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The OL Arena (known as the LDLC Arena for sponsorship reasons) is a multi-purpose
indoor arena An arena is a large enclosed venue, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, Music, musical performances or Sport, sporting events. It comprises a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for specta ...
located in
Décines-Charpieu Décines-Charpieu (; ) is a commune in the Metropolis of Lyon in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in central-eastern France. The name of the city is often shortened and simply called Décines. Geography The centre of Décines is located southwe ...
in the
Metropolis of Lyon The Metropolis of Lyon (, ), also known as Grand Lyon (, "Greater Lyon"), is a French territorial collectivity in the east-central region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. It is a directly-elected metropolitan authority, encompassing both the city of L ...
,
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
. Owned by
OL Groupe OL Groupe (Olympique Lyonnais Groupe) is a French holding company created in 1999 primarily known for its ownership and management of the Olympique Lyonnais professional men's and women's association football clubs and their stadium, Parc Olympiqu ...
, the arena opened in November 2023 and is mainly used for sporting events and concerts. It is located near the
Parc Olympique Lyonnais Parc Olympique Lyonnais, known for sponsorship reasons as Groupama Stadium, is a 59,186-seat stadium in Décines-Charpieu, in the Metropolis of Lyon. The home of French football club Olympique Lyonnais (OL), it replaced their previous stadium, ...
stadium and training complex.


