Manchester Arena
M.E.N. Arena | |
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| Former names | NYNEX Arena |
|---|---|
| Location | M.E.N. Arena Victoria Station Manchester M3 1AR England |
| Coordinates | 53°29′17″N 2°14′38″W / 53.48806°N 2.24389°W |
| Owner | Capital & Regional and GE Real Estate UK |
| Operator | SMG Europe (Spectacor Management Group) |
| Capacity | up to 22,000 |
| Construction | |
| Opened | July 15, 1995 |
| Construction cost | £52 million |
| Architect | DLA Architecture |
| Tenants | |
| No Regular Tenants | |
The Manchester Evening News Arena or M.E.N. Arena (commonly referred to as just The M.E.N. or simply Manchester Arena) is a large indoor arena in Manchester, England. It is currently sponsored by the Manchester Evening News and has a capacity of 3,000–21,000 but the largest amount of crowd was at the Rihanna: Good Girl Gone Bad Tour with over 40,000 people.[1] It was opened in 1995, and was initially sponsored by NYNEX (a British cable television provider, as opposed to the NYNEX Corporation, a telephone service provider in the United States) as the NYNEX Arena. The Arena took its current name in 1998 after the NYNEX brand name had disappeared as a result of a merger with Mercury Communications in 1997.
The M.E.N. Arena is Europe's largest indoor arena and concert venue.[1] The arena was built to coincide with Manchester's two bids to host the Olympic games in 1996 and 2000 (which were won by Atlanta in 1996 and Sydney in 2000).
The M.E.N. Arena was one of the first indoor venues in Europe to be built following the traditionally American arena layout of 360 degree seating and is the only arena in the UK to have this feature (London's O2 Arena has just one tier of seating that is 360 degrees whereas the MEN Arena has two) Other European indoor venues built to the same concept are the Kölnarena in Cologne, O2 arena in Prague, Color Line Arena in Hamburg, and The O2 arena in London, amongst others.
The M.E.N.'s seating capacity is one of Europe's most flexible for an indoor venue. It is often chosen by touring acts because its design and layout makes the venue ideal for any type of performance. The seating is split into an upper tier (bowl) and a lower tier, separated by 35 hospitality suites.
History
The Manchester Evening News arena was constructed as part of Manchester's unsuccessful bid for the 2000 Summer Olympics Games. It cost £52 million to build with £35.5M from government grants and £2.5M from the European Economic Development Fund. The structure was designed by DLA Ellerbe Beckett, Ove Group, and Austin-Smith:Lord. The arena was opened on 15 July 1995. On the opening night, 15,000 spectators watched Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean perform; the crowd was a record for an ice event.[2] Attendance records were set in 1997 when 17,425 people watched Manchester Storm play Sheffield Steelers, a record for an ice hockey match in Europe. When 14,151 people watched Manchester Giants play London Leopards it set a new British record for attendance at a basketball match.[2]
Arena success
The M.E.N. Arena has attracted a huge number of customers since opening its doors in 1995, as it is the largest indoor arena in the UK. The opening event held there was a performance by Torvill and Dean, as part of their farewell tour. The venue attracts over a million customers each year for concerts and family shows alone, making the venue one of the world's busiest indoor arenas, in regard to this the M.E.N. Arena was named "International Venue Of The Year" in 2001 by concert industry insiders in the 'Pollstar' awards, and was nominated in the same category in 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007. The M.E.N. Arena was also named "Busiest Arena Venue In The World", based on ticket sales for concerts in 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007 beating competition from other indoor arena's including New York's Madison Square Garden and London's Wembley Arena. The Arena has also been named the 'World's Busiest Arena' of the last 5 years (2001-2007) based solely on ticket sales for concerts, attracting five and a half million customers to concerts. In the first quarter of 2008 London's O2 Arena has surpassed the Manchester venue in terms of ticket sales for concerts, due mainly to the fact the Spice Girls played 17 consecutive nights at the London venue attracting more than 250,000 concert attendees.
Despite its success, the venue is criticised by some locals. It is seen by some as a soulless concrete bowl, with heavily overpriced merchandise, food and drink, However this could be said to be the same as any major entertainment arena. The upper tier of the arena is also very steep due to the arena being constructed in the heart of the city centre, and the view from the rear blocks (207-210) is poor depending on the event that is being held; Yet the tickets in these blocks are often priced at the same rate as those with a much better view.
