Arena Birmingham

This article is about the indoor arena in Birmingham, England. For other arenas with the same or similar names, see Birmingham Arena.
"Barclaycard Arena" redirects here. For the arena in Hamburg, see Barclaycard Arena (Hamburg).
"National Indoor Arena" redirects here. For other uses, see National Indoor Arena (disambiguation).

Utilita Arena Birmingham
Arena Birmingham in October 2017
Map
Former namesNational Indoor Arena (1991–2014)
Barclaycard Arena (2014–2017)
Arena Birmingham (2017–2020)
AddressKing Edwards Road
Birmingham B1 2AA England
Coordinates52°28′47″N 01°54′54″W / 52.47972°N 1.91500°W / 52.47972; -1.91500
OwnerNEC Group
Capacity15,800 (arena)[1]
6,825 (B1)
Construction
Opened4 October 1991
Renovated2013–14
Tenants
All England Open Badminton Championships
Sainsbury's Indoor Grand Prix
Website
Venue website
Building details
General information
Renovation cost£26 million
Renovating team
Architect(s)Broadway Malyan
Structural engineerRodgers Leaske
Services engineerHulley & Kirkwood
Other designers
  • Novus
  • Inox Equip Ltd
  • Time Sec
  • Architainment Lighting, Ltd
Main contractorRoyal BAM Group

Utilita Arena Birmingham (previously known as Arena Birmingham, The Barclaycard Arena, originally as the National Indoor Arena and still commonly called The NIA) is an indoor arena and sporting venue in central Birmingham, England. It is owned by parent company the NEC Group. When it was opened in 1991, it was the largest indoor arena in the UK.[2]

The arena is located alongside the Birmingham Canal Navigations Main Line's Old Turn Junction and opposite the National Sea Life Centre in Brindleyplace. The building straddles the main Birmingham to Wolverhampton Intercity railway line (originally the Stour Valley Line), but does not have a station of its own. There are three adjoining car parks with a total of 2,156 spaces. Close to the arena is The ICC which is also owned by the NEC Group.

It is currently the third-largest indoor arena in the United Kingdom by capacity. In 2019, the arena had ticket sales of 530,597, which was the 4th highest in the United Kingdom.[3]

  1. ^ "Our Brands | Utilita Arena Birmingham". www.necgroup.co.uk. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
  2. ^ "Our brands". NEC Group. Retrieved 24 January 2015.
  3. ^ "2019 Worldwide Ticket Sales Top 200 Arena Venues" (PDF). Pollstar. 16 December 2019. Retrieved 2 January 2020.