Arena Birmingham (known for sponsorship reasons as Utilita Arena Birmingham, and previously as The Barclaycard Arena and originally as the National Indoor Arena) is an indoor arena and sporting venue in central

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the We ...

, United Kingdom. It is owned by parent company the

NEC Group The National Exhibition Centre (NEC) is an exhibition centre located in Marston Green, Solihull, West Midlands, England. It is near junction 6 of the M42 motorway, and is adjacent to Birmingham Airport and Birmingham International railway st ...

. When it was opened in 1991, it was the largest indoor arena in the UK. The arena was renamed Utilita Arena Birmingham on 15 April 2020. The arena is located alongside the Birmingham Canal Navigations Main Line's

Old Turn Junction Old Turn Junction, or Deep Cutting Junction () is a canal junction in Birmingham, England, where the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal meets the Birmingham Canal Navigations Main Line Canal. The junction features a circular island. History When ...

and opposite the National Sea Life Centre in Brindleyplace. The building straddles the main Birmingham to Wolverhampton Intercity railway line (originally the Stour Valley Line), but does not have a station of its own. There are three adjoining car parks with a total of 2,156 spaces. Close to the arena is The ICC which is also owned by the NEC Group. It is currently the third-largest indoor arena in the United Kingdom by capacity. In 2019, the arena had ticket sales of 530,597, which was the 4th highest in the United Kingdom.

Background

The arena was officially opened, as the National Indoor Arena, on 4 October 1991 by the athlete Linford Christie. When it was opened, the arena was intended to be an indoor sporting venue. However, the venue began to host entertainment events shortly after opening. The arena currently hosts a variety of events including concerts, sporting events and conferences. It has a capacity of up to 15,800 using both permanent seating and temporary seating configurations. The arena was renamed after it underwent an extensive renovation which was completed at the end of 2014. Michael Bublé opened the renovated arena on 2 December 2014. In 2018 the arena had ticket sales of 497,443, which was the 4th highest in the United Kingdom.

Naming history

* National Indoor Arena * Barclaycard Arena * Arena Birmingham

Renovation

In 2012 plans to refurbish and renovate the NIA were approved by Birmingham City Council. The plans included creating a showpiece entrance from the canal-side, three "sky needle" light sculptures, a new glazed facade fronting the canal and new pre-show hospitality elements. The design was by the architecture firm Broadway Malyan and the building contract was awarded to Royal BAM Group in 2013 with an projected finishing date of Winter 2014. The £26 million redevelopment began in June 2013. The redeveloped arena was officially opened with a performance by singer Michael Bublé on 2 December 2014. It was renamed the "Barclaycard Arena" in November 2014 after Barclaycard won the naming rights for five years, but in May 2016 it was announced that the naming deal would end early, and from September 2017 it would be named Arena Birmingham. On 16 January 2020, it was announced that the arena will be renamed Utilita Arena Birmingham from 15 April 2020.

Notable events

The arena has been used for several major events in the past, including counting no less than eight constituencies in the hall for the 1992 general election.''Election 92'', BBC, 9 April 1992 *'' Gladiators'' was recorded at the arena from 1992 to 1999. *

1993 IBF World Championships The 1993 IBF World Championships (World Badminton Championships) were held in Birmingham, England in 1993. Venue *National Indoor Arena Medalists Medal table Events External linksBWF Results {{World badminton champs BWF World Champio ...

* 1995 Netball World Championships *

Eurovision Song Contest 1998 The Eurovision Song Contest 1998 was the 43rd edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest, held on 9 May 1998 at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham, United Kingdom. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaste ...

* 1999 World Judo Championships * WWF Rebellion 1999 *

2003 IAAF World Indoor Championships The 9th IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics were held in the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham, UK from 14 to 16 March 2003. It was the first time the Championships had been held in the UK. There were a total number of 589 participa ...

. *

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It ...

Davis Cup The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is run by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and is contested annually between teams from competing countries in a knock-out format. It is described by the organi ...

tennis matches (vs.

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shoot ...

, vs.

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic countries, Nordic c ...

and

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

, and vs.

