Corona cost AG Hallenstadion around 20 million francs. The crisis, say those responsible, is not over yet. Another challenge is the move out of the ZSC.
The normal case in the Corona period: empty ranks in the Hallenstadion.
Eric Clapton is coming back. Sting has announced himself, as well as Simply Red and Alicia Keys: they should all have performed at the Hallenstadion in 2021, but Corona did not allow this. Now they are playing in 2022. Céline Dion is even catching up on two concerts from 2020.
In 2021, a total of 67 concerts were postponed, 14 were canceled, as were 7 general assemblies. 22 ice hockey games took place without an audience. The AG Hallenstadion remained a loss of 5.8 million Swiss francs. In 2020, the minus was “only” 2.6 million francs. At that time, however, the AG had still received 4 million francs from the pandemic insurance – in 2021 this money was no longer available.
“Corona cost us around 20 million francs in capital,” said Balz Hösly, Chairman of the Board of Directors of AG Hallenstadion, on Thursday at the annual media conference. “And it’s not over yet.”
Those responsible are looking forward to autumn with concern. Will there be another corona wave? New restrictions? More cancellations? Nobody knows that yet. But the bookings are currently being made at much shorter notice. Many organizers are waiting.
As a company that is more than 10 percent public-sector, AG Hallenstadion was unable to apply for hardship benefits. But a corona loan and short-time work. Last but not least, the city and canton of Zurich agreed to accommodate the AG in terms of loan interest, building lease interest and rents – this amounts to around 4.7 million francs by 2028.
The company saved where it could. “We turned every stone, unplugged refrigerators, reduced the ventilation, shut down the air conditioning,” said director Philipp Musshafen.
With the ZSC, the hall loses a quarter of its visitors
2022 is a year of hope, but also of fundamental changes. The most important: The ZSC Lions are leaving the Hallenstadion after 72 years. Maybe the ice hockey club can still celebrate the championship title there, but after that it will definitely be over because the ZSC is moving to a new, dedicated arena.
“With the ZSC we are losing an anchor tenant,” said Balz Hösly. 25 percent of visitors were lost, 20 percent of sales. Around 70 dates would be free, which now want to be filled with other occasions. In 2022 that won’t be a problem because so many concerts from the Corona years will be made up for. After that? You’ll see.
The departure of ZSC also has advantages. In the future, large events lasting several days will no longer be a problem. The Hallenstadion is to be established as a “super location” for large congresses together with the neighboring Zurich Exhibition Center and in cooperation with Zurich Tourism. Something similar is only available in Rotterdam and Düsseldorf today, but never as close to the city as in Zurich, said Hösly.
Ideally, AG Hallenstadion wants to achieve positive results and cash flows again from 2024. But in addition to the operational uncertainties, a penalty payment could also put pressure on the business figures.
It is about a procedure by the Competition Commission (Weko), according to which the AG Hallenstadion held a dominant position. The proceedings have gone as far as the Federal Court and, apart from the question of the sanction, have been concluded. How high the fines will be is still unclear, said Balz Hösly. “It can be 200,000 francs or two million francs.”
He is convinced that the sanction will be at the lower end – among other things because the financial situation of the company also plays a role. The AG Hallenstadion assumes that the procedure will be completed in the current year.