Manchester Evening News Arena 511678 225890859 2008-07-15T21:52:15Z 92.3.181.10 /* Arena success */ {{Infobox_Arena | arena_name = Manchester Evening News Arena| nickname = M.E.N. Arena | image = [[Image:MEN Arena.jpg|250px]] | location = M.E.N. Arena<br>Victoria Station<br>Manchester<br>M3 1AR<br> England| opened = Saturday, [[15 July]] [[1995]] | closed = | demolished = | owner = Capital & Regional and GE Real Estate UK | operator = SMG Europe ([[Spectacor Management Group]])| construction_cost = £132 Million| architect = DLA Architecture| former_names = NYNEX Arena| tenants = No Regular Tenants| former_tenants = [[Manchester Storm]]| [[Manchester Phoenix]]| [[Manchester Giants]] | seating_capacity = 3,000-21,000<ref name="smgeurope">{{cite web |url=http://www.smg-europe.com/venue-profile.php?iVenuesId=8 |author= |title=Manchester Evening News arena |publisher=smg-europe.com |accessdate=2008-03-28}}</ref> }} 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&ndash;21,000.<ref name="smgeurope"/> 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.<ref name="smgeurope"/> 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]], [[O2 Arena (Prague)|O<sub>2</sub> arena]] in [[Prague]], [[Color Line Arena]] in [[Hamburg, Germany|Hamburg]], and [[The O2 arena (London)|The O<sub>2</sub> 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 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 UK. 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. Despite its success, the venue is heavily criticised by some 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 extremely 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. [[Image:MENarena2.jpg|thumb|right|''MEN arena before the start of a concert.'']] In 2007 the Arena was named 'World's Busiest Arena' for a record 5th time, the top ten venues in 2007 are following: {| class="wikitable" |- ! '''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 Pavillion, San Jose, California, USA | 666,587 |- | Bell Centre, Montreal, Canada | 620,403 |- | 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 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: [[keane]], [[Kanye West]], [[Sex Pistols]], [[David Gilmour]], [[Oasis]], [[UB40]], [[Scissor Sisters]], [[Green Day]], [[Madonna (entertainer)|Madonna]],[[Stevie Wonder]], [[My Chemical Romance]], [[Linkin Park]], [[Paul McCartney]], [[Red Hot Chili Peppers]], [[Tina Turner]], [[Celine Dion]], [[Meatloaf]], [[Tom Jones (singer)|Tom Jones]], [[Sting (musician)|Sting]], [[The Police]], [[U2]], [[The Pogues]], [[Placebo]], [[Queen + Paul Rodgers]], [[Spice Girls]], [[Rihanna]], [[Britney Spears]], [[Beyonce]], [[Destiny's Child]], [[Kylie Minogue]], [[Fleetwood Mac]], [[James (band)|James]], [[Christina Aguilera]], [[Shayne Ward]], [[Usher (entertainer)|Usher]], [[Alicia Keys]], [[Girls Aloud]], [[Dionne Warwick]], [[Whitney Houston]], [[Barbra Streisand]], [[Mariah Carey]], [[The Corrs]], [[Bryan Adams]], [[The Rolling Stones]], [[Cher]], [[Justin Timberlake]], [[Nelly Furtado]], [[Mary J Blige]], [[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 (band)|The Killers]], [[Phil Collins]] [[The Verve]],[[Lostprophets]], [[Babyshambles]], [[The Osmonds]],Iron Maiden and [[Muse (band)|Muse]] amongst many 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. 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]] is scheduled to fight at the arena. [[WWE]] 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 [[WWE Friday Night SmackDown!|SmackDown!]] UK-only pay-per-view [[WWE Rebellion]], as it did in [[WWE Rebellion#2001|2001]]. Also on [[October 11]], [[2004]], it hosted the first ever [[WWE Raw|RAW]] that was filmed in Europe, and was followed the next day by a taping of [[WWE Friday Night SmackDown!|WWE SmackDown!]]. RAW and SmackDown! returned to the M.E.N. Arena on [[November 13]] and [[November 14]] [[2006]] and will once again return for live tapings of RAW and Smackdown on 10th and 11th November 2008 respectively. 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. 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 seater swimming event venue. Two 25m swimming pools were constructed into the floor of the arena and completion of the pools were completed within 18 days.<ref>http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/manchester/7302096.stm</ref> The arena was also used by [[Manchester United]] when they won the [[UEFA Champions League|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 Champions League Final|2008 UEFA Champions League Final]] was also shown in the arena on a [[Large-screen television technology|big screen]]. ==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 Wrestling Entertainment- 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){{Fact|date=October 2007}} * 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 ([[Manchester Victoria 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 == {{Unreferenced|date=November 2007}} {{trivia|date=August 2007}} *Popular Manchester based band [[James (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. *[[Australia]]n pop singer [[Kylie Minogue]] is the artist 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 returned to the M.E.N Arena in July 2008 for 6 consecutive nights as part of her [[KYLIEX2008]] tour meaning she has 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. *[[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. ==References== {{reflist}} ==External links== *[http://www.men-arena.com/ Manchester Evening News Arena website] *[http://www.flickr.com/photos/tags/menarena/ M.E.N. Arena Photos] *[http://www.updateplace.com Manchester Evening News Blog] {{Elite Ice Hockey League Venues}} {{Manchester B&S}} {{coor title dms|53|29|17|N|2|14|38|W|type:landmark}} [[Category:Indoor arenas in England]] [[Category:Basketball venues in England]] [[Category:Indoor ice hockey venues in England]] [[Category:Music venues in Manchester]] [[Category:Sports venues in Manchester]] [[fr:Manchester Evening News Arena]] [[it:Manchester Evening News Arena]] [[ja:マンチェスター・イブニング・ニュース・アリーナ]] [[fi:Manchester Evening News Arena]]