SA’s biggest indoor venue Ticketpro Dome to close

The Johannesburg 20 000-seater venue was sold by its owner, Sasol Pension Fund, to a third party that does not operate in the event space. The official handover is expected to take place on 7 September.

RX Venue Management, which has managed the multipurpose venue for the past 20 years, said the Ticketpro Dome was unable to operate due to the ban on public gatherings in 2020 and 2021.

“The selling of the Ticketpro Dome is extremely disappointing and heart breaking for our industry,” RX Africa managing director Carol Weaving said. “The Ticketpro Dome has been home to many international concerts and events in South Africa, and this will undoubtedly leave a huge void. Unfortunately, as we are only the managing company, we were unable to change the outcome of Sasol Pension Fund selling the venue due to force majeure.”

The Association of African Exhibition Organisers’ chairperson, Projeni Pather, said: “Our sector has been extraordinarily innovative in transforming our offerings to accommodate online participation, but a hybrid event incurs two sets of costs, one for the online component and one for the in-venue aspect. Attendance capacity restrictions make in-person events unviable, and online does not carry the same appeal.”

The Ticketpro Dome played host to top international music artists like Pink, Katy Perry, Lionel Richie, Lauren Hill, Pharrell Williams, Celine Dion and Michael Bublé. On the local front, artists like Prime Circle, The Parlotones, Lira, Toya Delazy, Black Coffee and the Soweto Gospel Choir graced its stage, with Cassper Nyovest becoming the first local artist to sell out the Ticketpro Dome in 2015.

“Today I was wearing the merchandise we launched at The Dome. Didn’t know it would be the day they announced such sad news that it would be closed down,” Casspoer Nyovest said after learning about the arena’s closure. “Such a sad sad day. I'm not okay man, our industry has lost so much in this pandemic. There will never be another one. Gone.”

The Ticketpro Dome opened its doors on 8 April 1998 with a Diana Ross concert that was attended by more than 15 000 people and featured a special guest appearance by Nelson Mandela.

The prime event space gained global recognition with companies and promoters across many industries. On the exhibition front, it was home to many consumer and trade shows such as Homemakers Fair, Rage, Mama Magic Baby Show, Fire and Feast Food Festival, Mediatech Africa and Africa Automation Technology Fair.