| Strawberry Arena | |
| Nickname: | Nationalarenan |
| Fullname: | Strawberry Arena |
| Former Names: | Swedbank Arena (2009–2012) Friends Arena (2012–2024) |
| City: | Stockholm |
| Country: | Sweden |
| Location: | Solna, Stockholm, Sweden |
| Coordinates: | 59.3725°N 18°W |
| Broke Ground: | 7 December 2009[1] |
| Built: | 2009–2012 |
| Opened: | 25 October 2012[2] |
| Owner: | Swedish Football Association, Folksam, Solna Municipality, Jernhusen, Peab, Fabege[3] |
| Surface: | Natural grass turf |
| Construction Cost: | 2.8 billion SEK (€ 300 million) |
| Suites: | 92 |
| Architect: | Arkitekterna Krook & Tjäder, Berg Arkitektkontor, Populous[4] |
| Main Contractors: | Peab |
| Tenants: | Sweden men's national football team (2012–present) AIK Fotboll (2013–present) Melodifestivalen final (2013–2020, 2022–present) |
Nationalarenan, known as Strawberry Arena for sponsorship reasons, is a retractable roof multi-purpose stadium in Stockholm, Sweden.
Located next to the lake Råstasjön in Solna, just north of the City Centre, it is the largest stadium in Scandinavia. Since its opening, the venue has served as Sweden's national stadium for men's football, hence the name Nationalarenan.
The main tenants of the stadium are Sweden's men's national football team and Allsvenskan football club AIK; both relocated from their previous home at the Råsunda Stadium. The venue has a total capacity of 65,000 at concerts and 50,000 seated at football matches, but the stadium can be scaled down to provide for smaller events with approximately 20,000 guests. The arena is designed by Danish C.F. Møller Architects.
65,000 at concerts would require a small stage. The record attendance is just over 60,000. The record attendance for football is slightly over 50,000 for a club league match; for these matches are standing spectators allowed.[5]
Initially there were plans to build a new national stadium close to the indoor venue Ericsson Globe in Stockholm, but on 1 April 2006 the Swedish Football Association (SvFF) made the decision to build the new stadium in Solna. It was calculated to cost around 1.9 billion kronor (202 million euro) to complete. The estimated cost before construction had begun was 2.3 billion kronor. It replaced Råsunda Stadium, Sweden's former national arena for football. Råsunda was torn down and replaced by some 700 flats and office buildings.
Swedbank acquired the naming rights to the stadium in a 153 million kronor (about 20.5 million euro) deal that would last until 2023. While the arena was originally to be known as Swedbank Arena, Swedbank announced in 2012 that it would donate its naming rights to Friends, a nonprofit organization against school bullying of which Swedbank is a sponsor. Consequently, the stadium was renamed Friends Arena.
On January 13, 2024, a naming rights sponsorship agreement was reached with the Norwegian hotel company Strawberry. The new name, "Strawberry Arena", took effect on July 12, 2024.[6]
The stadium has a retractable roof, enabling events to take place during the winter season and to host indoor entertainment shows. The facade of the arena can be lit up in 17 million different color schemes. For example, the stadium is lit up in blue and yellow when Sweden's national team is playing matches. Nationalarenan is a UEFA Category 4 stadium, and the natural turf pitch measures 105 x 68 metres. In the middle of the stadium roof, a 240 square metres big media cube is placed where the attendance can follow what is happening. In addition, 647 LED-screens are installed throughout the facility to enhance the guest experience.
Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden declared the arena inaugurated at the opening ceremony, which took place in the venue on 27 October 2012. The show, directed by famous Swedish director Colin Nutley, was entitled "Svenska ögonblick" (Swedish Moments).Popular swedish artists as Agnes Carlsson, The Hives, Icona Pop, two-times Eurovision Song Contest winner Loreen, First Aid Kit and Roxette performed in front of a crowd of 46,000 people. Furthermore, 1,700,000 TV viewers watched the inauguration show live at SVT1.[7]
Swedish House Mafia made three concerts during their One Last Tour in the arena. A total of approximately 115,000 people visited Nationalarenan during the three sold-out concerts in November 2012.
