History
The idea of building a new arena in Prague came on the heels of the "golden era" of Czech ice hockey: winning 3 gold medals in a row. The arena was proposed to be built in time to host the 2003 Men's World Ice Hockey Championships, but due to unforeseen complications with the investors, the ice hockey governing body had to switch that tournament to Finland. The arena's main backer then became Sazka a.s., a Czech betting company.
The construction of the arena (which began in September 2002) was not without problems, but it was finally finished in time to host the 2004 tournament, the 2004 Men's World Ice Hockey Championships.
In March 2008, the building was renamed O2 Arena.
In March 2011, Sazka filed for insolvency due to debts from building the arena.
Read more about this topic: O2 Arena (Prague)
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“Properly speaking, history is nothing but the crimes and misfortunes of the human race.”
—Pierre Bayle (1647–1706)
“The foregoing generations beheld God and nature face to face; we, through their eyes. Why should not we also enjoy an original relation to the universe? Why should not we have a poetry and philosophy of insight and not of tradition, and a religion by revelation to us, and not the history of theirs?”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“Yet poetry, though the last and finest result, is a natural fruit. As naturally as the oak bears an acorn, and the vine a gourd, man bears a poem, either spoken or done. It is the chief and most memorable success, for history is but a prose narrative of poetic deeds.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)