Palasharp Arena rejig for Milano Cortina 2026

Article posted by Coliseum, May 30^th, 2022

Image: IOC

The former Palasharp Arena in Milan, Italy, was handed over to Forumnet (event management company in Assago, Italy), the company that owns the Mediolanum Forum in Assago (Italy), the Theater of the Moon in Assago and the Palazzo Dello Sport in Rome.

The ‘Milano Today’ stated that Forumnet will manage the Palasharp Arena for the next 31 years in the public-private partnership (PPP) mode.

It will be totally rehabilitated and the revamp work is expected to start in Autumn 2022. The metal part of the structure will be reused while the entrance will be located near the subway station. The building will be equipped with solar panels and will arrest noise pollution.

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The Palasharp was an indoor arena located in Milan, Italy. The seating capacity was 8,479 and it hosted concerts and sporting events. It was built in 1985 to replace two pre-existing structures, the Sport Palace and the Palatenda.

The Mediolanum Forum is an indoor sports arena that is located in Assago, a small town three km outside Milan, Italy. The arena has a seating capacity of 12,700 and is primarily used for staging basketball, ice hockey, tennis fixtures, as well as live concerts.

The Theater of the Moon is a performing arts theater in Assago, Italy. It has been designed specifically to host large-scale shows, but this tensile structure also hosts plays and concerts.

The Palazzo Dello Sport (literally ‘Small Sport Palace’) is an indoor arena that is located in Piazza Apollodoro in Rome, Italy. It has a 3,500 seating capacity for basketball games.

The ‘Milano Today’ further stated that the Forumnet has pipped to the post TicketOne and MCA Events to take over the reins of the above arena, which, however, will be able to exercise the right of first refusal within 15 days because they are promoting the expression of interest on the former building.

The Milano Hockey Arena will be built in the area: It will host the women’s hockey competitions for the 2026 Winter Olympics. The venue will have a capacity of 8,200 seats for sporting events (basketball, volleyball, tennis, indoor cycling, horse riding, fencing, sports dance, and winter sports on ice) and 9,700 seats for public entertainment events.

The above tensile structure was erected in 1986 on the initiative of the Togni family to host sporting events, especially basketball, after the roof of the San Siro Sports Palace caved in due to very heavy snowfall the previous year. It was initially called PalaTrussardi and has changed different names depending on the sponsors who financed the facility.

Maintained Martina Riva, Councilor for Sport of the Municipality of Milan, “The above development is good news for the City of Milan and for the Olympic Winter Games that we will host. After the bureaucratic procedures are cleared, we will kickstart the process of redeveloping the former Palasharp in the form of the Milan Hockey Arena to host Milano Cortina 2026 events.”

The 2026 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XXV Olympic Winter Games, and commonly known as Milano Cortina 2026 or Milan Cortina 2026, is a forthcoming international multisport event that is scheduled to take place from February 6^th to 22^nd, 2026 in the Italian Cities of Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo.

Price tag

The price tag of the entire rehabilitation exercise of the stadium will stand at 13 million and 349 thousand euros, in addition to 700 thousand euros to purchase the equipment.

The Forumnet has offered a fee of 50,000 euros for the first five years and 400,000 euros for the following years, or a 500 percent increase based on the tender. TicketOne and MCA Events have instead raised by 35 percent. The extra on the gross operating margin for Forumnet is also higher: Eighty percent extra against the 70 percent of TicketOne and MCA Events.

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