It was a busy month for new venue openings, with Seattle’s Climate Pledge Arena staging its first event ahead of the Seattle Kraken’s debut at the facility.
Hometown rock heroes the Foo Fighters and Death Cab for Cutie played a concert at the arena (pictured) on October 19 as part of a ‘soft opening’ of the 18,000-seat venue. Coldplay then played at the grand opening of the arena before the Kraken, the NHL’s newest team, debuted on October 23.
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman hailed the opening of the 18,000-seat venue as a “great night” for the league. The venue is set to be the first net-zero carbon arena in the world.
Elsewhere, Qatar opened Al Thumama Stadium, the sixth tournament-ready venue that will be used during the 2022 FIFA World Cup in the country.
The 40,000-capacity stadium, which is located 7.5 miles south of Doha, hosted the Amir Cup final between Al Rayyan and Al Sadd, with a full crowd in attendance. Al Sadd won the final 5-4 on penalties after the match finished 1-1 after 90 minutes.
German Bundesliga club SC Freiburg also played its first game in its new stadium, a test match against 2.Bundesliga outfit St. Pauli.
The match, which Freiburg won 3-0, was played in front of a restricted crowd of 15,000 at the 34,700-seat Europa-park Stadion. The club encountered some teething problems as the stadium’s floodlights failed and the pitch was found to be of insufficient standard.
October also saw ASM Global make its entry into the motor-racing venue market as it signed a wide-ranging partnership with the Nashville Superspeedway.
As part of the agreement, ASM Global will bring concerts, lifestyle festivals, and drive-through and walk-through exhibits to the speedway complex, which currently hosts events in NASCAR’s Cup Series, Xfinity Series and Camping World Truck Series.
ASM Global also teamed up with Live Nation Entertainment and GL Events on plans for a new 20,000-capacity arena in the Brazilian city of São Paulo.
The Arena São Paulo will host concerts, sports, family entertainment shows and more, and will be located in the heart of the Anhembi District. The arena is expected to break ground in 2022 and open in 2024.
Image: Climate Pledge Arena