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

in 2016) *

BBL Cup The British Basketball League Cup, often shortened to the BBL Cup, is an annual cup competition for British basketball teams organised by the United Kingdom's top professional league, the British Basketball League. It is one of two peripheral co ...

and BBL Finals Weekend matches *

2003 IBF World Championships The 2003 IBF World Championships (World Badminton Championships) were held in the National Indoor Arena, Birmingham, United Kingdom, between 28 July and 3 August 2003. The championships had originally been planned to take place from 12 May-18 Ma ...

2007 European Athletics Indoor Championships The 2007 European Athletics Indoor Championships were held in the National Indoor Arena (NIA) in Birmingham, England, from Friday, 2 March to Sunday, 4 March 2007. Birmingham also held the 2003 IAAF World Indoor Championships. Men's results Trac ...

. *The Premier League Darts every year since 2007 *

2010 European Men's Artistic Gymnastics Championships The 29th European Men's Artistic Gymnastics Championships was held from 21 to 25 April 2010 at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham. The senior and junior events are different. During the senior's qualification the top eight teams progress to ...

* 2010 European Women's Artistic Gymnastics Championships *

BAMMA BAMMA (British Association of Mixed Martial Arts) was a mixed martial arts promotion based in the United Kingdom. It premiered on June 27, 2009, and was shown on the television channel Bravo. BAMMA events were shown live on ITV4 in the UK and I ...

events in 2010, 2011 and 2012 *

2010 Wheelchair Basketball World Championship The 2010 Wheelchair Basketball World Championship was held in Birmingham, Great Britain from 7 to 17 July 2010. Both the men's and women's tournaments were held. The Championships was a qualifying event for the London 2012 Paralympic Games. ...

2011 Trampoline World Championships The 28th Trampoline and Tumbling World Championships were held in Birmingham, England, from 17 to 20 November 2011 at the National Indoor Arena. This event was the first qualifying round for the 2012 Olympics which was held in London. The top 8 ...

* Lee Evans performed here from 17 to 21 September 2014 to record his final stand-up show tour Monsters before his retirement. *

Linkin Park Linkin Park is an American rock band from Agoura Hills, California. The band's current lineup comprises vocalist/rhythm guitarist/keyboardist Mike Shinoda, lead guitarist Brad Delson, bassist Dave Farrell, DJ/turntablist Joe Hahn and drumm ...

performed here as part of the One More Light Tour on 6 July 2017. This was the band's last performance of the European leg, as the remaining show in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The ...

were cancelled due to a

bombing A bomb is an explosive weapon that uses the exothermic reaction of an explosive material to provide an extremely sudden and violent release of energy. Detonations inflict damage principally through ground- and atmosphere-transmitted mechanica ...

at the

Manchester Arena Manchester Arena, currently referred to as the AO Arena for sponsorship reasons, is an indoor arena in Manchester, England, immediately north of the city centre and partly above Manchester Victoria station in air rights space. The arena has the ...

, where the band was supposed to perform. It was also the final performance of lead singer Chester Bennington before his

death Death is the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain an organism. For organisms with a brain, death can also be defined as the irreversible cessation of functioning of the whole brain, including brainstem, and brain ...

on 20 July 2017. * 2018 IAAF World Indoor Championships *

2022 Commonwealth Games The 2022 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Birmingham 2022, was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth of Nations that took place in Birmingham, England b ...

Ticket sales

NEC Group

Parent company The NEC Group also owns and operates the

ICC Birmingham The International Convention Centre (ICC) is a major conference venue in Birmingham, England. The centre incorporates Symphony Hall and faces Centenary Square, with another entrance leading to the canals of Birmingham. The Westside area, which ...

in central Birmingham, and the National Exhibition Centre (NEC) and Resorts World Arena (previously The NEC Arena, LG Arena and Genting Arena), based on The NEC site in nearby

Solihull Solihull (, or ) is a market town and the administrative centre of the wider Metropolitan Borough of Solihull in West Midlands County, England. The town had a population of 126,577 at the 2021 Census. Solihull is situated on the River Blyth ...

References

External links

*
Construction of the arena's roof
{{Authority control Basketball venues in England Indoor arenas in England Sports venues in Birmingham, West Midlands Badminton venues Indoor track and field venues Darts venues Sports venues completed in 1991 1991 establishments in England Judo venues Netball venues in England 2022 Commonwealth Games venues Gymnastics at the 2022 Commonwealth Games