On 14 November 2012, the stadium hosted its first football game. Zlatan Ibrahimović scored the first goal at Sweden's new national stadium in the 4–2 victory against England. The game was seen by 49,967 people, which until 2017 was the attendance record for a sport event.[8]
A new record for Swedish bandy was set at the 2013 Swedish Bandy Championship Final, when Hammarby IF defeated Sandvikens AIK ahead of an audience of 38,474 persons under the closed roof.[9]
AIK played their first competitive football match on April 7, 2013. Visiting team Syrianska FC succeeded to get one point after a goalless game, but the better for AIK, they set a new club record attendance for a home game in Allsvenskan of 43,463.
On 28 July 2013, the final of the UEFA Women's Euro were played. 41,301 people watched Germany overcome Norway with a score of 1–0. The game set a new attendance record for a Women's Euro fixture. Solna became also the first city in Europe which has hosted all four big football championships (FIFA World Cup, FIFA Women's World Cup, UEFA European Championship and UEFA Women's Championship). The arena also hosted Motorcycle speedway as part of the Speedway Grand Prix World Championship series and held the Speedway Grand Prix of Scandinavia from 2013 to 2017. The temporary track at the arena was 275m (902feet) in length.
The arena also hosted the final of Melodifestivalen every year since 2013, with the exception of 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2022, the arena also hosted the fourth heat and the semi-final of that year's competition. The stadium was chosen as the venue for the 2017 UEFA Europa League Final.
| Concerts at Friends Arena | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Artist | Event | Attendance | Revenue |
| 3 May 2013 | Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band | Wrecking Ball World Tour | 169,325 / 169,325[10] | $17,932,099[11] |
| 4 May 2013 | ||||
| 8 May 2013 | One Direction | Take Me Home Tour | 29,723 / 29,723 | $1,783,380 |
| 11 May 2013 | Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band | Wrecking Ball World Tour | — | — |
| 1 June 2013 | Kiss | Monster World Tour | — | — |
| 13 July 2013 | Iron Maiden | Maiden England World Tour | 55.531 | — |
| 22 November 2013 | Black Sabbath | Black Sabbath Reunion Tour | — | — |
| 13 December 2013 | Elton John | The Diving Board Tour | — | — |
| 13 June 2014 | One Direction | Where We Are Tour | 88,978 / 88,978 | $7,358,040 |
| 14 June 2014 | ||||
| 28 June 2014 | Pearl Jam | Lightning Bolt Tour | — | — |
| 19 July 2015 | AC/DC | Rock or Bust World Tour | — | — |
| 19 March 2016 | Simple Minds | Big Music Tour + Greatest Hits 2016 | — | — |
| 3 July 2016 | Coldplay | A Head Full of Dreams Tour | 53,575 / 53,575 | $3,970,140 |
| 9 July 2016 | Black Sabbath | The End Tour | — | — |
| 26 July 2016 | Beyoncé | The Formation World Tour | 48,519 / 48,519 | $3,937,498 |
| 5 May 2017 | Depeche Mode | Global Spirit Tour | 36,400 / 36,400 | $2,734,164 |
| 8 May 2017 | Ariana Grande | Dangerous Woman Tour | 14,106 / 14,106 | $995,461 |
| 29 June 2017 | Guns N' Roses | Not in This Lifetime... Tour | 53,654 / 53,654 | $4,460,555 |
| 12 October 2017 | The Rolling Stones | No Filter Tour | 53,770 / 53,770 | $7,880,697 |
| 21 November 2017 | Queen + Adam Lambert | Queen + Adam Lambert Tour 2017–2018 | — | — |
| 25 June 2018 | Beyoncé Jay-Z | On the Run II Tour | 46,647 / 46,647 | $4,610,554 |
