Coventry Building Society Arena

"Ricoh Arena" redirects here. Not to be confused with Ricoh Coliseum.
Coventry Building Society Arena
Map
Former namesRicoh Arena (2005–2021)
City of Coventry Stadium (2012 Summer Olympics)
Coventry Stadium (2022 Commonwealth Games)
LocationJimmy Hill Way, Rowleys Green, Coventry, England CV6 6GE
Coordinates52°26′53″N 1°29′44″W / 52.44806°N 1.49556°W / 52.44806; -1.49556
Public transitNational Rail Coventry Arena
OwnerFrasers Group
OperatorACL (Arena Coventry Ltd.)
Capacity40,000 (concerts) 32,753 (football and rugby matches) (Subject to segregation regime)
Record attendance32,128 (England V Italy, Arnold Clark Cup, 19 February 2023)
Field size120m x 68m
SurfaceXtraGrass (Hybrid grass)
ScoreboardYes
Construction
Built2005
Opened2005
Expanded2010
Construction cost£113 million[1]
ArchitectThe Miller Partnership
Tenants
Coventry City (2005–2013, 2014–2019, 2021–)
Coventry City Ladies (2014)
Wasps (2014–2022)
Wasps Netball (2017–2022)
Website
www.coventrybuildingsocietyarena.co.uk

The Coventry Building Society Arena (often shortened to the CBS Arena or just simply Coventry Arena, and formerly known as the Ricoh Arena) is a complex in Coventry, West Midlands, England. It includes a 32,609-seater stadium which is currently home to football team, Championship club Coventry City F.C. along with facilities which include a 6,000 square metres (65,000 sq ft) exhibition hall, a hotel and a casino. The site is also home to Arena Park Shopping Centre, containing one of UK's largest Tesco Extra hypermarkets. Built on the site of the Foleshill gasworks, it is named after its sponsor, Coventry Building Society who entered into a ten-year sponsorship deal in 2021.[2] For the 2012 Summer Olympics, where stadium naming sponsorship was forbidden, the stadium was known as the City of Coventry Stadium.[3][4]

Originally built as a replacement for Coventry City's Highfield Road ground, the stadium was initially owned and operated by Arena Coventry Limited (ACL), with Coventry City as tenants. ACL was owned jointly by Coventry City Council and the Alan Edward Higgs Charity.

Following a protracted rent dispute between Coventry City and ACL, the football club left the arena in 2013; playing their home matches in Northampton for over a year before returning in September 2014. Within two months, both shareholders in ACL were bought out by rugby union Premiership Rugby club Wasps, who relocated to the stadium from their previous ground, Adams Park in High Wycombe.[5] A further dispute with Wasps prior to the 2019–20 season saw Coventry City leave the Ricoh for a further two seasons.[6] In March 2021, Wasps and Coventry City agreed to a ten-year deal to return to the arena and the city of Coventry. The deal became null and void with Mike Ashley's Frasers Group's purchase of the arena.[7] In April 2023, it was announced Coventry City and Frasers Group had agreed a five-year deal for Coventry City to continue to play at the Arena.[8]

The stadium was the first cashless stadium in the United Kingdom, with customers using a prepay smartcard system in the ground's bars and shops.[9] Following this, the stadium concourse and bars have remained cashless.[10]

  1. ^ Shaw, Phil (20 August 2005). "Football's man of the future: The stadiums Paul Fletcher has helped to build". The Independent. London: Independent Print. Retrieved 25 June 2010.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference :2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ "Coventry City's Ricoh Arena chosen for Olympics". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 3 June 2010. Retrieved 3 June 2010.
  4. ^ London2012.com profile. Archived 19 August 2010 at the Wayback Machine – accessed 29 September 2010.
  5. ^ "Wasps Confirm 100% Shareholding In The Ricoh Arena" (Press release). Wasps RFC. 14 November 2014. Retrieved 14 November 2014.
  6. ^ "Coventry City to groundshare with Birmingham City for 2019–20 season". BBC Sport. 7 June 2019. Retrieved 7 June 2019.
    "Groundshare to continue". Birmingham City F.C. 24 July 2020. Archived from the original on 13 August 2021. Retrieved 24 July 2020.
  7. ^ "Ashley completes deal for CBS Arena's operating company in blow to new Coventry owners". talkSPORT. 17 November 2022. Retrieved 13 January 2024.
  8. ^ "Coventry City and Frasers Group finally reach agreement over CBS Arena". Coventry Live. 28 April 2023. Retrieved 13 January 2024.
  9. ^ Butler, Sarah (27 July 2009). "A customer and his money are soon parted if a smart card means no queue". The Times. London: Times Newspapers. Archived from the original on 10 August 2011. Retrieved 10 January 2010.
  10. ^ "NEWS: New Ticket Office and Club Shop to be cashless". www.ccfc.co.uk. Retrieved 20 October 2023.