Motorpoint Arena Cardiff

This article is about the venue, formerly known as the Cardiff International Arena. For the ice arena, see Cardiff Arena.

Motorpoint Arena Cardiff

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Former names	Cardiff International Arena & Convention Centre (1993–2000) Cardiff International Arena (2000–2011)
Location	Motorpoint Arena Cardiff Mary Ann Street Cardiff CF10 2EQ Wales
Owner	Live Nation UK
Operator	Live Nation UK
Type	Live Music and Conference Venue
Capacity	5,000 (Seating) 7,500 (Standing)
Opened	10 September 1993
Website
www.motorpointarenacardiff.co.uk (Official Website)

Motorpoint Arena Cardiff (formerly known as Cardiff International Arena) is an indoor exhibition centre and events arena located in Cardiff, the capital of Wales, and was opened on 10 September 1993, by Shirley Bassey, in front of 5,500 fans. It is Cardiff's largest purpose-built exhibition facility.

History

The arena was opened on 10 September 1993, by Shirley Bassey, in front of 5,500 fans. On 1 March 2011, the Cardiff International Arena was officially renamed Motorpoint Arena Cardiff, after the car sales company with a branch in Newport bought the naming rights to the Cardiff International Arena for five years in what was called "a seven-figure investment".

Facilities

The Main Arena offers 4,500 square metres of exhibition space, and is very versatile, for the number of different events that take place at the Arena. Full capacity can reach 7,500, in a standing layout and 5,000, for a fully seated event.

There are over thirty additional areas, including a conference suite (groups of up to 460) and 4 executive boardrooms.

Management

Cardiff International Arena (CIA)

The CIA logo

The front of the CIA in 2007

The arena is owned by the US media giant Live Nation UK.

• Security: Showsec
• Stewarding: In House (Live Nation)
• Hospitality: In House (Live Nation)
• Catering: In House (Live Nation)
• Technical: In House (Live Nation)
• Facilities & Maintenance: In House (Live Nation)
• Rigging: Rock City / In House (Live Nation)
• Ticket Sales: In House (Live Nation)
• Medical: Event Care Ltd
• Merchandise: CMI Continental Merchandisers
• Cleaning: Minster Cleaning Services

Events

The arena contains a number of function areas, the largest being the Main Arena. Motorpoint Arena Cardiff has hosted many national and international events, such as concerts, sports and comedy performances.

Major events

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by expanding it with reliably sourced entries.