| 2 July 2018 | Eminem | Revival Tour | — | — |
| 14 July 2018 | Ed Sheeran | ÷ Tour | 54,234 / 54,234 | $4,818,972 |
| 31 July 2018 | Justin Timberlake | The Man of the Woods Tour | 23,303 / 23,303 | $1,818,015 |
| 18 August 2018 | Roger Waters | Us + Them Tour | 19,043 / 19,238 | $1,782,758 |
| 12 June 2019 | Phil Collins | Not Dead Yet Tour | — | — |
| 17 October 2019 | Cher | Here We Go Again Tour | 27,025 / 27,025 | $2,274,898 |
| 21 July 2022 | Lady Gaga | The Chromatica Ball | 34,934 / 34,934 | $3,540,732 |
| 31 July 2022 | The Rolling Stones | Sixty | 50,889 / 50,889 | $6,916,424 |
| 10 May 2023 | Beyoncé | Renaissance World Tour | 90,169 / 90,169 | $9,802,155 |
| 11 May 2023 | ||||
| 23 May 2023 | Depeche Mode | Memento Mori World Tour | ||
| 17 May 2024 | Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour | ||
| 18 May 2024 | ||||
| 19 May 2024 | ||||
| 25 July 2024 | Pink | Pink Summer Carnival | ||
The stadium is located a 700-metre (800 yards) walk from the Solna commuter train station, where the Tvärbanan tramway and local buses are also available (a slightly longer walk away). Slightly further away (1.4 km, 0.9 mi) the Näckrosen metro station is found. The 18th meridian east runs through Nationalarenan. There are two boards informing that the eighteenth meridian has passed through this point, at the entrance B and F.[12]
The arena, located about six km (3,7 miles) from Stockholm Central Station, has parking for 300 charter buses and 4,000 cars. Along with the stadium, there will also be built a number of hotels with a total of approximately 400 rooms, restaurants for 8,000 guests, office areas for 10,000 employees, conference/exhibition centres and 2,000 flats. Moreover, a shopping mall, Mall of Scandinavia, with 240 shops and a multi screen cinema, opened near the stadium in 2015. The mall is the biggest shopping centre in Sweden.
The total project was calculated to cost more than 4 billion SEK.[13]
| Season | Sweden national team | AIK | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Games ! Season Average | Highest Gate ! Lowest Gate | Games ! Season Average | Highest Gate ! Lowest Gate | |||||||
| 2012 | 1 | 49,967 | 49,967 vs England | 49,967 vs England | ||||||
| 2013 | 7 | 41,973 | 49,766 vs Portugal | 13,438 vs Norway | 15 | 18,900 | 43,466 vs Syrianska FC | 9,388 vs Östers IF | ||
| 2014 | 4 | 27,926 | 49,023 vs Russia | 15,421 vs Estonia | 15 | 16,446 | 30,650 vs IFK Göteborg | 11,408 vs Falkenbergs FF | ||
| 2015 | 5 | 34,925 | 49,053 vs Denmark | 25,351 vs Montenegro | 15 | 20,983 | 43,713 vs IFK Göteborg | 10,701 vs Falkenbergs FF | ||
| 2016 | 4 | 28,581 | 37,942 vs Wales | 18,475 vs Czech Republic | 15 | 16,431 | 30,843 vs Hammarby IF | 8,507 vs BK Häcken | ||
| 2017 | 4 | 44,810 | 50,022 vs Luxembourg | 31,243 vs Belarus | 15 | 17,807 | 33,157 vs Djurgårdens IF | 10,342 vs Halmstads BK | ||
| 2018 | 5 | 28,325 | 48,134 vs Chile | 9,876 vs Slovakia | 15 | 23,671 | 50,128 vs GIF Sundsvall | |||
| 2019 | 5 | 32,863 | 48,134 vs Spain | 19,737 vs Slovakia | 15 | 18.970 | 45,367 vs Djurgårdens IF | |||
| 2020 | 3 | 0 | 15 | 0 | ||||||
| 2021 | 8 | 15,238 | 47,314 vs Greece | 500 vs Armenia | 15 | 12,364 | 42,539 vs Djurgårdens IF | |||
| 2022 | 4 | 34,492 | 48,628 vs Czech Republic | 22,895 vs Slovenia | ||||||
| 2023 | 6 | 26,337 | 49,296 vs Belgium | 10,097 vs Moldova | ||||||