History


Planning and construction

On 7 December 2018, the
ASVEL Lyon-Villeurbanne ASVEL Basket, currently known as LDLC ASVEL for sponsorship reasons, is a French professional basketball team located in the commune of Villeurbanne, a suburb of Lyon, France. The club, which is the basketball section of the ASVEL multi-sports ...
basketball club announced a multi-function arena project, which would notably host
LDLC ASVEL ASVEL Basket, currently known as LDLC ASVEL for sponsorship reasons, is a French professional basketball team located in the commune of Villeurbanne, a suburb of Lyon, France. The club, which is the basketball section of the ASVEL multi-sports ...
matches in the
EuroLeague The EuroLeague is a European men's professional basketball club competition. The league is widely recognised as the top-tier and the most prestigious men's basketball league in Europe. The league consists of 20 teams, of which 16 are given lon ...
. In February 2019,
Jean-Michel Aulas Jean-Michel Antoine Aulas (; born 22 March 1949) is a French businessman. He is the founder of Cegid (Compagnie Européenne de Gestion par l'Informatique Décentralisée), and from 1987 to 2023, he served as the president of French football club ...
, then-owner and president of
Olympique Lyonnais Olympique Lyonnais (), commonly referred to as simply Lyon () or OL, is a French professional association football, football club based in Lyon, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France. With origins dating back to 1899, they were founded in 1950 and p ...
, announced plans to build a multi-purpose arena next to the stadium. It would become another part of the OL Vallée and would accommodate 10,000 to 15,000 people depending on the event. Aulas also stated that discussions were being held with ex-
National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...
player
Tony Parker William Anthony Parker Jr. (born 17 May 1982) is a French-American former professional basketball player and majority owner of ASVEL Basket, LDLC ASVEL of the LNB Élite and the EuroLeague. The son of a basketball pro, Parker started his career ...
, owner of the ASVEL Lyon-Villeurbanne basketball club, about moving from the Astroballe to the new arena. In June 2019, Aulas and Parker entered into a partnership with OL taking a 25% minority stake in LDLC ASVEL and
LDLC ASVEL Féminin LDLC OL was a French esports organization best known for its teams in Counter-Strike in esports, ''Counter-Strike''. The organization also sponsored teams in ''Fortnite Battle Royale'', ''League of Legends'', ''PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds'' an ...
, with ASVEL to play its EuroLeague home games in the new arena. The club would continue to play the remaining games in the Astroballe. In mid-June 2021, ASVEL Lyon-Villeurbanne was accepted as a shareholder in the EuroLeague with a permanent right to participate with the A license. To do this, the club needed a venue that met the requirements of the EuroLeague for international games; the Astroballe had only 5,556 seats. In July 2021, Olympique Lyon awarded the architectural firm Populous and Citinea, a subsidiary of the French construction group
Vinci SA Vinci (; corporately styled VINCI) is a French concessions and construction company founded in 1899 as Société Générale d'Entreprises. Its head office is in Nanterre, in the western suburbs of Paris. Vinci is listed on Euronext's Paris st ...
, the contract to design and build the multi-purpose hall in
Décines-Charpieu Décines-Charpieu (; ) is a commune in the Metropolis of Lyon in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in central-eastern France. The name of the city is often shortened and simply called Décines. Geography The centre of Décines is located southwe ...
, a commune located in the
Metropolis of Lyon The Metropolis of Lyon (, ), also known as Grand Lyon (, "Greater Lyon"), is a French territorial collectivity in the east-central region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. It is a directly-elected metropolitan authority, encompassing both the city of L ...
,
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
. According to information at the time, the arena would offer 12,000 to 16,000 seats and would be the largest event hall outside of Paris, holding 80 to 120 events per year, such as concerts, sports and
esports Esports (), short for electronic sports, is a form of competition using video games. Esports often takes the form of organized, multiplayer video game competitions, particularly between professional players, played individually or as teams. ...
competitions, seminars, and trade fairs. The two companies were already involved in the design and construction of the Groupama Stadium, which opened in 2016. According to plans, construction with a planned cost of 141 million euros would begin at the end of 2021 and be completed two years later at the end of 2023. In mid-October of that year, the Olympique Lyonnais Groupe signed a multi-year contract with
Live Nation Entertainment Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. is an American multinational entertainment company that was founded in 2010 following the merger of Live Nation and Ticketmaster. It promotes, operates and manages ticket sales for live entertainment internation ...
. The agreement began with construction starting in early 2022. The name of the multi-purpose hall was presented at the beginning of December 2021. Groupe LDLC, owner of computer and technology stores and sponsor of ASVEL Lyon-Villeurbanne and the e-sports division of Olympique Lyon, would be the title sponsor of the event arena for eight years. At the beginning of February 2022, the groundworks that began in January were completed and construction began. In May of that year, OL Groupe presented a financing plan for the construction of the hall. The group took over the entire financing. The project was supported by the subsidiary OL Vallée Arena. The planned costs of 141 million euros were to be financed through equity capital of 51 million euros and a real estate leasing of 90 million euros. The OL Vallée Arena signed a 15-year amortizing real estate lease agreement with a group of five banks, which provided for a residual value of 20 percent. The first seats in the new hall were presented in a ceremony on 6 September 2022. The shell construction was completed in February 2023. This was followed by the roofing of the hall. It was scheduled to be closed by the end of March that year. The support structure weighs 1,200t and spans 70m. To achieve a better
carbon footprint A carbon footprint (or greenhouse gas footprint) is a calculated value or index that makes it possible to compare the total amount of greenhouse gases that an activity, product, company or country Greenhouse gas emissions, adds to the atmospher ...
, the proportion of concrete was reduced by 25 percent compared to the original plan and low-carbon concrete was used. The opening was scheduled for December 15, 2023. LDLC ASVEL was scheduled to play 13 to 17 games in the arena annually. As it became known at the end of September 2023, Olympique Lyon intended to give up partial or complete control of the arena. The American entrepreneur
John Textor John Charles Textor (born September 30, 1965) is an American businessman. He is the former executive chairman of streaming television service FuboTV. He has been recognized for his work in the fields of digital media and entertainment with the nic ...
completed the purchase of Olympique Lyon in December 2022 through his holding company Eagle Football Holdings. OL Groupe had a net debt of 321 million euros at the end of 2022, according to its latest annual accounts, which showed a net loss in the first half of 60.7 million euros. Textor wanted to eliminate all debts not related to Groupama Stadium within two years. Olympique made the offer of 40% or full control of the LDLC Arena. In May 2023, the club sold a majority stake in the Olympique Lyonnais women's team to US businesswoman Michele Kang. OL Groupe was also exploring the sale of
OL Reign Seattle Reign FC is an American professional Association football, soccer team based in Seattle, Washington, that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). Founded in 2012, it is one of eight inaugural members of the NWSL. Since J ...
, a women's soccer franchise in
Tacoma Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, southwest of Bellevue, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, northwest of Mount ...
from the US
National Women's Soccer League The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) is a women's professional Association football, soccer league and the highest level of the United States soccer league system#Women's leagues, United States soccer league system (alongside the USL Supe ...
.


Events

During a visit to the arena on 12 September 2023, by Xavier Pierrot, deputy general manager of the OL Groupe and responsible for the LDLC Arena, and Tony Parker, the first events in the new arena were announced. On 23 November 2023, the first basketball game was held in the arena, which ended in a 100–101 loss by LDLC ASVEL to FC Bayern Munich after two overtimes, as part of the tenth round of the
2023–24 EuroLeague The 2023–24 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague was the 24th season of the modern era of the EuroLeague, and the 14th under the title sponsorship of Turkish Airlines. Including the competition's previous incarnation as the FIBA Europe Champions Cup, t ...
regular season In an organized sports league, a typical season is the portion of one year in which regulated games of the sport are in session: for example, in Major League Baseball the season lasts approximately from the last week of March to the last week of S ...
and was attended by 11,354 spectators. During the season, a total of eleven games are scheduled to be played in the LDLC Arena.


