Might have found something here... arenas next year?

[U2FanPeter]

Two guesses:

1. The soundboard and lighting control goes at the other end and is already represented on the schematics on the tour site.
2. Having the stage at one end allows for tiered pricing of seats in the stands. The 35 Euro seats will be at the far end.

With the stage at the endzone the show has a "front" and a "back". With a stage in the middle the performers have to worry about every section getting the appropriate amount of attention. Cliff Richards does lots of stupid pirowhettes in his center stage arena shows(I watched a TV special because it have Hank Marvin).

 

[corianderstem]

That would be really cool. Also will be cool to see the tour both in stadium and arena, to see how they compare.