LANXESS arena ranked No. 1 for the first time

07.09.2018

During the first half of 2018, 1,023,031 visitors attended a total of 109 major events in the LANXESS arena. These 109 events included 84 concerts, 21 sports events, and four company functions. The LANXESS arena is Germany’s biggest and most frequently visited multifunctional arena. After the first half of 2018, the renowned international Pollstar sector magazine gave it the top spot in its ranking for the first time.

During the first six months of this year, the LANXESS arena seamlessly continued the record-breaking run of success it enjoyed in 2017. With more than a million visitors attending a total of 109 events, the mega-arena in Cologne is still one of the hotspots of the international event business. “In recent years we’ve established a steady and extremely high level of visitors. We attract around two million visitors to Cologne every year,” says Stefan Löcher, the CEO of ARENA Management GmbH. “In the first half of this year, we offered an outstanding programme that included concerts by Kendrick Lamar, Shakira, Roger Waters, Sam Smith and Depeche Mode, two shows by Helene Fischer, and top-level sports events such as the VELUX EHF FINAL4. The fact that we regularly attract so many prominent events and stage them successfully should not be taken for granted. It’s the result of the hard work of a very committed team,” said Löcher in gratitude to his employees. As many as 800 people work at the arena on event days. “The fact that this hard work has been rewarded with the top spot in the Pollstar ranking is of course a wonderful confirmation of the work we do every day,” Löcher added. A total of 2,167,644 visitors came to the LANXESS arena in 2017. The venue is operated by the leading international ticketing and live entertainment company CTS EVENTIM.

Best Pollstar ranking so far

The renowned sector magazine Pollstar publishes the visitor figures of the world’s most successful multifunctional arenas on a quarterly basis. The statistics only include the event segments Concerts, Shows and Entertainment. Sports events and company functions are not taken into account. According to these criteria, the LANXESS arena occupies the top slot in the current Pollstar ranking “2018 Mid Year Worldwide Ticket Sales Top 200 Arena Venues”. With 597,002* tickets sold, Cologne’s multifunctional arena leads the Pollstar ranking ahead of the WiZink Center in Madrid and Madison Square Garden in New York. Never before has the LANXESS arena been so well placed in the renowned Pollstar ranking at the six-month mark.

The LANXESS arena as a business and image factor

Thanks to its more than 210 events (base year: 2017), the LANXESS arena creates several hundred direct and indirect workplaces in Cologne and generates turnover far in excess of €500 million in Cologne and its surrounding region. As a result, Germany’s largest and by far most popular multifunctional arena is a huge economic factor for Cologne and the entire region. Many visitors travel from the surrounding region and from neighbouring countries to Cologne, the biggest city in North Rhine-Westphalia, in order to attend the venue’s exclusive events.

Cologne Mayor Henriette Reker emphasized the value of the LANXESS arena for the city of Cologne as follows: “First place in the Pollstar ranking — that’s a dream result, not only for the LANXESS arena but also for the city City of Cologne. There are two reasons for that. For one thing, the successful concept implemented by the arena has a positive effect on Cologne’s economy. As many as 800 employees work there on the event days, and according to conservative estimates the LANXESS arena generates total turnover of approximately €500 million in Cologne and the surrounding region. That includes ticket sales, expenditures for merchandise and catering, and payments for hotel accommodation. In addition, Cologne would not be such a strong magnet for concert fans if the LANXESS arena did not exist. Today no artist can afford to make a European tour without including the LANXESS arena, which has an absolutely world-class concert programme. There’s only one thing I can wish for Cologne and for the LANXESS arena: keep up the good work!”

 

* In the first half of 2018, a total of 804,122 visitors attended 84 concert, entertainment and Carnival events in the LANXESS arena. The current Pollstar ranking “2018 Mid Year Worldwide Ticket Sales Top 200 Arena Venues ” does not take into account all of the spectator figures for the show events in the LANXESS arena, because some organizers have failed to send in their data on time.