Paris La Défense Arena (originally known as the U Arena) is a multi-use domed stadium in

Nanterre Nanterre (, ) is the prefecture of the Hauts-de-Seine department in the western suburbs of Paris. It is located some northwest of the centre of Paris. In 2018, the commune had a population of 96,807. The eastern part of Nanterre, bordering t ...

, a western suburb of

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. Opened in October 2017, it was developed by the

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

club

Racing 92 Racing 92 () is a French rugby union club based in suburban Paris that was formed in 2001 with the collaboration of the Racing Club de France and US Métro. They were called Racing Métro 92 between 2001 and 2015, when they changed the name to ...

, and replaced

Stade Olympique Yves-du-Manoir The Stade Yves-du-Manoir (officially Stade olympique Yves-du-Manoir, also known as the Stade olympique de Colombes, or simply Colombes to the locals) is a rugby, track and association football stadium in Colombes, near Paris, France, Paris, Fran ...

as their home field. It is one of the two multi-use domed stadiums to be built in Europe, along with

Telenor Arena Telenor Arena, sometimes referred to as Fornebu Arena, is a multi-purpose indoor arena located at Fornebu in Bærum, outside Oslo, Norway. It serves as a venue for a variety of events, including concerts, exhibitions, action shows, family shows ...

and is Europe’s largest indoor arena. Its

naming rights Naming rights are a financial transaction and form of advertising or memorialization whereby a corporation, person, or other entity purchases the right to name a facility, object, location, program, or event, typically for a defined period of t ...

are held by Paris La Défense, the management company of the nearby La Défense business district. The venue offers three separate configurations. In its

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 ...

configuration, it has a nominal

seating capacity Seating capacity is the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, in terms of both the physical space available, and limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile that ...

of 30,681. For

concerts A concert is a live music performance in front of an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, choir, or musical band, band. Concerts are held in a w ...

, it is able to seat 40,000. Finally, a movable stand allows it to also be used for a variety of indoor sports, at various capacities, with a capacity of as low as 5,000 being possible. The venue also includes of office space, 300 student rooms, shops, including a club shop, a brewery and a gourmet restaurant. It is scheduled to host

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, or other liquid, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Locomotion is achieved through coordinated movement of the limbs and the body to achieve hydrodynamic thrust that r ...

at the

2024 Summer Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (french: Jeux olympiques d'été de 2024), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad (french: Jeux de la XXXIIIe Olympiade, links=no) and also known as Paris 2024, is an upcoming international multi-sport event that is s ...

. Due to IOC sponsorship regulations, the venue will be referred to as Arena 92.

History

The stadium was originally planned to open in 2014, but that date was delayed, due to local protests. It eventually opened in October 2017, although Racing 92 did not play their first home game in the new stadium until they hosted

Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Par ...

on 22 December 2017. The stadium's working name was changed from "Arena92" to "U Arena"; referencing the configuration of the main stands, and the structure's shape, when viewed from the air, in November 2016. The name was changed a second time to the current Paris La Défense Arena on 12 June 2018. This followed a 10-year

agreement with Paris La Défense, the company that manages the nearby La Défense business district. The venue was originally planned to have a retractable roof, but it was ultimately built with a fixed roof instead.

The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the gritty, rhythmically d ...

were the first band to ever perform a

concert A concert is a live music performance in front of an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, choir, or band. Concerts are held in a wide variety a ...

in the stadium, closing their Europe-only

No Filter Tour The No Filter Tour was a European/North American concert tour by the Rolling Stones which began on 9 September 2017 in Hamburg, Germany. The tour was scheduled to conclude in 2020 but had to be postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The tour ...

, with three shows, on 19, 22, and 25 October 2017. The arena's first

match, took place on 25 November 2017 between

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

and

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 north ...

. On 11 March 2018, the French professional

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 ...

clubs

Nanterre 92 Nanterre 92 is a professional basketball club from the city of Nanterre (a western suburb of Paris), France. The club plays in the top-tier level basketball league in France, the Pro A, since 2011. Founded in 2011 as JSF Nanterre, the club plays ...

and

ASVEL Basket ASVEL Basket, commonly known as ASVEL or sometimes as ASVEL Lyon-Villeurbanne, and also known as LDLC ASVEL for sponsorship reasons, is a French professional basketball team that is located in the city of Villeurbanne, which is a suburb of Lyon ...

, played each other in a

LNB Pro A The LNB Pro A, currently known for sponsorship reasons as Betclic Élite, is the top-tier men's professional basketball league in France. The competition has existed since 1921. Since 1987, the Ligue Nationale de Basket has governed the league. ...

2017–18 season game. The game had an attendance of 15,220, which was the highest attendance of any game in the league's history. Since 2017 it has hosted the Paris Motocross.Chase Stall
What To Watch For At Paris Supercross
Racer X Online, 15 November 2018

Entertainment events

References

External links

*
Stadium information
Le Monde {{Authority control 2017 establishments in France Venues of the 2024 Summer Olympics Basketball venues in France Covered stadiums Olympic gymnastics venues Racing 92 Music venues in France Music venues in Paris Music venues completed in 2017 Rugby union stadiums in France Sports venues completed in 2017 Sports venues in Hauts-de-Seine Sports venues in Paris