Concerts and shows

Comedian and actress
Florence Foresti Florence Foresti (; born 8 November 1973) is a French comedian and actress. Life and career Following her high school studies in literature, theatre and dramatic expression at Saint-Just de Lyon, Florence Foresti entered a school for cinemato ...
also made her first appearance on stage on November 28. Music artists
Sting Stimulator of interferon genes (STING), also known as transmembrane protein 173 (TMEM173) and MPYS/MITA/ERIS is a regulator protein that in humans is encoded by the STING1 gene. STING plays an important role in innate immunity. STING induces typ ...
and
Lomepal Antoine Valentinelli (born 4 December 1991 in Paris), better known by his stage name Lomepal, is a French rapper and singer from the 13th arrondissement of Paris. He has released five Extended play, EPs, and three studio albums: ''Flip'', releas ...
are scheduled to perform in December of that year. In 2024, more concerts by artists including Calogero,
Shaka Ponk Shaka Ponk (sometimes abbreviated as SHKPNK) was a French musical band formed in Paris in 2002. They mix different forms of popular music into their songs in addition to world music, although predominantly with an electronic and experimental r ...
,
Patrick Bruel Patrick Benguigui (; born 14 May 1959), better known by his stage name Patrick Bruel (), is a French singer-songwriter, actor and professional poker player. Biography Early life Patrick is the son of Pierre Benguigui and Augusta Kammoun, d ...
,
Green Day Green Day is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Rodeo, California, in 1987 by lead vocalist and guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong and bassist and backing vocalist Mike Dirnt, with drummer Tré Cool joining in 1990. In 1994, their majo ...
and
Michel Sardou Michel Charles Sardou (; born 26 January 1947) is a French singer and occasional actor. He is known not only for his love songs ("La maladie d'amour", "Je vais t'aimer"), but also for songs dealing with various social and political issues, su ...
are to follow. It will also host the touring musical '' Starmania'' for 6 dates in October 2024. In 2025,
ATEEZ Ateez (; stylised in all caps) is a South Korean boy band formed by KQ Entertainment. The group consists of eight members: Hongjoong, Seonghwa, Yunho, Yeosang, San, Mingi, Wooyoung and Jongho. They debuted on October 24, 2018, with the extende ...
became the first kpop group held solo concert at the venue for their Towards The Light: Will To Power world tour ;
Dua Lipa Dua Lipa ( ; born22 August 1995) is an English and Albanian singer, songwriter and actress. List of awards and nominations received by Dua Lipa, Her accolades include seven Brit Awards and three Grammy Awards. Lipa worked as a model before v ...
performed at the arena for 2 nights in May 2025 for her Radical Optimism Tour,
Katy Perry Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson (born October 25, 1984), known professionally as Katy Perry, is an American singer, songwriter, and television personality. She is one of the List of best-selling music artists, best-selling music artists in hist ...
will perform her Lifetimes Tour for 1 night in November, and
Lady Gaga Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta (born March 28, 1986), known professionally as Lady Gaga, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Known for her image reinventions and versatility across the entertainment industry, she is an influ ...
will perform her Mayhem Ball for 2 nights in November as well.


Professional wrestling

American
professional wrestling Professional wrestling, often shortened to either pro wrestling or wrestling,The term "wrestling" is most often widely used to specifically refer to modern scripted professional wrestling, though it is also used to refer to Real life, real- ...
promotion
WWE World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) is an American professional wrestling promotion. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority-owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. A global integrated media and entertainment company, ...
hosted two events at the arena: the first was a local
live Live may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Live!'' (2007 film), 2007 American film * ''Live'' (2014 film), a 2014 Japanese film * ''Live'' (2023 film), a Malayalam-language film *'' Live: Phát Trực Tiếp'', a Vietnamese-langua ...
broadcast of the television program ''
Friday Night SmackDown ''WWE SmackDown'', also known as ''Friday Night SmackDown'' or simply ''SmackDown'', is an American professional wrestling television program produced by WWE. It airs live every Friday at 8 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) on USA Network in the United ...
'' on 3 May 2024, followed by the
pay-per-view Pay-per-view (PPV) is a type of pay television or webcast service that enables a viewer to pay to watch individual events via private telecast. Events can be purchased through a multichannel television platform using their electronic program ...
and
livestreaming Livestreaming, live-streaming, or live streaming is the streaming of video or audio in real time or near real time. While often referred to simply as ''streaming'', the real-time nature of livestreaming differentiates it from other non- liv ...
event, Backlash France, a day later, which was broadcast live worldwide. This was the first time that an episode of ''SmackDown'' and a WWE pay-per-view and livestreaming event were held in the country.


Sports events


See also

*
List of indoor arenas in France The following is a list of Arena, indoor arenas in France with a capacity of at least 2,500 spectators, most of the arenas in this list are for multi use proposes and are used for popular sports such as individual sports like karate, judo, boxing ...


References


External links

* olvallee.fr
LDLC Arena
* ostadium.com
LDLC Arena
{{Music venues in France 2023 establishments in France 21st-century architecture in France Basketball venues in France Buildings and structures in Lyon Indoor arenas in France Sports venues completed in 2023 Sports venues in Lyon Metropolis Sports venues in Lyon Wrestling venues