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Revision as of 21:57, 19 April 2008
Template:Infobox Arena 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. 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 currently Europe's largest indoor arena. 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. Other European indoor venues built to the same concept are the Kölnarena in Cologne, Sazka Arena in Prague, Color Line Arena in Hamburg, and The O2 (formerly the Millennium Dome).
The M.E.N.'s seating capacity is one of Europe's most flexible. 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 44 hospitality suites.
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 country. 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 arena's, 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 5 and a half million customers to concerts.
Despite its success the venue is heavily criticised by locals. It is seen as a soulless concrete bowl, with heavily overpriced merchandise and food and drink. The upper tier of the arena is also exteremly steep and the view from the rear blocks (207-210) is very poor, 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 a record 5th time, the top ten venues in 2007 are following:
| Venue | Annual Ticket Sales |
|---|---|
| Manchester Evening News Area, 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 |
| Halle Tony Garnier, Lyon, France | 700,000 |
| Air Canada Centre, Toronto, Canada | 670,255 |
| HP Pavillion, San Jose, California, USA | 666,587 |
| Bell Centre, Montreal, Canada | 620,403 |
| Le Zenith, Paris, France | 616,000 |
| Philips Area, 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 and shows including comedy acts, live music and tours, sporting events, and occasionally musicals. Notable stars to appear at the venue are: David Gilmour, Oasis,UB40, Scissor Sisters, Green Day, Madonna,My Chemical Romance, Linkin Park, McFly, Paul McCartney, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Tina Turner, Celine Dion, Meatloaf, Tom Jones, Sting, The Police, U2, The Pogues, New Found Glory, Spice Girls, Foo Fighters, Britney Spears, Beyonce, Destiny's Child, Kylie Minogue, Fleetwood Mac, Christina Aguilera, Brandy, Usher, Alicia Keys, Enrique Iglesias, Rihanna, Pussycat Dolls, Girls Aloud, Dionne Warwick, Whitney Houston, Barbra Streisand, Mariah Carey, The Corrs, Bryan Adams, The Rolling Stones, Cher, Justin Timberlake, Nelly Furtado, Machine Head, Mary J Blige, Westlife, P.Diddy, Jennifer Lopez, Shania Twain, Sheryl Crow, Pearl Jam, Def Leppard, Take That, Gwen Stefani, Chamillionaire, Shaggy, Missy Elliott, Avril Lavinge, 50 Cent, Alanis Morrisette, Andrea Bocelli, Diana Ross, Pink, Bruce Springsteen, The Fugees, Janet Jackson, The Killers, Texas, The Verve, Babyshambles, The Osmonds amongst myriad others.
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.
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. On October 26, 2002 it hosted the SmackDown! UK-only pay-per-view WWE Rebellion. 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 and November 14 2006, and they will once again be held on 10 November 11. The M.E.N. Arena hosted the mixed martial arts event UFC 70 on April 21 2007. The World Taekwondo Qualification Event for the Bejing Olympic Games was held at the Arena on September 28-20 2007 at this event 103 countries competed for 24 places at the Beijing Oympic Games in 2008.
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.
Technical facts
- Lower bowl capacity- 10,762
- Upper bowl capacity- 8,870
- Large Theatre setup- 7,600
- Small Theatre setup- 3,500
- Hockey and Gymnastics- up to 17,643
- FINA Swimming championships 2008- 17,250
- Basketball- up to 20,500
- WWE Wrestling Entertainment- up to 15,500
- 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 10,600 (fully seated)
- Conventional end stage concerts- 13,500-15,800 (fully seated)
- Conventional end stage concerts- up to 19,350 (floor standing)
- In the round concerts- up to 20,400 (fully seated)
- In the round concerts- up to 21,000 (floor standing)
- 32 hospitality business suites (seats up to 12 guests)
- 8 VIP suites (seats up to 15 guests)
- 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.
Trivia
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- Popular Manchester based band James played their "final" 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.
- Australian pop singer Kylie Minogue is the female who has played the venue the most times. She played six shows as part of her KylieFever tour in 2002 (of which one was filmed for DVD release), She played the venue again for five consecutive nights as part of her Showgirl Tour in 2005 and She ended her 'Homecoming World Tour' with 7 consecutive shows in January 2007. Kylie will return to the M.E.N Arena in July 2008 for 6 nights as part of her KYLIEX2008 tour meaning she will have headlined the venue 24 times in 7 years. Kylie has also appeared at both Top of the pops award shows held in 2001 and 2002 and performed along Robbie Williams in 2000 as his special guest to perform their duet 'kids', therefore making a total of 27 appearances at the venue.
- 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.
References
- http://www.smg-europe.com/venue-profile.php?iVenuesId=8]]
- Cite error: The named reference
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External links
- Manchester Evening News Arena website
- M.E.N. Arena Photos
- M.E.N. Arena Venue Review
- Manchester Evening News Blog
| Venues of the Elite Ice Hockey League | |
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53°29′17″N 2°14′38″W / 53.48806°N 2.24389°W / 53.48806; -2.24389
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