Nottingham Arena
Full nameNottingham Arena
Former namesTrent FM Arena (2008–2011)
Capital FM Arena (2011–2015)
AddressBolero Square
The Lace Market
Nottingham NG1 1LA
England
LocationNational Ice Centre
Coordinates52°57′10″N 1°8′22″W / 52.95278°N 1.13944°W / 52.95278; -1.13944
OwnerNottingham City Council
OperatorNottingham Ice Centre Ltd
Capacity10,000 without standing room (15,865 with standing room)
Construction
Broke groundAugust 1998
Built1998–2000
Opened1 April 2000 (2000-04-01)
Expanded2011
ArchitectFaulknerBrowns[1]
Project managerGleeds
Structural engineerOve Arup
Services engineerOve Arup
Main contractorsJohn Laing Group[2]
Tenants
Nottingham Panthers (2000–present)
Website
Venue Website

Nottingham Arena (known for sponsorship reasons as the Motorpoint Arena Nottingham)[3] is a multi-use indoor arena, part of the National Ice Centre in the Lace Market district of Nottingham, England. The National Ice Centre and Nottingham Arena were opened by Olympic gold medalist Jayne Torvill on 1 April 2000. The arena is the biggest live entertainment venue in the East Midlands.[4]

History

Background

The arena is part of the National Ice Centre which was constructed on the site of the former Nottingham Ice Stadium. The ice stadium opened in 1939 and was showing its age, so, in September 1995, plans were announced to replace the Ice Stadium. Plans for the new ice rink, supported by the British Olympic Association, were unveiled in October 1996.

Construction

Several buildings were demolished to make way for the new ice centre; this included an Art Deco warehouse and "The Old Cricket Players" pub, which was initially spared but closed a few years later and replaced with apartments. The former Ice Stadium closed in March 2000, and by May 2000 was described as "nearly demolished", with four skip loads of demolition rubble being removed from the site every day.[5][6]

During excavation for the new building in July 1998 a rare 1,100-year-old Saxon jug was found, which is on display at the Nottingham Castle Museum. A 19th-century graveyard was also found under the car park, from which the bodies were then exhumed.[7]

Opening

The arena, under 2011–15 signage, viewed from Southwell Road (2013)

On 1 April 2000, the National Ice Centre was officially opened by Olympic gold medalist Jayne Torvill.[8] The second phase of the project — the family rink — was scheduled to be completed by May–June 2001, but opened early on 7 April 2001.[9][10] The National Ice Centre was the first twin Olympic-sized ice rink in the United Kingdom. The final cost of the project was £43 million.[9] The arena was inaugurated by English band, Simply Red on 29 April 2000.[11]

By 2002, the arena was not as popular as planned. The venue posted an operating loss of £1 million in its first year. Concert promoters would often have acts skip Nottingham in favour of Sheffield and Birmingham.[3] HM The Queen visited the National Ice Centre and adjoined arena on 31 July 2002.[8]

In 2007, former radio station Trent FM purchased naming rights for four years, becoming the Trent FM Arena Nottingham.[12] When Trent FM was bought by Global Radio, the naming rights were assigned to Capital FM, and the arena now became known as Capital FM Arena Nottingham.[13] In 2011, the arena installed a draping system, reducing the capacity to 4,000 for intimate shows. The arena's overall capacity was also expanded from 9,000 to 10,000.

Despite the average event ticket price rising almost £5 from the year before (to £37.22), in the 2012–13 season the arena made a £200,000 "operating deficit", with a 9% drop in attendance at the arena, and a 6% fall in the number of events held.[14]

Events

Inside the NIC Arena before the 2007 EIHL Play Off Final

The Nottingham Panthers ice hockey team plays their home games at the Arena.[15]

Little Mix hold the record for the largest concert at the arena, with an audience of 15,685.[16] Westlife has performed the most at the arena, with 22 shows between 2001 and 2019. As of 2014 the arena has hosted artists and events including Bruno Mars, Ed Sheeran, Katy Perry, Elton John, Lady Gaga, Dua Lipa, The 1975, One Direction, The X Factor Tour, Strictly Come Dancing Live! and We Will Rock You: 10th Anniversary Tour, as well as conferences, galas and balls, including Nottingham Trent University’s Graduation Ball. On 17 November 2012, the arena hosted the fight between Nottingham boxer Carl Froch and Yusaf Mack, with Froch retaining his IBF super-middleweight world title.[17]

The Arena was the site of the 2023 IIHF World Championship Division I Group A ice hockey tournament. Nottingham saw Great Britain win all 5 round-robin games to be promoted back into the top division.

References

  1. ↑ "National Ice Centre, Nottingham". Building. 27 April 2001. Retrieved 1 May 2019.
  2. ↑ "National Ice Centre". Architects Journal. 11 May 2000. Retrieved 1 May 2019.
  3. 1 2 "Nottingham's Arena turns ten years old". Nottingham Post. Local World. 26 March 2010. Archived from the original on 9 June 2013. Retrieved 9 June 2013.
  4. ↑ "Disney on Ice celebrates 100 Years of Magic at the Motorpoint Arena Nottingham". motorpointarenanottingham.com. Retrieved 1 May 2019.
  5. ↑ Brunton, John (29 March 2000). "Centre Stage: Torvill to open ice complex". Nottingham Evening Post. Retrieved 22 December 2013.(subscription required)
  6. ↑ Brunton, John (15 May 2000). "It's gone but not forgotten". Nottingham Evening Post. Retrieved 22 December 2013.(subscription required)
  7. ↑ Catlow, Claire (2 May 2018). "How Nottingham's £43m ice stadium took shape – 20 years ago". nottinghampost. Retrieved 1 May 2019.
  8. 1 2 "Venue Information: Capital FM Arena Nottingham". The Gig Cartel. Archived from the original on 9 June 2013. Retrieved 9 June 2013.
  9. 1 2 "About the NIC". Archived from the original on 14 August 2013. Retrieved 14 August 2013.
  10. ↑ Brunton, John (28 March 2000). "PROMOTERS HOPE TO ATTRACT A GALAXY OF TOP STAR NAMES TO PULL IN THE CROWDS AT THE CITY'S NEW ICE STADIUM". Nottingham Evening Post. Retrieved 22 December 2013.(subscription required)
  11. ↑ Brunton, John (30 March 2000). "The heat is on at centre". Nottingham Evening Post. Retrieved 22 December 2013.(subscription required)
  12. ↑ Sillis, Ben (11 April 2008). "Trent FM arena sponsorship deal". MediaWeek. Haymarket Media Group. Archived from the original on 9 June 2013. Retrieved 9 June 2013.
  13. ↑ "Arena to get new name as part of radio station launch". Nottingham Post. Local World. 24 December 2010. Archived from the original on 9 June 2013. Retrieved 9 June 2013.
  14. ↑ "National Ice Centre & Capital FM Arena Nottingham Annual Review 2012/13". Issuu. Retrieved 1 May 2019.
  15. ↑ "The History of the Nottingham Panthers". panthers.co.uk.
  16. ↑ "Current Boxscore". Billboard. Retrieved 22 November 2018.
  17. ↑ "Unbelievable" home crowd witness Carl Froch masterclass at Nottingham's Capital Arena, 19 November 2012
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