Sazka is preparing the construction of a small arena for one billion

Prague - The lottery company Sazka is preparing the completion of the so-called small arena with a capacity of 6000 people, which will be located within the current O2 arena complex. The small arena has so far cost 1.1 billion CZK as part of the construction of the entire complex, and its completion is expected to cost around another billion crowns. It should be operational by the autumn of next year. This information was reported by today's Hospodářské noviny.
    "It is exactly the hall that Prague needs. On a large scale, it can replace the Lucerna hall," said HN CEO of Sazka, Aleš Hušák, adding that neither Sazka nor Bestsport would invest in the completion. "It is foreign investment that we would repay in the long term. Sazka really does not have the capacity to invest in the completion of the small arena today," added Hušák.
    According to HN, the expected partner for the completion is the company Lighthouse, which is building a huge shopping center in the vicinity of the O2 arena. This should be connected to the arena not only above ground but also underground.
    According to representatives of Lighthouse, the costs for completing the small hall could rise to a billion crowns. "However, negotiations about this entire investment are still ongoing," stated Pavel Hain-Schmiedberský from Lighthouse, according to HN.
    According to Hušák, the hall will have enormous spatial variability thanks to the small arena, and events for which fewer tickets are sold than the organizer expected can be moved to the small hall, saving costs for the promoter.
    The owner and operator of the multifunctional O2 arena is the company Bestsport, whose shareholders are Sazka and its owners. Sazka was repaying the costs of constructing the O2 arena with the help of a bond program, which was interrupted due to the impacts of the global crisis on the financial sector. However, two weeks ago, the company announced that it had reached an agreement with J&T Bank on cooperation for a bond program of up to 1.3 billion crowns. In this agreement, Sazka acts as a bond guarantor.