In 2007 the Arena was named 'World's Busiest Arena' for concerts for a record 5th time, the top ten venues in 2007 were:[3]
| Venue | 2007 Ticket sales for concerts/shows |
|---|---|
| Manchester Evening News Arena, Manchester, UK | 1,245,196 |
| Madison Square Garden, New York City, USA | 1,230,433 |
| O2 Arena, London, UK | 1,209,376 |
| Wembley Arena, London, UK | 901,778 |
| Air Canada Centre, Toronto, Canada | 670,255 |
| HP Pavilion, San Jose, California, USA | 666,587 |
| Bell Centre, Montreal, Canada | 620,403 |
| Philips Arena, Atlanta, Georgia, USA | 564,258 |
| American Airlines Center, Dallas, Texas, USA | 539,030 |
| Izod Center, East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA | 527,694 |
Today, it plays host to many worldwide performing artists including some of the biggest stars in the world of music. Over 250 events take place at the arena annually including comedy acts, live music and tours, sporting events, and occasionally musicals. Notable stars to appear at the venue are: Kanye West, Kylie Minogue, Iron Maiden, Mötley Crüe, Metallica, Sex Pistols, David Gilmour, Oasis, Elton John, Stereophonics, UB40, Scissor Sisters, Green Day, Madonna,Stevie Wonder, My Chemical Romance, Linkin Park, Paul McCartney, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Tina Turner, Celine Dion, Meatloaf, Tom Jones, Sting, The Police, Chris de Burgh, U2, The Pogues, Placebo, Jean Michel Jarre, Queen + Paul Rodgers, Faithless, Spice Girls, Rihanna, Britney Spears, Jay-Z Beyonce, Destiny's Child, Fleetwood Mac, James, Christina Aguilera, Hilary Duff, Shayne Ward, Usher, Alicia Keys, Girls Aloud, Dionne Warwick, Whitney Houston, Barbra Streisand, Stevie Wonder, Al Green, Mariah Carey, The Corrs, Bryan Adams, Chaka Khan, The Rolling Stones, Cher, Justin Timberlake, Nelly Furtado, Mary J Blige, Madness, Westlife, P.Diddy, Jennifer Lopez, Shania Twain, Sheryl Crow, Foo Fighters, Nickelback, Pearl Jam, Paul Weller, Def Leppard, Take That, Gwen Stefani, Missy Elliott, Avril Lavigne, 50 Cent, Alanis Morissette, Andrea Bocelli, Diana Ross, Pink, Bruce Springsteen, The Fugees, Janet Jackson, The Killers, Phil Collins The Verve,Lostprophets, Babyshambles, The Osmonds, Muse, McFly, Ciara, Manic Street Preachers, Cliff Richard, Dolly Parton and Simple Minds
Sports
The M.E.N. Arena has been the home of three sports teams: the Manchester Storm and Manchester Phoenix ice hockey teams, and the Manchester Giants basketball team. However, with limited success, as the arena is not currently the home of any sports teams. However the arena is regularly used for one-off sports events such as boxing and football masters.
Boxers such as Ricky Hatton, Joe Calzaghe, Mike Tyson, Jeff Lacy, Kostya Tszyu and other world champions have fought there. Hatton became a regular and favourite of the M.E.N. Arena until his split with Frank Warren, who has exclusive rights there for boxing shows. Amir Khan has also fought at the venue.
WWE (An American Wrestling company) has hosted multiple events at the Arena over the years. It first hosted WWF Mayhem in Manchester in 1998 drawing over 19,600 people (a European record for an indoor WWF/WWE event) The arena also hosted WWE No Mercy in 1999. On October 26, 2002 it hosted the SmackDown! UK-only pay-per-view WWE Rebellion, as it did in 2001. Also on October 11, 2004, it hosted the first ever RAW that was filmed in Europe, and was followed the next day by a taping of WWE SmackDown!. RAW and SmackDown! returned to the M.E.N. Arena on 13 November and 14 November 2006 and returned for live tapings of RAW and Smackdown on 10 and 11 November 2008 respectively. The WWE's main rival in America, Total Non-Stop Action (TNA), will make their first appearance at the arena in January 2009.
The M.E.N. Arena hosted the mixed martial arts event UFC 70 on April 21, 2007. The World Taekwondo Qualification Event for the Beijing Olympic Games was held at the Arena on September 28-20, 2007; at this event 103 countries competed for 24 places at the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008. Also in April 2008 the arena hosted the FINA shortcourse swimming championships, the first time it has been held in the UK. For this the arena was transformed into a 17,250-seat swimming event venue. Two 25 m swimming pools were constructed into the floor of the arena and the pools were completed within 18 days.[4]
The arena was also used by Manchester United when they won the Champions League in 1999. The arena was the final destination of their bus tour which saw United parading the trophy to around 750,000 fans across Manchester, including 19,500 fans in the arena itself. The 2008 UEFA Champions League Final was also shown in the arena on a big screen in front of 7000 spectators.
