The Garden project must avoid the mistakes of Tampere residents

The former mayor who took responsibility for the project Jan Vapaavuori then introduced the retuned Garden.

The complex of the hotel, Ruokakaupa and apartments, which had become impossible, had been swept away. The arena is now planned to rise more above the ground, and the price has dropped by hundreds of millions of euros. Now Vapaavuori promises that the price of the project will start at four. So in Finnish, we are talking about a project worth more than 400 million euros, while previously the estimate was twice as much.

The realization of the Garden is getting busy. City officials have spent time and effort pushing the project through, which is probably one of the reasons why the project is still believed in.

At some point, however, it must be stated that if the project does not progress, resources should be allocated elsewhere. Another arena project is being planned in Suvilahti, which is led by different people. If Garden doesn’t concretely advance soon, it will probably be their turn to try next.

With the Garden group so it’s busy. Previous leaders of the project Ilkka Kilpimaa and Timo Everi has been pushed aside, and an attempt is being made to build the arena under the leadership of Vapaavuori.

There’s a proverb about what’s born with a hosuma, but it has no place in quality media.

Still, the Garden people should take a close look at what went wrong in Nokia Arena and avoid the same mistakes.

The new arena, completed in Tampere in the fall of 2021, received a lot of praise at the beginning, but has since proven to be financially unprofitable.

Its biggest problem is the organizational structure of the arena.

I was involved in making the Nokia Arena Mika Sulinwho was the first CEO of the then Hartwall Arena and was Harry Harkimon building or consulting with other arena projects.

The world however, things have changed since the years of Harkimo and Sulini.

The company owned by the owners of the hall is responsible for the operation of the Nokia Arena. It negotiates rents with the main tenants, i.e. Ilves and Tappara, and tries to hold events in the hall.

Finally, the opening of the Veikkaus arena after a break of a few years practically emptied the booking calendar of the Nokia arena.

And the main tenants Ilves and Tapparaka are reportedly not very happy with the arrangement. They only get box office revenue from their own games. In addition, both have rented ten boxes from the arena company to sell them for their own games and other events.

When there are few other events, these returns will not come either.

In today’s world, arenas are run by operators. In many cases, they either partially or completely own the arena itself, but they are often also just a tenant.

Such operators are, for example, Live Nation, which runs the Veikkaus arena, the multinational Legends or the US-based OVG.

System works in its simplicity like this: An artist and his backing group contract a tour with one operator. After that, the operator takes the artist to his own arenas. And individual arenas like the Nokia arena are left licking their fingers.

The system has become like this because artists’ fees have skyrocketed and artists want a slice of the box office revenue for themselves. When the operator owns or operates the arena, its basic costs for the event are small.

In addition, it also receives ancillary sales revenue. According to those familiar with the industry, for operators such as Live Nation, the concert box office itself is not a very big business, but the money is made through ancillary sales, i.e. food and alcohol.

Nokia Arena the operating company has produced a loss. Its financial statements for 2025 have not been completed, but the combined losses of the previous four years are more than 7 million. Its basic business has been profitable, but the company has not been able to cover its loan costs and the owners have forgiven debts for tens of millions of euros.

It is also a harsh fact that, for example, Legend of the Lions Timo Jutila has announced that he will stop his aitio business in Tampere when his lease expires and move to Veikkaus-arena in Pasila.

“We go where there is volume and events and, above all, more than hockey. Customers want more than hockey,” Jutila told Iltalehte at the time.

Looking at the Nokia Arena calendar, you can see that there are few events that attract large crowds.

According to insiders, only the listed company Noho Partners, which runs restaurant services, makes money in Nokia Arena.

Garden Helsinki must therefore be made into an operator-led arena, but at the same time HIFK’s lease agreement must also be profitable for the club. After all, the hockey club’s background company has already invested millions in the preparation phase of the arena.

A warning example can be found closer. Joker’s contract with Live Nation, which runs the Veikkaus arena, is reportedly not good for the ice hockey club. And the Jokers don’t even have their own sheds to rent.

Garden Helsinki managers can therefore find warning examples close by. Big decisions like the operator’s have to be made quickly, because without an operational concept, the company cannot get financing for its entire project.