![Madison Square Garden, February 2013](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dc/Madison_Square_Garden%2C_February_2013.jpg)
An arena is a large enclosed platform, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase
theatre
Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...
,
musical performances, or
sporting events. It is composed of a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for spectators, and may be covered by a roof. The key feature of an arena is that the event space is the lowest point, allowing maximum visibility. Arenas are usually designed to accommodate a multitude of spectators.
Background
![Crypto](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e1/Crypto.com_Arena_interior_-_Lakers_2022.jpg)
The word derives from Latin ', a particularly fine-grained sand that covered the floor of ancient arenas such as the
Colosseum
The Colosseum ( ; it, Colosseo ) is an oval amphitheatre in the centre of the city of Rome, Italy, just east of the Roman Forum. It is the largest ancient amphitheatre ever built, and is still the largest standing amphitheatre in the world to ...
in
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
, Italy, to absorb blood.
[.]
The term ''arena'' is sometimes used as a synonym for a very large venue such as Pasadena's
Rose Bowl, but such a facility is typically called a ''
stadium
A stadium ( : stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage either partly or completely surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand o ...
'', especially if it does not have a roof. The use of one term over the other has mostly to do with the type of event.
Football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
(be it
association
Association may refer to:
*Club (organization), an association of two or more people united by a common interest or goal
*Trade association, an organization founded and funded by businesses that operate in a specific industry
*Voluntary associatio ...
,
rugby
Rugby may refer to:
Sport
* Rugby football in many forms:
** Rugby league: 13 players per side
*** Masters Rugby League
*** Mod league
*** Rugby league nines
*** Rugby league sevens
*** Touch (sport)
*** Wheelchair rugby league
** Rugby union: 1 ...
,
gridiron,
Australian rules
Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...
, or
Gaelic
Gaelic is an adjective that means "pertaining to the Gaels". As a noun it refers to the group of languages spoken by the Gaels, or to any one of the languages individually. Gaelic languages are spoken in Ireland, Scotland, the Isle of Man, and Ca ...
) is typically played in a stadium, while
basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...
,
volleyball
Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...
,
handball
Handball (also known as team handball, European handball or Olympic handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of throwing it into the g ...
, and
ice hockey
Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...
are typically played in an arena, although many of the larger arenas hold more spectators than do the stadiums of smaller colleges or high schools. There are exceptions. The home of the
Duke University
Duke University is a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco and electric power industrialist James ...
men's and
women's
A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a female child or adolescent). The plural ''women'' is sometimes used in certain phrases such as "women's rights" to denote female humans regardl ...
basketball teams would qualify as an arena, but the facility is called
Cameron Indoor Stadium. Domed stadiums, which, like arenas, are enclosed but have the larger playing surfaces and seating capacities found in stadiums, are generally not referred to as arenas in North America. There is also the sport of
indoor American football
Indoor American football, or arena football, is a variation of gridiron football played at ice hockey-sized indoor arenas. While varying in details from league to league, the rules of indoor football are designed to allow for play in a smaller a ...
(one variant of which is explicitly known as arena football), a variant of the outdoor game that is designed for the usual smaller playing surface of most arenas; variants of other traditionally outdoor sports, including
box lacrosse
Box lacrosse, also known as boxla, box, or indoor lacrosse, is an indoor version of lacrosse played mostly in North America. The game originated in Canada in the 1930s, where it is more popular than field lacrosse. Lacrosse is Canada's official ...
as well as
futsal Futsal is a football-based game played on a hardcourt, hard court smaller than a football pitch, and mainly indoors. It has similarities to five-a-side football and Indoor soccer, indoor football.
Futsal is played between two teams of five players ...
and
indoor soccer
Indoor soccer or arena soccer (known internationally as indoor football, fast football, or showball) is five-a-side version of minifootball, derived from association football and adapted to be played in walled hardcourt indoor arena. Indoor socc ...
, also exist.
The term "arena" is also used loosely to refer to any event or type of event which either literally or metaphorically takes place in such a location, often with the specific intent of comparing an idea to a sporting event. Such examples of these would be terms such as "the arena of war", "the arena of love" or "the political arena". In many
fighting game
A fighting game, also known as a versus fighting game, is a video game genre, genre of video game that involves combat between two or more players. Fighting game combat often features mechanics such as Blocking (martial arts), blocking, grappli ...
s, the stage that opponents are fought in is also called an arena.
An arena is often named after a name
sponsor. It is common that the name changes with 4–8 years intervals.
Gallery
File:Hartwall Areena ESC 2007.jpg, Helsinki Halli
File:AccorHotels Arena (Bercy Arena).jpg, AccorHotels Arena
File:Scotiabank Arena - 2018 (cropped).jpg, Scotiabank Arena
File:Lanxess-Arena, Köln-7892.jpg, Lanxess Arena
File:The SSE Hydro (geograph 5420681).jpg, SSE Hydro
File:Jyske Bank Boxen (cropped).jpg, Jyske Bank Boxen
Jyske Bank Boxen is an indoor arena, located in Herning, Denmark, that is part of the Messecenter Herning. Opened in October 2010, it has a maximum capacity of 12,500.
It hosts concerts, ice hockey, basketball, volleyball, team handball and gymna ...
File:American Airlines Arena, Miami, FL, jjron 29.03.2012.jpg, FTX Arena
See also
*
Amphitheatre
An amphitheatre (British English) or amphitheater (American English; both ) is an open-air venue used for entertainment, performances, and sports. The term derives from the ancient Greek ('), from ('), meaning "on both sides" or "around" and ...
*
Architectural structure
*
Field house
*
Ice hockey arena
An ice hockey arena (or ice hockey venue, or ice hockey stadium) is a sport venue in which an ice hockey competition is held. Alternatively it is used for other sports such as broomball, ringette and rink bandy.
Multi-purpose arenas
A number of i ...
*
List of nonbuilding structure types
A nonbuilding structure, also referred to simply as a structure, refers to any body or system of connected parts used to support a load that was not designed for continuous human occupancy. The term is used by architects, structural engin ...
*
List of indoor arenas by capacity
A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to:
People
* List (surname)
Organizations
* List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America
* SC Germania List, German rugby unio ...
*
List of stadiums by capacity
References
External links
**
{{Authority control
Music venues
Sports venues by type
Buildings and structures by type