Opened with fanfare in 2017 by the Rolling Stones, who set the stage on fire three times, Paris La Défense Arena has been banned from concerts since March 2020.
The largest hall in France (40,000 spectators) was built behind the Grande Arche de La Défense on private funds (350 million euros invested) and thanks to the purchase by the Hauts-de-Seine department of 31 000 m² of offices (for 200 million euros).
In June 2019, she had her consecration with the breathtaking show of Mylène Farmer (more than 235,000 fans over nine concerts).
"Mylène Farmer was a turning point, there was a before and an after," says Bathilde Lorenzetti, vice-president of the operating company of the venue, which her family owns
(Editor's note: she is Jacky's daughter Lorenzetti)
.
"We were in the ascending phase, and the Covid has pulled the rug out from under us.
When was your initial program suspended?
BATHILDE LORENZETTI.
On March 5, 2020, the gauge was stopped at 5,000 spectators.
Our first cancellation was the Nuit de la Bretagne on March 7th.
Anything that was planned after was canceled or postponed.
Have you had to deal with a lot of concert cancellations?
Paul McCartney was scheduled to perform on May 26, his concert was the only one really canceled because all the others were postponed.
He preferred not to project himself.
All spectators were reimbursed.
It is difficult to offer a credit, because we are not producers of shows, except for rugby matches, for which we can choose between a credit and a refund.
How do you manage postponements and the schedule?
Celine Dion's six concerts were postponed to March 2021. Spectators had the choice between reimbursing or postponing their ticket to the same date, that is to say day 1, 2… or 6 of the concert.
But we have had very few refund requests, and there are people on the waiting list.
Whether for Celine or other artists, we have opted for later dates, just in case, because our programming is done over several years, we sign with producers between six and eighteen months before the concert.
Green Day
(Editor's note: American punk rock band)
has also been postponed from June 2020 to June of this year.
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How are these postponements negotiated, especially with insurance companies?
For the first canceled event, the Nuit de la Bretagne, we were lucky because the insurance companies took care of the loss.
And the producer was compensated by his insurers.
But it is the only one.
What events and activities have you been able to maintain?
On September 25, 2020, we had a boxing match between Tony Yoka and Johann Duhaupas and the quarter-final of the European Rugby Cup the next day.
We went from an authorization to 5000 places on Friday to 1000 places only on Saturday.
So we had to cancel the tickets, the rugby fans were very disappointed.
Then the matches went behind closed doors and since then, the rugby players have played without an audience.
We also had a few small-scale corporate events, such as the Exposium fair, a Puma brand shoot with Neymar, and an artist who came to shoot his video clip.
Companies are cautious.
Already in September, some did not dare to offer their employees to attend rugby matches in VIP lounges for fear of a cluster.
But we are lucky to have at least rugby matches on the site every fortnight.
And we're in the running to host one of the Fashion Week shows in March and October.
“We can't stop everything because it would cost more to put the facilities back into service, and because we have matches every fortnight,” explains Bathilde Lorenzetti.
LP / Delphine Goldsztejn
Has the Covid forced you to reinvent yourself?
We had proposed a configuration with a gauge of 5000 people, seated in spikes, and with separate flows so that the spectators do not pass each other, neither when entering or leaving, because we have 67 access doors.
Filters have been installed so that the indoor air is renewed every hour.
We thus invented the Silver configuration, with 5000 seats, to create a zenith inside the Arena.
We worked with interested producers, but the time to put it in place, the venue was closed.
Our proposal was not heard by the authorities.
For the Sexion d'Assaut concert on September 25 and 26, already postponed twice, we have planned a seated parterre, with spaced chairs, in the event that the standing gauge is not authorized.
This period also forced us to rethink our hospitality strategy
(Editor's note: VIP offers)
, by thinking about the transformation of the lodges.
Financially, what is the record of the past year?
The Arena costs me a million a month.
We lost 25 million euros at the end of the last season and the 2020-2021 season.
Unlike Bercy or others, we are 100% private and it is the Lorenzetti family, owner of the site, who financially supports the company.
We remain hopeful of being able to benefit from the solidarity fund.
How have your teams been working since the closure to the public?
We have around sixty permanent staff, 93% of them on partial unemployment.
We had time to work on reducing the costs of fluids, electricity… But we cannot stop everything because it would cost more to put the installations back into service, and because we have matches every day. fifteen days.
Can Celine Dion fans hope to see her at the Arena one day?
Celine will come, she really wants to find her audience.
Today we are very happy to have no defections.
We have a very good program in 2022 and the program is full until 2023.
Dominique Serieys, new CEO
Present on the site every week alongside Bathilde Lorenzetti, Dominique Serieys has been CEO of Paris La Défense Arena since September 2019. This former racing driver was multiple winner of the Dakar as co-driver of Bruno Saby, then as Managing Director of Mitsubishi Motorsport .
Before taking up his new functions at the head of the racing rugby club, he had been managing the French Automobile Sport Federation since 2010. “When I arrived at the Arena, we established a development strategy over three years, to achieve double-digit growth and become profitable before 2024, the year of the Olympic Games ”, indicates the CEO, recalling that for 2019, the company recorded a turnover of 45 million euros (HT) targeting 50 million for 2020.
“Unfortunately, we were stopped in our tracks.
"He who says" a man of challenge "remains positive:" We must take advantage of a bad situation, we have reviewed our offers and worked on small configurations, from 10,000 to 30,000 spectators.
"