Lanxess Arena

Lanxess Arena is an indoor arena, in Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is known as the 18,500-capacity home of the Kölner Haie and as one of Germany's major music venues. As of 2019, Lanxess Arena was the highest-attended arena worldwide, with 699,924 tickets sold. The arena is spanned by a notable steel arch supporting the roof via steel cables. The height of the arch is and its weight is 480 tons.

History

On June 2, 2008, it was announced that Kölnarena would be renamed Lanxess Arena, for a period of ten years. The sponsor, Lanxess AG, is a specialty chemicals group based in the Lanxess Tower in Deutz, Cologne. This naming-rights deal was extended in 2017 until December 31, 2023. Then in October 2023, it was announced that the cooperation between the arena and Lanxess had been extended for another 5 years until 2028.

Events

The arena is primarily used by Kölner Haie, VfL Gummersbach, Köln RheinStars, and as a concert venue. In the world of Counter-Strike eSports, the venue is known as "The Cathedral", having played host to the annual Intel Extreme Masters Cologne event since 2015, including two Major Championships, with a third planned.

Concerts

Lanxess Arena has been one of the top entertainment venues in Cologne since its opening. Many international artists have performed at the venue, spanning a wide range of music genres. Artists that have performed their concerts at the venue are listed in the table below.

Sports and computer gaming

The arena was used for the 2007 World Men's Handball Championship, including the third place game and the final game.
On June 13, 2009, the Ultimate Fighting Championships held UFC 99 at the Lanxess Arena. This was the first time the UFC had made its way to Germany.
From 2010, the arena host the handball EHF Champions League Final Four.
The arena was one of the venues for the 2010 IIHF World Championship, including both semi-finals, the Bronze medal game and the Championship game.
From August 22–23, 2015, the arena hosted ESL One Cologne 2015, one of three major Counter-Strike: Global Offensive tournaments to be held throughout 2015.
From July 5–10, 2016, the arena hosted ESL One Cologne 2016, the second $1,000,000 Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Major tournament and the second held at the arena.
From May 5–21, 2017, the arena co-hosted the IIHF ice hockey world championship, including all the final games.
From July 7–9, 2017, the arena hosted ESL One Cologne 2017, a Counter-Strike: Global Offensive tournament with a prize pool of $250,000.
From July 6–8, 2018, the arena hosted ESL One Cologne 2018. This event earned Lanxess Arena the nickname “The Cathedral Of Counter-Strike”.
On October 8, 2018, the arena hosted an exhibition ice hockey game between Kölner Haie and the Edmonton Oilers, part of the 2018 NHL Global Series Challenge.
From July 5–7, 2019, the arena hosted another edition of the ESL One Cologne, a Counter-Strike: Global Offensive tournament with a prize pool of $300,000.
From July 12–13, 2019, the arena hosted the 2019 German Darts Masters, part of the Professional Darts Corporation World Series.
From May 22–24, 2020, the arena hosted the 2020 Euroleague Final Four, part of Euroleague Basketball.
In 2020 the arena hosted back-to-back ATP 250 events: from October 11–18, Bett1Hulks Indoors, and from October 17–25, Bett1Hulks Championship.
From 15–17 July, 2022, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive returned to the arena after a two–year hiatus caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, under the moniker IEM Cologne 2022, as ESL merged their ESL One brand into their Intel Extreme Masters brand. The event offered an increased prize pool of $1,000,000.
The venue hosted some group phase matches at the FIBA EuroBasket 2022 which Germany hosted. It cohosted with the fellow German city of Berlin, Czech Republic in Prague, Georgia in Tbilisi and Italy in Milan.
The annual Counter-Strike: Global Offensive event, IEM Cologne 2023, returned to the venue from 4–6 August, 2023, when the prize pool offered was once again $1,000,000, matching that of the previous year. The winners, G2 Esports, took first place and $400,000.
On 3 August 2025, after the IEM Cologne 2025 Counter-Strike 2 tournament won by Team Spirit, ESL announced that Cologne would play host to the IEM Cologne Major 2026 from 18–21 June, 2026, the third Major to be held at the arena and the fourth in Cologne overall.