Monster truck racing events have also been staged at the arena in the past. To allow for the arena floor space to be extended for such events, the front section of seating in the lower tier (from around row H forward) can be removed.
Technical facts
- Lower bowl fixed seated capacity - 10,762
- Upper bowl fixed seated capacity - 8,870
- Large Theatre setup - 7,600
- Small Theatre setup - 3,500
- Ice Hockey and Gymnastics - up to 17,643
- FINA Swimming championships 2008 - 17,250
- Basketball - up to 20,500
- WWE - 14,500 to 18,500
- Boxing - up to 21,000 (fully seated- although has been quoted by the media that up to 22,000 people have attended high profile boxing matches)
- Side stage - up to 10,650 (fully seated)
- Conventional end stage concerts - 13,500-15,800 (fully seated)
- Conventional end stage concerts - up to 19,350 (floor standing)[citation needed]
- In the round concerts - up to 20,400 (fully seated)
- In the round concerts - up to 21,000 (floor standing)
- 30 hospitality business suites (seats up to 12 guests)
- 8 VIP suites (seats up to 15 guests-also known as the White House to employees as these suites are located in the white sports commentators boxes)
- 4 party suites (seats up to 25 guests)
- The Arena has its own 1,500 capacity car park
- The Arena is the European flagship venue of SMG
- Like Madison Square Garden in New York and TD Banknorth Garden in Boston, The M.E.N. Arena is situated beside/above a main railway station (Victoria Station). This means that people can get a train to the venue instead of driving.
- The M.E.N. Arena claims to have the world's largest indoor video scoreboard. This might have been the case when the venue first opened but now there are many arena's namely in the USA that have installed larger scoreboards.
Trivia
 |
 | This article contains a list of miscellaneous information. (August 2007) |
- Popular Manchester based band James played their "final" Manchester show in 2001 with lead singer Tim Booth at the arena. They have since reformed, and played there again in April 2007.
- In 1996 British boyband Take That played ten consecutive nights at the venue with 142,000 tickets being sold.
- British comedian Peter Kay worked as a steward at the arena before becoming famous. This was spoofed in "That Peter Kay Thing". Kay also entered the stadium from the back, passing through the crowd, dressed in a distinctive yellow steward's jacket, on the last night of his sell-out "Mum Wants A Bungalow" UK tour.
- The arena was the venue of the last Spice Girls* concert in Britain, during their reunion tour.
- Celine Dion kicked off the European leg of her Taking Chances Tour at the arena on May 2&3 2008.
- Def Leppard and Whitesnake played the arena on their 2008 'Lets Get Rocked...In The Still of The Night' UK Tour. It was the largest arena played on the tour.
Visitor Transport Information
The venue is built on top of Victoria train station. This therefore provides good access to the arena from train lines calling here. A Metrolink tram stop is also located in the train station. This provides services to Bury in one direction and the city centre, onwards to Altrincham and Eccles, in the other. Vistors traveling by train to Manchester Piccadily can either walk to the arena or catch a tram from Piccadily to Victoria. A number of bus routes always run to the area of the arena.
The arena has its own large car park nearby but by its nature endures delays upon departure after the event, as everyone tries to exit at the same time. Other smaller car parks are located around the city centre. On street parking can be found in the area and on the various streets around the main Deangate street area. Parking regulations allow for people to park in pay and display on-street parking bays and single yellow lines for free after 6pm, which is great for concert goers. Always check any signage though to be sure. Visitors should be careful not to park on double yellow lines or other restricted marked areas though in the city. Some people may not think that traffic wardens will be around at night, this is not the case in Manchester though where people have been known to ticketed at any time of the night if illegally parked.
References
- ^ a b "Manchester Evening News arena". smg-europe.com. Retrieved on 28 March 2008.
- ^ a b Inglis (2004), p. 101.
- ^ Will Pavia (5 January 2008). "From unwanted empty shell to the world's busiest venue". Manchester Evening News.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) Retrieved on 31 August 2008. - ^ "City arena becomes swimming venue". BBC Online. 18 March 2008.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) Retrieved on 31 August 2008.
Bibliography
- Inglis, Simon (2004). Played in Manchester: The architectural heritage of a city at play. English Heritage and Manchester City Council. ISBN 1-87359-278-7.
External links
- Manchester Evening News Arena website
- M.E.N. Arena Photos
- Manchester Evening News Blog
- MEN Arena concert dates at Classic-Rock-Concerts.com