• The Monkees 30th Anniversary Tour UK played March 1997 with all four original members.
• Take That have played at the arena on three occasions, first on 12 November 1993 as part of their Everything Changes Tour and again on 12 & 13 September 1994 on the Pops Tour.
• Celine Dion brought her Falling Into You Around the World Tour to the arena on 11 November 1996.
• In 1999, the Cardiff International Arena hosted the World Professional Pool Championship, a Nine-ball Pool event which was a rival World Pool Championship set up by Matchroom Sport in opposition to the official World Pool Championship that was sanctioned by the World Pool-Billiard Association and held in Alicante, Spain. Earlier in 1999, the WPA had rejected Matchroom Sport's offer to get involved in the official World Pool Championship. In 2000, Matchroom Sport and the WPA came to an agreement, and the official WPA World Nine-ball Championship was hosted at the Cardiff International Arena between 2000 and 2003.
• Kylie Minogue first performed at the arena on 14 March 2001 on her On a Night Like This Tour. Kylie has since brought her KylieFever2002 show here for 4 nights on 26-29 April 2002, her Aphrodite: Les Folies Tour for 2 nights on 25 & 26 March 2011 and most recently her Kiss Me Once Tour on 3 October 2014.
• Girls Aloud have performed here on numerous occasions: What Will the Neighbours Say...? Tour on 8 May 2005, Chemistry: The Tour on 30 May 2006, The Greatest Hits Tour (Girls Aloud) on 23 May 2007 and finally on the Tangled Up Tour on 18 May – 3 June 2008.
• American idol winner Kelly Clarkson first performed at the arena during her Breakaway World Tour on 28 February 2006. She later returned with her My December Tour on 29 March 2008 and again on 17 February 2010 during the All I Ever Wanted Tour.
• P!nk played at the arena on 7 November 2006 as part of her I'm Not Dead Tour.
• Since 2007, the Motorpoint Arena Cardiff (formerly the Cardiff International Arena) has been one of the Premier League Darts venues, including the semi finals and finals night of the 2008 Premier League Darts on 26 May 2008.
• Beyoncé performed at the arena on 5 June 2007 as part of The Beyoncé Experience.
• Rihanna brought her Good Girl Gone Bad Tour here on 19 December 2007.
• Avril Lavigne brought The Best Damn Tour here on 31 May 2008 which was her first major world tour.
• Between 2009 and 2012, it played host to the Cardiff audition stages of the ITV singer search programme The X Factor.
• The Killers brought their Day & Age World Tour here on 28 February 2009, and returned again with their Battle Born World Tour on 5 November 2012.
• British girl group The Saturdays brought their first headline tour, The Work Tour here on 3 July 2009. They later returned on 25 February 2011 on The Headlines Tour and again with All Fired Up! (tour) on 5 December 2011. They brought their Greatest Hits Live! Tour here on 18 September 2014.
• Paramore performed here as part of the Brand New Eyes World Tour on 14 December 2009 and again on 21 September 2013 as part of The Self-Titled Tour.
• Lady Gaga performed here on 3 March 2010 as part of The Monster Ball Tour.
• Leona Lewis brought her first concert tour, The Labyrinth (tour) to the arena for 2 nights on 5 & 6 July 2010. She later returned on 12 May 2013 with her Glassheart Tour.
• X Factor winner Alexandra Burke brought her first concert tour, All Night Long Tour, to the arena on 28 January 2011.
• Jason Derulo brought both his Jason Derulo World Tour on 28 February 2011 and his Tattoos World Tour on 19 March 2014 to the arena.
• Katy Perry brought her California Dreams Tour to the arena for two nights on 1 April – 19 October 2011.
• Enrique Iglesias performed here on 10 June 2011 as part of his Euphoria Tour.
• Iron Maiden brought The Final Frontier World Tour here on 1 August 2011.
• Jessie J first performed at the arena on 29 October 2011 on her Heartbeat Tour. She later returned with the Alive Tour on 11 November 2013.
• British boyband One Direction first played the arena on 21 January 2012 on their Up All Night Tour, and later returned on 1 & 2 March 2013 with their Take Me Home Tour.
• Nicki Minaj brought her Pink Friday: Reloaded Tour to the arena on 7 November 2012.
• Little Mix brought their DNA Tour to the arena on 19 February 2013, and returned for 2 nights with their Salute Tour on 31 May – 5 June 2014.
• Irish band The Script brought their 3 World Tour here on 19 March 2013.
• British rapper Tinie Tempah performed at the arena on 4 April 2014 to support his album, 'Demonstration'.
• British supergroup McBusted played here four times, on the 6th and 7th of May 2014, and the 9th and 10th of April 2015.
• Comedian Lee Evans has brought four tours XL Tour, Big, Roadrunner and Monsters to the arena, Lee played his last ever show before retiring from stand-up at the Motorpoint Arena on 30 November 2014.
• American metal act Slipknot (band) brought their Prepare To Hell tour here on 24 January 2015 alongside Korn and King 81 Metallica 1996
• 1990s English Pop act S Club 7 performed here on 12 May 2015 as part of their Bring It All Back 2015 reunion tour.
• Australian boy band 5 Seconds of Summer brought their Rock Out with Your Socks Out Tour for a sold out show on 7 June 2015.
• The iconic Elton John has played at the arena on numerous occasions, most recently on 10 June 2015 as part of his All the Hits Tour.
• American rock band Imagine Dragons brought their Smoke + Mirrors Tour to the arena on 11 November 2015.
• International superstar Mariah Carey will bring her first European tour in 13 years, The Sweet Sweet Fantasy Tour, to the arena on 21 March 2016.

External links

• Official site of the Motorpoint Arena Cardiff
• Motorpoint Arena Cardiff Photos
• Motorpoint Arena Cardiff