AN UNNAMED HOLLYWOOD investor is being lined up to back plans for a €250 million sports and entertainment arena in Dublin.
Developers behind the proposed Prime Arena in Cherrywood say discussions are continuing with a celebrity backer as part of a high-profile ownership group inspired by the success Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney have enjoyed at Wrexham AFC.
Project leaders believe the involvement of a major entertainment figure would give the development – and a future Dublin ice hockey club – global appeal – in what is being described as a scaled-down Madison Square Garden complex.
“We would potentially have someone in Hollywood as a minority owner,” explained Prime Arena chief executive Dermot Rigley.
“For transparency, we’re having conversations with the figure, and there’s a potential for what we’re doing to put a big spotlight on Ireland. And, absolutely, we will announce it (if it happens). It’s not quite over the line yet.”
The proposed 8,000-seat venue would become Ireland’s first purpose-built permanent ice arena in the capital – Dublin is the only European capital without such a facility – and serve as the home of a new Elite Ice Hockey League franchise.
Talks have already taken place with league officials. The Dublin club would set up the prospect of regular derby matches with the Belfast Giants, creating an exciting professional ice hockey all-Ireland rivalry.
Rigley said Belfast’s success has demonstrated the sport’s potential on the island and helped shape the Dublin project.
“We’ve worked very closely with the guys in Belfast and at the Odyssey and the Belfast Giants,” he explained.
“They’ve had 26 years. They’ve learned a huge amount and they’ve been brilliant in showing us what works and what they’d do differently.”
The Giants have grown into one of the Elite League’s best-supported clubs, regularly attracting capacity crowds to the SSE Arena while winning multiple league titles and Challenge Cups.
What Belfast doesn’t have is two ice rinks, which is what Prime Arena proposes to have – allowing for a professional team to train while maintaining year-round public skating and pathways for developing young players.
Rigley believes a Dublin franchise would complement, rather than compete with, Belfast’s success.
“From their perspective, having one down south creates overnight derbies and also allows us genuinely to compete for international championships and European events together,” he said.
“I think the Giants have done enough to show it will work in Dublin as well.”
The proposed arena is designed to be much more than an ice hockey venue. Planned as a year-round entertainment destination, it would host concerts, conferences, exhibitions and major sporting events.
Backers believe it could stage more than 700 events annually, bringing in over €300 million in revenue to the exchequer annually as one of the top three or four attractions in Ireland.
The investment consortium already includes technology entrepreneur Tom Kennedy, Premier Sports owner Mickey O’Rourke, Live Nation chairman Denis Desmond and former NHL players Pat Flatley, Rob Blake and Cory Cross. Current Montreal Canadiens players Jake Evans and Alex Newhook have also joined the project.
Developers are planning for the venue to host NHL regular-season fixtures – including one to open the arena if it is built.
Designed by renowned architects Populous, whose previous work includes Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and the Aviva Stadium, the arena would be built beside the Luas Green Line in Cherrywood, close to the M50 in the south of the capital.
A pre-planning application has already been submitted, and a full planning application will be filed next month. Subject to approval, construction could begin next year and is targeted for completion in 2029 or 2030, with the cost split between private and public funding.
“I’m very confident it’s going to happen,” stated Rigley. “We have a really, really good team, we’re working on this night and day, and we’re having a very, very positive conversation with the Government. So we’re working at pace.
“We’ve delivered everything we said we would deliver. We’ve got our site, we’ve got our pre-filing in and our pre-filing application is on schedule. So fingers crossed that it just keeps going in this direction.”
Written by Michael Scully and originally published on The 42 whose award-winning team produces original content that you won’t find anywhere else: on GAA, League of Ireland, women’s sport and boxing, as well as our game-changing rugby coverage, all with an Irish eye. Subscribe here.