At the end of last month, CTS Eventim made a major global move, launching Eventim Live Asia (ELA) in partnership with Jason Miller, the former SVP of Asia for Live Nation.
Now, the Munich-headquartered concert promoter and ticketing company has made another serious bet on another major market, this time Europe.
Eventim is planning the construction of the MSG Arena in Milan, Italy, which will be Italy’s largest multipurpose arena.
The investment over the duration of the project will amount to around €180 million (approx. $212m at current exchange rates), according to Eventim.
The arena’s capacity will be 16,000 people after its planned completion in fall 2025, and will also have an outdoor area of more than 10,000m² for open-air events.
Construction is scheduled to begin in fall 2022.
The arena will initially be made available to the International Olympic Committee for the Winter Games at the beginning of 2026. After that, Eventim will continue operating the venue.
Agreements were signed on August 5 between Eventim AG & Co. KGaA and the project company Milano Santa Giulia S.p.A..
An Eventim Group project company, based in Milan, will acquire a 50,000m² plot of land in the south-east of Milan, where it will plan, build and operate the new arena, including outdoor facilities and two multi-storey car parks for 2,750 vehicles.
Eventim says that the arena will “secure a leading position in the Italian market in every respect” and will “further increase the importance of the Milan region for national and international entertainment and sporting events”.
Eventim portfolio of venues includes the LANXESS Arena in Cologne, the Eventim Apollo in London, the K.B. Hallen in Copenhagen and the Tempodrom and the Waldbuehne in Berlin.
In recent years, Eventim has further expanded its operations in Russia, the US, Switzerland and Asia.
In revenue, Italy is Eventim second largest market after Germany. Before the start of the coronavirus pandemic, the region is generated around €271m in the ticketing and live entertainment segments in 2019.
This figure added to Eventim’s €1.44bn in revenue in 2019, more than three times its turnover a decade before (2009: €467m).
In 2020, as the pandemic forced venues to close worldwide, the group says it generated revenue totalling €256.8m in 21 countries.
“Our work as venue operators is one of the outstanding success stories of CTS EVENTIM.”
Klaus-Peter Schulenberg, EVENTIM
Klaus-Peter Schulenberg, CEO of CTS EVENTIM, said: “Our work as venue operators is one of the outstanding success stories of CTS EVENTIM.
“We are very much looking forward to this new project, which will enable us to bring our expertise in the management of top international venues and the live entertainment business to bear.
“Our new arena in Milan will be a must-play for all major tours, and we will also be able to offer top events from the Eventim portfolio to the region around Milan and beyond in our own arena through the four Italian promoters in our EVENTIM LIVE promoter network.
“This is another excellent addition to our value chain.”Music Business Worldwide
