Background
The Manchester Arena was constructed as part of the city's unsuccessful bid for the 2000 Summer Olympics. Construction cost £52 million of which £35.5m was provided by government grants and £2.5m from the European Regional Development Fund. Although built as an American style sports arena it has been more successful hosting large music events.
On the opening night, 15,000 spectators watched Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean perform; the crowd was a record for an ice event. 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 British record for attendance at a basketball match.
| Venue | 2011 Ticket sales for concerts/shows |
|---|---|
| O2 Arena, London, UK | 1.9 million |
| Manchester Arena, Manchester, UK | 1.2 million |
| Sportpaleis, Antwerp, Belgium | 714,000 |
| Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne, Australia | 706,000 |
| The O2, Dublin, Dublin, Ireland | 670,000 |
| Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy, Paris, France | 659,000 |
| Staples Center, Los Angeles, USA | 633,000 |
| Madison Square Garden, New York, USA | 616,000 |
| Air Canada Centre, Toronto, Canada | 582,000 |
| LG Arena, Birmingham, UK | 561,000 |
The venue attracts over a million customers each year for concerts and family shows, making it one of the world's busiest indoor arenas, and was named "International Venue Of The Year" in 2002 in the 'Pollstar' awards, and was nominated in the same category in 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009. The arena was named "Busiest Arena Venue In The World", based on ticket sales for concerts in 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007 ahead of other indoor arenas including the Madison Square Garden and Wembley Arena. The arena was the 'World's Busiest Arena' from 2001 until 2007 based on ticket sales for concerts, attracting five and a half million customers. It was voted 'Europe's Favourite Arena' at the TIP Awards in 2008 by the touring companies that bring the shows to the venue.
In 2008, the arena was world's third busiest arena behind London's O2 Arena and New York's Madison Square Garden. In 2009, it was the world's second busiest arena behind London's O2 Arena and ahead of Antwerp's Sportpaleis and Madison Square Garden. Although second to London's O2 Arena the Manchester Arena had its busiest year with over 1,500,000 people attending concerts and family shows. The arena hosts over 250 events annually including comedy, live music and tours, sporting events, and occasionally musicals.
Read more about this topic: Manchester Arena
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