Nokia Arena,[3][4] also known by its non-sponsored name Tampere Deck Arena (Finnish: Tampereen Kannen areena), is an
indoor arena in
Tampere,
Finland, which hosts
ice hockey games and large cultural events. It is the home arena of
Ilves and
Tappara of the
SM-liiga. Its construction was approved by the
City Council of Tampere on 19 May 2010,[5] and it was officially opened on 3 December 2021.[1][6]
After delays, the arena and the adjacent mixed use high-rise development got a final approval and construction began in January 2018. The final plan calls for a deck to be built over a railway line. This deck will have the multi-purpose arena (at least 13,455 seats),[12] offices, commercial development, housing, a hotel and a casino. The overall vision was designed by
Daniel Libeskind.[13][14] The arena was completed by December 2021,[15] in time for the
2022 IIHF World Championship. The rest of the development is to be completed by 2024.[16] Casino Tampere will also open in connection with the arena,[17][18] and according to preliminary plans, the casino will employ about 80 people.[19]Lapland Hotels [
fi] opened a
luxury hotel called Lapland Hotels Arena next to the arena on 12 December 2021.[20][21][22][23]
In March 2020, it was announced that, under a ten-year sponsorship agreement with the UROS Group in
Oulu, the arena would be called "UROS LIVE".[24] The naming caused a small scale scandal due to name's overly masculine tone, as uros means "male" in Finnish.[25][26] The agreement was terminated on 28 October 2021 due to Uros Oy's financial problems, and the name of the arena was changed as a result.[27]Nokia Corporation was chosen as the new sponsor on 19 November 2021, and the arena was renamed as "Nokia Arena".[3][4]
The first scheduled events in the arena were the local matches of the
Finnish Championship League on 3 and 4 December 2021. It was originally scheduled to open on 15 December,[28] but later the official opening was brought forward to 3 December.[1]
Nokia Arena is easily accessible by public transport, being located 600 meters from the
Tampere central railway station and 350 meters from the
long-distance bus station. The nearest stops on the
Tampere tramway are also approximately 600 and 350 meters away, for lines 3 and 1 respectively. Several local bus routes run on the nearby streets. During the 2023–24 Liiga and
CHL seasons, hockey game tickets are also valid tickets for the buses, trams and trains of
Nysse, the regional transport authority.
For private cars, there are few parking spaces at the arena but several parking facilities are available nearby. Before and after major events, the streets around the arena may be closed to vehicular traffic.
^Fazzare, Elizabeth (December 16, 2021). "Daniel Libeskind’s Design in Finland Is the World’s Most Exciting New Stadium". Architectural Digest. Retrieved December 20, 2021.