Gatorade Center

The Gatorade Center is a large, enclosed hall. The building stands in the Artukainen district, where the city of Turku decided to put its money behind a project that would eventually cost 145 million Finnish marks. It opened on November 25, 1990, and from that day it has been the home of HC TPS, a team that competes in the Liiga.

What makes the place distinct from other arenas in Finland is its history of sponsorship, which has shifted the identity of the building every few years. It opened as Typhoon Arena, a name that lasted four years before the sponsors switched to Marli and the venue became Elysée Arena. That deal ended in 2006, returning the hall to its simple Finnish name, Turkuhalli, until HK Areena took over in 2010. The current title, Gatorade Center, has held sway since 2016. The old name, Turkuhalli, still sticks in the mouths of the locals, who use it alongside the sponsored title.

The venue has hosted giants of the music world, from The Offspring to Nightwish, but its primary function remains sport. It is an artificial ice rink that keeps the Liiga going. The city of Turku owns the facility, and while the capacity has shrunk, the history has not. The all-time attendance record of 12,250 stands for a playoff match against HIFK.