NEC Arena
 |
|
Exterior of venue under former signage (c.2010)
|
|
| Former names | Hall 7 (planning/construction) Birmingham International Arena (1980-83) NEC Arena (1983-2008) LG Arena (2008-14) |
|---|---|
| Address | Perimeter Rd Birmingham B40 1NT England |
| Location | Marston Green |
| Owner | NEC Group |
| Capacity | 15,683 |
| Construction | |
| Broke ground | 11 April 1979 |
| Opened | 5 December 1980 |
| Renovated | 2008-09 |
| Architect | Edward Mills & Partners |
| Structural engineer | Ove Arup & Partners |
| Website | |
| Venue Website | |
The Genting Arena is a multipurpose indoor arena located near the village of Marston Green within Greater Birmingham. The venue was built as the seventh hall of the National Exhibition Centre complex. After 18 months of construction, the arena opened as the "Birmingham International Arena" in December 1980 with a concert by Queen.
Together, the NEC and the Genting Arena host over 3 million visitors each year.. The Ticket Factory is the official box office for the Genting Arena.
From 1 September 2008, the NEC Arena was officially renamed as the LG Arena, following a naming-rights sponsorship deal with global electronics company LG. The arena then underwent a £29 million overhaul of its facilities, paid for by loans from Birmingham City Council and regional development agency Advantage West Midlands.
Work on the LG Arena was finished mid October 2009 and the arena hosted its first concert with Tom Jones. Included in the installation were around 1,000 new seats, bringing the capacity to 16,000 to compete with venues such as the O2 Arena in London and the Manchester Arena in Manchester, which are amongst the busiest music venues in the world. Also constructed were new hospitality areas and a forum containing new bars, restaurants and other customer facilities. Prior to its first concert, the arena hosted the 2009 Horse of the Year show.
In 2011 the venue became the 10th busiest arena in the world and 13th in 2014.
It was announced in November 2014 that as part of a sponsorship deal with the casino group, the arena would be renamed the "Genting Arena" from January 2015.
Being able to host large and intimate shows the Arena does offer a wide range of comedians that are nationally and internationally known with acts such as Michael McIntyre, Milton Jones, Ricky Gervais, Al Murray and Peter Kay bringing their shows to the Arena.
...
Wikipedia