AEG Gets A Grip On Istanbul

Within a month of taking over operations at Istanbul’s new Turk Telekom Arena, AEG Facilities has strengthened its hand in the city by also winning the contract to operate the smaller Ulker Arena.

The 52,000-seat Telekom, the new home of Galatasaray FC soccer club, opened in January, while the Ulker Arena – which is now under construction – is expected to be completed by the end of the year.

The new building in the city’s Atasehir region will have a seated capacity of 12,500, including 1,000 club seats and 44 luxury suites.
It will be the future home of Fenerbahce Ulker Basketball team and host other sporting events and competitions, concerts, family shows and special events.

The Ulker is part of a 14-acre development that will also include a hotel, business centre, cinemas, shopping mall and restaurants.
“Istanbul’s one of the world’s great cities, a connection between Europe and Asia, and there’s been a lack of quality venues,” said Brian Kabatznick, AEG Facilities’ European VP for business development. “Now AEG manages the newest and most state-of-the-art stadium and arena facilities in one of the world’s largest markets – 13 million people.”

He said Istanbul is a perfect geographic location for AEG to deliver new sport, music and family events as the company already runs 19 venues in nine cities in Europe and has recently taken on new Asian venues in Shanghai and Beijing.