The idea of building a new arena in Prague came on the heels of the "golden era" of Czech ice hockey: winning the gold medal at the 1998 Winter Olympics and three gold medals in a row at the Ice Hockey World Championships from 1999 to 2001. The arena was proposed to be built in time to host the 2003 Men's World Ice Hockey Championships, but due to unforeseen complications with the investors,[citation needed] the ice hockey governing body had to switch that tournament to Finland. The arena's main backer then became Sazka a.s., a Czech betting company.
The construction of the arena (which began in September 2002) was not without problems, but it was opened in March 2004 as Sazka Arena, in time to host the 2004 Men's World Ice Hockey Championships.[3] In March 2008, the building was renamed O2 Arena.[4]
In March 2011, Sazka filed for insolvency due to debts from building the arena and other problems.[5][6] Sazka was then re-organized and financially stabilized.
From its opening until 2015, it was home to HC Slavia Prague of the Czech Extraliga. Slavia won the national championship on home ice in Game 7 of the 2008 Extraliga finals against HC Karlovy Vary 4–0 in front of a then-league-record crowd of 17,117. For two seasons, 2012–13 and 2013–14, O2 Arena also hosted occasional home games of HC Lev Prague of the Kontinental Hockey League. The club played its home games of the 2014 Gagarin Cup Finals at O2 Arena, attracting the three largest crowds in league history.[7] In 2015, Slavia was relegated to the 1.liga, and the club chose to move back to the smaller Zimní stadion Eden, the team's former home and current training centre. In its place, O2 Arena reached an agreement with cross-town rivals Sparta Prague on 24 June 2015. Sparta ownership cited the need for significant renovations at Tipsport Arena as the main reason for the move.[8]
In 2015, O2 Arena co-hosted the IIHF World Championship with ČEZ Aréna in Ostrava for the second time. This time, the tournament re-established the record for World Championship attendance, which stood until being surpassed in 2024 with the tournament held in the same two cities.[9]
In 2017, it hosted the 1st edition of Laver Cup international indoor hard court men's tennis tournament between Europe and Team World.
On 6 & 7 September 2006 Madonna performed there during her Confessions Tour. The concert was attended by 18,628 spectators, the biggest number of spectators in the arena's history. She performed again at the arena on 7 & 8 November 2015 as part of her Rebel Heart Tour selling out crowds of over 16,000 patrons.
In November 2008, the French electronica pioneer Jean Michel Jarre performed his Oxygène album live at the arena, as part of the second leg of the Oxygène 30th anniversary tour.
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