- The Paris La Défense Arena 2020 program is upset by the health crisis linked to coronavirus and containment. This Saturday, Céline Dion was to begin a residency of six dates.
- The Canadian diva like almost all the artists, groups or events planned for 2020 in the Nanterre hall were postponed to 2021. Only the concert of Paul McCartney was canceled.
- The consequences of the coronavirus crisis are heavy for the Arena with 20 million euros gross of losses.
A first date canceled, March 7, with a Night of Brittany put to sleep. Then Celine Dion's Courage World Tour postponed. Paul McCartney's concert canceled. And an end of season notified to Racing. The health crisis linked to the coronavirus and the period of confinement upset the programming of Paris La Défense Arena. So much so that Bathilde Lorezentti began to “do Tetris” with her teams to reschedule the shows signed and postponed. The vice-president of the very young hall in Nanterre tells 20 Minutes how the event offer has been reconstituted.
How did you go about rewriting all your events from 2020 to 2021? Did you freeze what was planned for 2021?
It is a game of skittles. But as all the 2021 tours were postponed in 2022, for those of 2020, we could find dates in 2021. For Céline Dion, there was the question of what would happen in England or in the United States where the containment dates were not the same. But we managed to happily rewrite its six dates at the Arena. The hall's first concert [the name of the artist or group has not yet been released] will take place in January 2021, an event initially planned for October 2020 and then in December 2020.
Your scheduled events have been postponed to 2021. Except for one date, the Paul McCartney concert, why?
Paul McCartney preferred to cancel his tour and get everyone reimbursed. He is not used to planning concerts a year in advance. He prefers to wait to see before coming back. But a Paul McCartney concert does not require eight months to sell the tickets. For Céline Dion, the six dates of the Courage tour sold out in 1.5 hours. We are happy because we obtained postponements for almost 100% of our events, even for concerts not yet announced.
For postponed concerts, you offer a refund. Have many spectators asked to be reimbursed?
No, the first concert which announced its postponement was Iron Maiden and of the 38,000 tickets sold, we had 18 requests for reimbursement. There is a real appetite for spectators for concerts. We saw it during the confinement, the radios, the music, the artists' lives helped people. When you postpone and don't cancel, there is a relief for the spectators. Waiting lists have been created to buy tickets for Céline Dion's concerts if certain spectators cancel their attendance.
How are negotiations with the turners going to fix the postponement dates?
We worked with them in March. The shift in routes from 2021 to 2022 resulted in holes. The size of Paris La Défense Arena [40,000 seats for a concert] means that it hosts international tours, when things move in England or the United States, things move with us. We had no difficulty finding dates for everyone. These are not negotiations but partnerships. For Céline Dion's six dates, we made several proposals and her producer chose what suited them.
With this shake-up on your concert dates, how do Racing games fit in?
We have to make our wishes to the National Rugby League this week. The LNR is attentive and accommodating on our requests. If there is a friction between a match date and a concert, we have always favored concerts. We had matches relocated to Vannes [coming from Jay-Z and Beyoncé at the Arena to prowl their show], to Colombes for a quarter-final of the Top 14 during the concerts of Mylène Farmer. This choice is maintained to host the concerts in the best conditions. During the confinement, we worked on places of possible relocations. In principle, Racing should be the first event in the room for the recovery of the Top 14 on September 5.
What is the shortfall related to coronavirus for Paris La Défense Arena?
Twenty million euros gross, in cumulative charges, the losses are abysmal. And this despite the partial unemployment supported by the government. The hall has 60 permanent employees, 93% were on short-time working. But I also think of our service providers: caterer, refreshment bar, security, hostesses ... We were the first to be confined and we are the last to reopen. The Arena is a young company, we are in our third year of activities, and we had to start making profits. 2020-2021 will also be mixed.
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