MK Lions Arena, also known as Prestige Homes Arena due to sponsorship reasons, was a

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 ...

arena in

Milton Keynes Milton Keynes ( ) is a city and the largest settlement in Buckinghamshire, England, about north-west of London. At the 2021 Census, the population of its urban area was over . The River Great Ouse forms its northern boundary; a tributary ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

. It was the home venue for the Milton Keynes Lions of the

British Basketball League The British Basketball League (BBL) is a men's professional basketball league in Great Britain and represents the highest level of play in the countries. The league is contested by 10 teams from England and Scotland. There are no clubs howeve ...

from 2010 to 2012. The venue - a former warehouse - was acquired by the Lions franchise in 2010, after being forced out of their previous homes at the Bletchley Centre - due to a regeneration project - and the temporary set-up at Middleton Hall, in the thecentre:mk. With the team still awaiting the completion of arena:mk - a purpose-built muilti-function arena next to the stadium:mk - an immediate solution was sought and the city centre facility was converted into a new basketball centre for the 2010-11 season. As well as the main arena, which has seating for 1,400 spectators, the venue featured two practice courts under the same roof of the 30,000 square foot facility. The arena, was located in the Winterhill district, a five-minute walk from the city centre and from Milton Keynes Central railway station. Lions' first game at the new venue was played on 28 November 2010, with the home team winning 79-73 against BBL rookies

Essex Pirates The Essex Pirates were a British Basketball League team from Southend-on-Sea, in the county of Essex. They were founded in 2009 and played their home games at the Southend Leisure & Tennis Centre. Following the loss of a major sponsor, the fran ...

with the game televised live on SkySports. The lease between Lions and the building owners featured an opt-out cause which was triggered in order to let the building as a retail unit. The final basketball game at the arena was played on 18 April 2012, with Lions defeating Plymouth Raiders 128-113. This proved to be the Lions last ever game in Milton Keynes as the club were forced to re-locate from the 2012-13 season to

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, due to being unable to find an alternate venue in the city capable of hosting

games.

References

External links

Timelapse video showing conversion from warehouse to arena
{{coord missing, Buckinghamshire Buildings and structures in Milton Keynes Sports venues in Buckinghamshire Sport in Milton Keynes London Lions (basketball)

See also

References

External links