Manchester Arena
Manchester Arena (currently known as 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. Prior to the opening of Co-op Live, the arena had the highest seating capacity of any indoor venue in the United Kingdom, and is the sixth-largest in Europe with a capacity of 21,000.
Former names
NYNEX Arena (1995–1998)
Manchester Evening News Arena (1998–2011)
Phones 4u Arena (2013–2015)
Manchester Arena (2015–2020)
Victoria Station
Manchester
M3 1AR[1]
Manchester, England
21,000
March 1993
15 July 1995
22 May 2017[nb 1]
9 September 2017[2]
DLA Design, Austin-Smith:Lord and Ellerbe Becket
The arena is one of the world's busiest indoor arenas, hosting music and sporting events such as boxing and swimming.[4] The arena was a key part of Manchester's bids to host the Olympic Games in 1996 and 2000 and was eventually used for the 2002 Commonwealth Games.
The arena was temporarily closed following a terror attack on 22 May 2017, in which suicide bomber Salman Abedi killed 22 people, and injured 500 more, at the end of an Ariana Grande concert during her Dangerous Woman Tour. Shows and events that were scheduled to take place at the arena were either moved to alternative venues, or cancelled completely. The arena was reopened on 9 September with a special benefit concert headlined by Manchester-born singer Noel Gallagher.[5]