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 West ...
, 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 stati ...
. 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 t ...
and opposite the
National Sea Life Centre in
Brindleyplace
Brindleyplace is a large mixed-use canalside development, in the Westside district of Birmingham, England. It was named after Brindley Place, the name of the street (in turn named after the 18th century canal engineer James Brindley) around whi ...
. The building straddles the main
Birmingham to Wolverhampton Intercity railway line (originally the
Stour Valley Line
The Stour Valley Line is the present-day name given to the railway line between Birmingham and Wolverhampton, in England. It was authorised as the Birmingham, Wolverhampton and Stour Valley Railway in 1836; the title was often shortened to the ...
), 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
The Edward B. Bunn, S.J. Intercultural Center commonly known as the Intercultural Center or ICC is a seven-story mixed use building on the main campus of Georgetown University named for Edward B. Bunn. The center was built in 1982 as the Photovolt ...
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
![NIA, Birmingham](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/79/NIA%2C_Birmingham.jpg)
The arena was officially opened, as the National Indoor Arena, on 4 October 1991 by the athlete
Linford Christie
Linford Cicero Christie (born 2 April 1960) is a Jamaican-born British former sprinter. He is the only British man to have won gold medals in the 100 metres at all four major competitions open to British athletes: the Olympic Games, the World ...
. 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
Michael Steven Bublé ( ; born September 9, 1975) is a Canadian singer. A four-time Grammy Award winner, he is often credited for helping to renew public interest and appreciation for traditional pop standards and the Great American Songboo ...
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
![NIA Barclaycard Birmingham](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/21/NIA_Barclaycard_Birmingham.jpg)
In 2012 plans to refurbish and renovate the NIA were approved by
Birmingham City Council
Birmingham City Council is the local government body responsible for the governance of the City of Birmingham in England, which has been a metropolitan district since 1974. It is the most populated local council area in the United Kingdom (e ...
. 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
Broadway Malyan is a global architecture, urbanism and design practice. It was established in 1958 by architects Cyril Broadway anJohn Malyan
Among its incorporated businesses globally, it owns or is closely associated with the English incorpora ...
and the building contract was awarded to
Royal BAM Group
Royal BAM Group nv ( nl, Koninklijke BAM Groep nv) is a Dutch construction-services business with headquarters in Bunnik, Netherlands. It is the largest construction company based on revenue in the Netherlands.
History
The company was founded by ...
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
Michael Steven Bublé ( ; born September 9, 1975) is a Canadian singer. A four-time Grammy Award winner, he is often credited for helping to renew public interest and appreciation for traditional pop standards and the Great American Songboo ...
on 2 December 2014. It was renamed the "Barclaycard Arena" in November 2014 after
Barclaycard
Barclaycard (; stylized as barclaycard) is a brand for credit cards of Barclays PLC. , Barclays had over ten million customers in the United Kingdom.
History
Barclays launched Barclaycard on 29 June 1966, initially as a charge card, but followin ...
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
![National Indoor Arena logo](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e2/National_Indoor_Arena_logo.svg)
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 #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
tennis matches (vs.
, vs.
, and vs.
performed here from 17 to 21 September 2014 to record his final stand-up show tour
on 6 July 2017. This was the band's last performance of the European leg, as the remaining show in
, where the band was supposed to perform. It was also the final performance of lead singer
(previously The NEC Arena, LG Arena and Genting Arena), based on The NEC site in nearby
.