Tour de force Tampere Deck Arena now UROS Live

Article posted by Coliseum, March 17^th, 2020

Image: Tampere Deck Arena

Finnish technology company UROS has acquired naming rights to the under-construction Tampere Deck Arena in Finland. It is a 10-year deal.

The deal officially renames the arena, which is scheduled to go on stream in 2021, as UROS Live. The arena will be able to fit in up to 15,000 supporters and will host major sporting events and concerts.

Founded in 2011, UROS is a global innovator and one-stop-shop for turnkey IoT solutions and Smart Connectivity technologies and is based in Finland.

The Tampere Deck Arena is an indoor arena in Tampere in Finland which is presently under construction.

UROS LIVE is on schedule to open in 2021, and will be a marvel in Europe as a multifunctional downtown arena. The arena will facilitate comprehensive digital experiences and various types of events, ranging from mega sports events and world class concerts to corporate and family events. The arena’s digital ecosystem will unlock a new type of synergy for its stakeholders, including a top-class hotel, an international casino, extensive conference and meeting services and several eateries.

Apart from serving as the home rink of Tampere-based ice hockey teams Tappara and Ilves, the arena will serve as the main venue for the International Ice Hockey Federation’s (IIHF) World Championship in 2022. The state-of-the-art venue will host 1 million visitors annually.

The IIHF awarded Finland hosting rights to its 2022 World Championship way back in May 2017. Uros Live will be one of two host venues alongside Helsinki’s 13,400-seat Hartwall Arena.

UROS will develop solutions and services for the arena that will give room to stakeholders and guests to create and enjoy new experiences. UROS Live claims to be the first downtown arena in Europe and is designed to expand on the attractiveness of the city of Tampere and the wider Pirkanmaa region.

UROS Group Chief Executive Jerry Raatikainen observed, “With this announcement we are excited to share the news of our branching out into the digital experience space, an extension of our commitment to strategically develop smart city solutions.”

“We will bring together event stakeholders into one platform and harness the power of AI to create new value for all parties in the ecosystem, transforming the event experience, as we know it today. UROS will digitalize the technology enablers for service providers and UROS Live in Tampere, Finland, will serve as the first deployment globally,” Raatikainen added.

“When looking at what a world class facility this will be, becoming the naming rights partner was a perfect match with the UROS brand. The team behind the arena project shares our vision and ambition to challenge the status quo, and we couldn’t be happier to work together going forward”, the top official further added.

Arena Chief Executive Marko Hurme remarked “The best partners are those who can add value to our visitors. In addition to the naming-rights deal, we are looking forward to working with UROS on a digital platform that will bring together all the services related to the arena experience.”

“There is demand for a versatile arena in our modern world; a world in which people are choosing experiences and services over possessions. Even in the digital age, people want to meet each other and experience things together. Through the value created by teaming up with UROS, our arena partners will be able to build a more intense and deeply-rooted connection with arena visitors, and bring fan engagement to a new level. It’s really all about the fans.”

“The thriving and progressive future cities will provide services that are digital, user-friendly, as well as end-user-driven. These are also the key drivers of the City of Tampere, and we will take one-step closer to making them real today when our Arena forms a partnership with one of the forefront companies of the IoT industry in Finland, UROS Group. The new arena UROS LIVE is a significant milestone to the City of Tampere and our citizens. It enhances our means to host and organize major events all year round. Tampere works toward becoming the leading city of attractions, events, and amusement in the Nordics,” emphasizes the Mayor of the City of Tampere, Lauri Lyly.

The partnership is a unique fit for what the parties believe will act as a catalyst to push forward the event business into a new era of digitalization and the arena will be the tour de force in Europe.

Officials behind the arena maintained in February that the project remains on track after construction company SRV significantly reduced its stake in the venture.

SRV has said it will sell three quarters of its stake in UROS Live, set to be Finland’s largest events arena once complete, to other investor partners in the project, namely OP, Ilmarinen and Lähi-Tapiola.

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