Veikkaus Areena

Veikkaus Arena sits in the Pasila district. The arena opened in 1997 for ice hockey, but the surface inside is not ice — the boards stay up, and the lights cut through the cold air for concerts and basketball games. It is not a football ground, and the pitch is not natural grass, but the crowd fills the stands regardless of the sport. The name on the roof has changed three times. It began as Hartwall Areena, then became Hartwall Arena, and after the sponsorship ended in 2022 it was known as Helsinki Halli before the current partnership with Veikkaus took over. The capacity shifts depending on what is on the programme: the hockey configuration seats 13,349, while a full concert setup can hold up to 15,500. The attendance record was set by a rock band rather than a football match, with a crowd of 14,639 watching Metallica in 2018. The venue has hosted the Eurovision Song Contest and the IIHF World Championships, but it is most often associated with the local hockey team, Jokerit, who play their home games here. The arena is owned by a private partnership, and the official website lists the events, but the building itself is the main subject. It is not a temple of football, but it is a place where the wheels came off for some teams and where others found no answer. The heat took the sting out of the summer concerts, and the stadium fell silent for the final moments of the basketball games. Money has come for the hosts, and the investors have made an improved offer for the future. The arena is not a stadium, but it is the only one of its kind in the city for large indoor events. The clean-sheet run came to an end here for the hockey team, and the players were left exposed by the opposition. It is a functional building, and the architect worked a short corner with the design. The heat took the sting out of the summer concerts, and the stadium fell silent for the final moments of the basketball games.