The world's largest arenas have an unexpected problem.

They can struggle to create atmosphere.

As venues have grown larger, audiences have become physically further apart. Sound travels longer distances. Crowd noise becomes diffuse. Chants lose their impact. Even sold-out arenas can sometimes feel less connected than venues half their size.

For venue owners, that's becoming a commercial issue as much as an acoustic one.

Today's audiences expect experiences that feel immersive and emotionally engaging. They want to feel connected not only to the performers on stage or the action on the pitch, but also to the thousands of people around them. Creating that sense of shared energy is increasingly becoming part of venue design itself.

That is changing how architects, consultants and technology specialists think about arena infrastructure.

Traditionally, improving acoustics meant reducing reverberation and making speech more intelligible. Increasingly, however, the goal is something more ambitious: using technology to strengthen the emotional connection between fans.

A fascinating example comes from Stockholm's Avicii Arena, where a major refurbishment set out to answer an unusual question: how do you make one of Europe's largest arenas feel intimate?

Rather than focusing solely on louder sound systems, the project combined a movable acoustic ceiling with an electroacoustic enhancement system (from ISE exhibitor Meyer Sound) capable of redistributing audience sound around the arena. The objective was remarkably simple. Supporters at opposite ends of the building should be able to hear each other's chants and feel part of the same shared experience.

The engineering challenge was extraordinary. The installation involved dozens of microphones, more than 80 loudspeakers and extensive acoustic modelling, all delivered within an exceptionally tight installation window through meticulous off-site preparation and detailed 3D modelling.

But the technology itself is only part of the story.

What makes the project interesting is what it says about the future of venue design.

For many years, operators measured success through attendance, sightlines and premium hospitality. Those factors remain important, but atmosphere is increasingly becoming a measurable competitive advantage. The venues that create the strongest emotional connection encourage repeat visits, strengthen home advantage for sports teams, improve artist satisfaction and create more memorable experiences for every visitor.

That shift is influencing decisions far beyond acoustics. Lighting, video, networking, production systems and environmental controls are increasingly being designed as part of a single audience experience strategy rather than as separate technical disciplines.

The Avicii Arena project also highlights another growing trend: future-ready venues are being designed digitally long before construction begins. Detailed 3D modelling, pre-engineered installation and close collaboration between multiple disciplines helped compress what would normally have been months of on-site work into just two weeks.

For anyone involved in venue development, the full Venue of the Future session from the ISE 2026 Live Events Stage offers an insightful behind-the-scenes look at how this award-winning project came together. Rather than focusing on products, it explores the practical decisions, engineering compromises and collaborative planning required to transform one of Europe's most recognisable arenas.

As expectations continue to rise, the most successful venues may not be the biggest. They will be the ones that make every seat feel closer to the action.

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Further reading

Discover Audio, Lighting and Staging at ISE

Image: By Egon Eagle - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=141090180