Sparta Prague, is a Prague-based Czech professional ice hockey team playing in the Czech Extraliga. The club has won four Czech championships (most recently in 2007) and four Czechoslovak champio ...

and between 2012 and 2014

KHL The Kontinental Hockey League (KHL; ) is an international professional ice hockey league founded in 2008. It comprises member clubs based in Russia (20), Belarus (1), Kazakhstan (1), and China (1) for a total of 23 clubs. It was considered in ...

's team

HC Lev Praha Hockey Club Lev Praha (stylized as HC LEV Praha) was a professional ice hockey team located in Prague, Czech Republic, which played in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) in the 2012–13 and 2013–14 seasons. In their two seasons played, Le ...

History

The arena, located on the fairgrounds in

Bubeneč Bubeneč is a district in the north-west of Prague. 52% of the district is in Prague 7, but most of the built-up area is in Prague 6. Sparta Prague football club and their stadium Generali Arena is situated at the south-eastern edge of Bubeneč ...

in the neighbourhood of

Holešovice Holešovice () is a district in the north of Prague situated on a meander of the River Vltava, which makes up the main part of the district Prague 7 (an insignificant part belongs to Prague 1). In the past Holešovice was a heavily industrial su ...

, opened on 7 March 1962 as Sportovní hala ČSTV with a capacity of 18,500 (14,000 seated). Its first major event was the 1962 World Figure Skating Championships, which began on 14 March of the same year. On 17 October 1962, the hall began to host home matches of ice hockey side

, the home team defeating rivals ZKL Brno 5–4 in the inaugural fixture. During its existence, the arena has hosted many important sporting events. It hosted the

four times: in

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, ...

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd ...

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a n ...

, and

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

, and for years hosted a prestigious annual figure skating competition. The arena hosted the 1980 Davis Cup final, where

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

defeated

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, 4–1. Hundreds of concerts have also been staged at the arena during its history. It was the largest and most important arena in Czechoslovakia and the Czech Republic for over 40 years until the new

O2 Arena O2 Arena may refer to: *The O2 Arena, London * O2 Arena, Prague *The 3Arena, Dublin, formerly known as The O2 *The Uber Arena, Berlin, formerly known as O2 World *The Barclays Arena Barclays Arena (originally known as the Color Line Arena an ...

opened in 2004. The arena kept the name Sportovní hala until 1999, subsequently entering into title sponsorship agreements.

Notable events

* 1962 World Figure Skating Championships *

1967 European Indoor Games The 1967 European Indoor Games were held at Sportovní hala, Prague, Czechoslovakia (present-day Czech Republic) from 11 March to 12 March 1967. The track used for the championships was 150 metres long. Medal summary Men Women Medal table P ...

* 1972 Ice Hockey World Championships *

1978 Ice Hockey World Championships The 1978 Ice Hockey World Championships took place in Prague, Czechoslovakia from 26 April to 14 May. Held at the Sportovní hala ČSTV in the capital city, it was the sixth time Czechoslovakia hosted the competition. Eight teams took part, with ...

* Final of the 1980 Davis Cup, 5–7 December 1980 * 1981 FIBA European Championship * 1985 Ice Hockey World Championships * 1992 Men's Ice Hockey World Championships * 1993 World Figure Skating Championships * 2007 Czech Open

Gallery

File:KHL-Praha.JPG,

playing KHL ice hockey against Vityaz Chekhov inside the arena in January 2013

References

External links

Official Website
*
Detailed description of Tesla Arena with map and photos
* {{Authority control Sports venues completed in 1962 Indoor arenas in the Czech Republic Ice hockey venues in the Czech Republic Sports venues in Prague Music venues in Prague Indoor track and field venues HC Lev Praha HC Sparta Praha Kontinental Hockey League venues 1962 establishments in Czechoslovakia 1980 Davis Cup Prague 7 20th-century architecture in the Czech Republic Badminton venues

History

Notable events

Gallery

See also

References

External links