The Ondrej Nepela Arena () (also known as Orange Arena during the 2011 IIHF Championship and later as Tipos Aréna, previously Slovnaft Arena, for sponsorship reasons) is an indoor arena in Bratislava, Slovakia. It is primarily used for ice hockey and it is the home arena of the HC Slovan Bratislava.
History Ice rink and original arena
The arena was first opened on 15 December 1940 as the first public artificial ice rink in Bratislava. The first official ice hockey game was played on 21 December of the same year. Between 1948 and 1949, new tribunes were built in order to increase the standing capacity from around 300 to 11,000. In 1957 the open-air venue was covered with a steel structure that required supporting columns, and 4,800 temporary seats were installed with the standing capacity reduced to 7,000.
Another significant renovation took place between 1989 and 1992, in time for hosting the 1992 Men's Ice Hockey World Championships, and following this the arena now had a total of 7,747 seats until its full reconstruction started in early 2009. This time the interior was changed significantly (new seats, locker rooms and technical equipment) and the arena received a new reinforced concrete roof.
Since 29 September 1995 the arena is named in honour of Ondrej Nepela, a Slovak figure skater who competed for Czechoslovakia in the late 1960s and early 1970s and who was the Men's figure skating champion at the 1972 Winter Olympics in Sapporo, Japan.
New modern arena
In the period from April 2009 to February 2011, the venue was almost entirely rebuilt and upgraded, in line with IIHF, Slovak, and international specifications and largely funded by the Slovak government, as part of preparations for hosting the 2011 IIHF World Championships. More than €87 million was spent to install a new steel roof, modernize facilities, build two new adjacent practice arenas, an underground car park and increase the seating capacity from 8,350 to 10,000. During the reconstruction phase, 80% of the original building was demolished and the resident ice hockey club HC Slovan Bratislava moved to the Vladimír Dzurilla Ice Stadium in the Ružinov borough of Bratislava.
The reconstructed arena opened in April 2011, with one of the most advanced game presentations, LED scoreboards, and security systems ever built. In addition to the arena, a new DoubleTree by Hilton hotel was built, which mainly served as the accommodation for the foreign teams and staff during the championships. Further improvements to the arena's facilities were carried out in 2018 to improve its ability to host the 2019 IIHF World Championship. The work included an upgraded refrigeration system, a refurbished ice rink with new boards and plexiglass, improved team dressing rooms and other areas, and technical upgrades.
Notable events Sport An NHL pre-season game was held at the Samsung Arena between HC Slovan Bratislava and the Tampa Bay Lightning on September 30, 2008. Tampa Bay won 3–2 in overtime. On October 2, 2011, the arena hosted another NHL pre-season game, this time between HC Slovan Bratislava and New York Rangers who beat the home team 4–1.
An overview of some sport events held in the arena:
1958 European Figure Skating Championships 1959 IIHF World Championship 1966 European Figure Skating Championships 1973 World Figure Skating Championships 1981 FIBA European Championship
1990s
1992 IIHF World Championship 1995 IIHF World Championship Group B 1996 ISBHF Ball Hockey World Championship 1996 European Table Tennis Championships 1999 European Judo Championships
2000s 2001 European Figure Skating Championships 2008 IIHF Men's InLine Hockey World Championship
2010s
2011 IIHF World Championship 2011 ISBHF Ball Hockey World Championship 2016 European Figure Skating Championships 2016 Women's Youth World Handball Championship 2017 IIHF Inline Hockey World Championship 2017 Women's World Floorball Championships 2019 IIHF World Championship 2019 WUKF Karate World Championship 2019 Women's European Volleyball Championship
2020s Ice hockey at the 2022 Winter Olympics – Men's qualification group D 2022 European Men's Handball Championship 2026 European Women's Handball Championship 2029 IIHF World Championship
Music An overview of some musical events from 2011 onwards Date Artists Events2011 June 29 Sting Symphonicity Tour November 6 Rammstein Made in Germany 1995–2011 (tour) November 13 Sade Sade Live Tour2012 July 10 Elton John Greatest Hits Tour (Elton John) December 20 José Carreras The Singles Tour2013 April 19 Beyoncé The Mrs. Carter Show World Tour May 9 Eros Ramazzotti Noi World Tour December 29 Andrea Bocelli2014 February 6 Depeche Mode Delta Machine Tour May 5 Peter Gabriel Back To Front Tour October 19 Kylie Minogue Kiss Me Once Tour2015 February 2 Ennio Morricone My Life in Music Tour 2015 February 27 Katy Perry Prismatic World Tour April 18 Robbie Williams Let Me Entertain You Tour2016 January 19 Ennio Morricone 60 Years of Music Tour 2016 March 15 Eros Ramazzotti Perfetto Tour May 5 Hans Zimmer May 27 André Rieu November 9 Jean Michel Jarre Electronica Tour November 26 Piotr Rubik December 16 José Carreras 2017 May 11 Vanessa Mae June 2 Hans Zimmer November 19 Andrea Bocelli 2018 January 13 Piotr Rubik August 31 Thirty Seconds to Mars Monolith Tour2019 June 30 Sting Sting: My Songs Tour October 5 Eros Ramazzotti Vita Ce N'è Tour October 31 Enrique Iglesias All The Hits Live (Enrique Iglesias) November 20 Scorpions Crazy World Tour2020 February 16 Hans Zimmer The World of Hans Zimmer February 26 Maluma Maluma World Tour2021 November 18 André Rieu 2022 March 3 Hans Zimmer May 7 OneRepublic August 3 Slipknot We Are Not Your Kind
Transport Ondrej Nepela Arena is located in the third district of Bratislava, Slovakia. The arena can be approached by tram, trolleybus and bus.
Service Stop Line Bus Zimný Štadión 39, 53, 63, 78, 163Trolleybus47, 60, 61 Tram Česká 4
Service Stop Line Night bus Zimný Štadión N74 Night bus Česká N53
Drivers can park directly under the arena. There are place for 365 cars. An additional 1,300 parking spaces offer the Central Shopping Center, which is approximately 400 m away from the arena. Next 994 parking spaces are under the Tehelné pole, which is 300 m away.
Image gallery
See also List of indoor arenas in Slovakia List of European ice hockey arenas
References
External links