Česky
The twenty-first season at the O2 arena was marked by innovations, sustainability and world stars
O2 arena together with the multifunctional congress center O2 universum welcomed over 1.4 million visitors last year, who came to almost 290 diverse events – from concerts by world and domestic stars to sports matches to congresses and corporate events.
The company Bestsport a.s., which operates both halls, thus concluded its second most successful season. The most successful year so far remains 2024, when the Ice Hockey World Championship took place in the O2 arena, which significantly influenced the overall attendance.
2025 presented records, world stars and a strong home scene
The attendance history of the O2 arena was rewritten by Billie Eilish, whose June concert was attended by a record 20,209 spectators. She thus became the most attended single event in the hall’s history and dethroned the legendary band Metallica.
A number of other foreign stars also enjoyed great audience interest. Among the hopelessly sold-out events were concerts by American singer Pitbull, Robbie Williams, Katy Perry, Lenny Kravitz, Twenty One Pilots, OneRepublic and Dua Lipa, who performed here on two consecutive days. From the domestic scene, for example, Calin, DJ Wich, Michal David, and the bands Jelen, Elán and Lucie shone.
For the first time, the O2 arena area also turned into a dance floor as part of the StarDance Tour. The return of the prestigious Prague PlayOffs event has also attracted great interest.
The O2 arena has long been the home of top-level hockey. Last season, it hosted 36 hockey games, which were attended by an average of 13,651 spectators per game. The hockey of our home team HC Sparta continues to be an important and integral part of the O2 arena program and confirms the strong bond between the hall and sports fans.
“We are building on very successful years. In 2024, the O2 arena celebrated its twentieth anniversary and achieved a record total attendance. 2025 brought another historical milestone in the form of a record attendance for a single event, as well as a shift in the area of sustainability and visitor comfort – the successful introduction of non-returnable cups and the transition to cashless operation confirm that we are going hand in hand with modern and sustainable trends. In addition, 2026 will open the World Figure Skating Championships, which are returning to Prague after 33 years. The bar for our expectations for this season is therefore set high,” says Robert Schaffer, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Bestsport, a.s.
O2 universum – sixth season of operation was a record
The multifunctional congress centre O2 universum closed its sixth season with a record attendance, welcoming more than 300 thousand visitors. During the year, almost 190 events for companies and the general public took place here.
Among the musical events, the joint concert of Ben Cristovao and Sofian Medjmedj stood out, who sold out O2 universum twice in a row, and in record time. The audience was also captivated by Stein27, Calum Scott, James Arthur, Anastacia and the concert dedicated to Ennio Morricone, conducted by his son Andrea Morricone.
Among the Czech performers, Jaromír Nohavica, Kateřina Marie Tichá or the band Lunetic excelled as part of their 30th anniversary.
Prom balls, corporate events and congresses
O2 universum has long been profiled not only as a center for congresses and corporate events, but also for the second season as a popular place for graduation balls. A six-week period is reserved for their implementation in the freer part of the year, during which more than ten balls took place last year. In 2025, their number almost doubled, which confirms the growing interest of schools in this concept.
The Navrátil returnable cup has become a sign of sustainability
The innovations of 2025 at the O2 arena and other Bestsport facilities did not only concern music and entertainment experiences, but also sustainability and modernization of visitor services. In July 2025, among other things, a new Navrátil returnable cup system was launched, which aims to significantly reduce the consumption of single-use plastics at public events. After its successful introduction at the O2 arena, the system was subsequently extended to the Karlín Forum and the O2 universe. The cup is designed for repeated use and can replace up to a thousand single-use plastic cups. It works without a deposit and without collector graphics to motivate visitors to simply return it to the collection boxes.
The project also has a social dimension – for each returned cup, Bestsport, a.s. contributes CZK 0.50 to the O2 Foundation for the O2 Smart School program, which deals with the digital health of our children. Thanks to the mostly disciplined visitors who return the cups, in the five months of operation of the new system, the O2 Foundation managed to contribute over CZK 206,000 and at the same time save more than 6 tons of plastic.
