The arena
The arena for great moments
Friends Arena is Sweden’s national arena and one of the most modern multi-arenas in the world. With uninterrupted views from all seats, proximity to the arena floor and the latest in communication technology, you get to experience the greatest moments.
The Arena can manage events on all types of surfaces; grass, gravel, ice and parquet flooring and switch between them at lightning speed. The retractable roof lets us put on concerts and sports events all year round – whatever the weather outside.
Friends Arena is the home ground of AIK Fotboll and the Swedish men’s national football team. The Arena complies with UEFA and FIFA regulations for international football and has hosted two major UEFA competitions; the UEFA Europa League Final in 2017 between Ajax and Manchester United and the UEFA Women’s Euro 2013, played in front of a record crowd.
Despite its young age Friends Arena has hosted concerts by Beyoncé, Coldplay, Guns N’ Roses, Eminem, Ed Sheeran, Ariana Grande, Bruce Springsteen, AC/DC, Iron Maiden and Swedish House Mafia.
Inauguration
The arena was inaugurated on October 27, 2012 in the presence of the Crown Princess couple, the Prime Minister and 50,000 premiere-happy guests. The show “Svenska Ögonblick” was broadcast live on SVT and had over 1,700,000 viewers.
Media cube
Each side of the media cube that hangs from the roof of the Arena is 65 sq.m and just one of the screens is about the size of an average two-bedroom apartment. It weights in at 64 tonnes.
The retractable roof
The retractable roof consists of two sections that measure 3,750 sq. m each and together they are the size of six residential gardens. It takes around 15 minutes to open and close the roof.
Capacity sport
Approx. 50 000 people.
Capacity concerts
Approx. 60 000 people, depending on position and layout of the stage.
Wow-moments
Avicii Tribute Concert, 2019
58 163 people gathered at Friends Arena to pay tribute to the life and work of Avicii. It was a new attendance record for the arena and all the artists waived their performance fee in homage to Tim and support the Tim Bergling Foundation.
Wow-moments
AIK-GIF Sundsvall, 2018
A new audience record for football at Friends Arena was set when 51,128 supporters watched the big game on November 4, 2018. It was an intense pressure in the hunt for gold when AIK eventually secured the Allsvenskan’s final round against Kalmar FF.