An arena is a large enclosed platform, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, musical performances, and/or sporting events. It is composed of a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for spectators, and may be covered by a roof. The key feature of an arena is that the event space is the lowest point, allowing maximum visibility. Arenas [1] are usually designed to accommodate a multitude of spectators.
The word derives from Latin harena, a particularly fine-grained sand that covered the floor of ancient arenas such as the Colosseum in Rome, Italy, to absorb blood. [2]
The term arena is sometimes used as a synonym for a very large venue such as Pasadena's Rose Bowl, but such a facility is typically called a stadium . The use of one term over the other has mostly to do with the type of event. Football (be it association, rugby, gridiron, Australian rules, or Gaelic) is typically played in a stadium, while basketball, volleyball, handball, and ice hockey are typically played in an arena, although many of the larger arenas hold more spectators than do the stadiums of smaller colleges or high schools. There are exceptions. The home of the Duke University men's and women's basketball teams would qualify as an arena, but the facility is called Cameron Indoor Stadium. Domed stadiums, which, like arenas, are enclosed but have the larger playing surfaces and seating capacities found in stadiums, are generally not referred to as arenas in North America. There is also the sport of indoor American football (one variant of which is explicitly known as arena football), a variant of the outdoor game that is designed for the usual smaller playing surface of most arenas; variants of other traditionally outdoor sports, including box lacrosse as well as futsal and indoor soccer, also exist.
The term "arena" is also used loosely to refer to any event or type of event which either literally or metaphorically takes place in such a location, often with the specific intent of comparing an idea to a sporting event. Such examples of these would be terms such as "the arena of war", "the arena of love" or "the political arena".
An amphitheatre is an open-air venue used for entertainment, performances, and sports. The term derives from the ancient Greek ἀμφιθέατρον, from ἀμφί, meaning "on both sides" or "around" and θέατρον, meaning "place for viewing".
A stadium is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage completely surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand or sit and view the event.
Kentucky Horse Park is a working horse farm, international equestrian competition venue, and an educational theme park opened in 1978 in Lexington, Kentucky. It is located off Kentucky State Highway 1973 and Interstate 75, at Exit 120, in northern Fayette County in the United States. The equestrian facility is a 1,224-acre (495 ha) park dedicated to "man's relationship with the horse." Open to the public, the park has a twice daily Horses of the World Show, showcasing both common and rare horses from around the globe. The horses are ridden in authentic costume. Each year the park is host to a number of special events and horse shows.
Melbourne Park is a sports venue in the Melbourne Sports and Entertainment Precinct in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Since 1988, Australia's bicentenary, Melbourne Park has been home of the Australian Open Grand Slam tennis tournament played annually in January. The park has multiple venues where the Australian Open matches take place. Rod Laver Arena is the largest venue with a capacity of 15,000, while John Cain Arena seats 10,500 and Margaret Court Arena 7,500. The three venues feature retractable roofs, allowing events to be played indoors or outdoors. Besides, there is the Show Court 3 and 1573 Arena which both have a 3,000 seating capacity, and the new 5000-seat Kia Arena. In total there are 35 outdoor Greenset tennis courts at Melbourne Park.
Bleachers, or stands, are raised, tiered rows of benches found at sports fields and other spectator events. Stairways provide access to the horizontal rows of seats, often with every other step gaining access to a row of benches.
An ice rink is a frozen body of water and/or an artificial sheet of ice where people can ice skate or play winter sports. Ice rinks are also used for exhibitions, contests and ice shows. The growth and increasing popularity of ice skating during the 1800s marked a rise in the deliberate construction of ice rinks in numerous areas of the world.
The Melbourne Sports and Entertainment Precinct is a series of sports stadiums and venues, located in Melbourne, Victoria, in Australia. The precinct is situated around 3 km east of the Melbourne central business district, located in suburbs of Melbourne and Jolimont, near East Melbourne and Richmond.
The luxury box and club seating constitute the most expensive class of seating in arenas and stadiums, and generate much higher revenues than regular seating. Club ticketholders often receive exclusive access to an indoor part of the venue through private club entrances, to areas containing special restaurants, bars, merchandise stands, and lounge areas of the venue that are not otherwise available to regular ticketholders.
A music venue is any location used for a concert or musical performance. Music venues range in size and location, from a small coffeehouse for folk music shows, an outdoor bandshell or bandstand or a concert hall to an indoor sports stadium. Typically, different types of venues host different genres of music. Opera houses, bandshells, and concert halls host classical music performances, whereas public houses ("pubs"), nightclubs, and discothèques offer music in contemporary genres, such as rock, dance, country, and pop.
Palasport Olimpico, officially operating with the sponsored name Inalpi Arena except during events prohibiting sponsorship names when it is usually known as simply PalaOlimpico, or occasionally PalaIsozaki after its architect, is a multi-purpose indoor arena located within Torino Olympic Park in the Santa Rita district of Turin, Italy. Opened in December 2005, the arena has a seating capacity of 12,350 when it is configured for ice hockey, and it is the largest indoor sporting arena in Italy.
Ridder Arena is an indoor ice rink at the University of Minnesota, and home to the Minnesota Golden Gophers women's ice hockey team. The arena is adjacent to the men's 3M Arena at Mariucci. It was completed in 2002, and includes the connected Baseline Tennis Center for the men's and women's tennis teams. It was the first facility in the United States built specifically for college women's ice hockey, and has hosted the NCAA Women's Frozen Four on four occasions. The arena is named for benefactors Robert Ridder and Kathleen Ridder.
Kuznetsk Metallurgists Sports Palace is an indoor sporting arena located in Novokuznetsk, Russia. The capacity of the arena is 6,818. It is the home arena of the Metallurg Novokuznetsk ice hockey team.
Parkville Stadium, also referred to as Melbourne Sports Centres – Parkville and previously known as the State Netball Hockey Centre, is a multipurpose sporting facility located in Melbourne, Australia. It is the administrative headquarters for both Netball Victoria and Hockey Victoria and features two outdoor hockey fields and eleven indoor netball courts, with the main hockey field capable of seating up to 8,000 and the main Netball court seating up to 3,050 spectators. National Basketball League club Melbourne United played home matches at the venue in the past, as well as Super Netball team Melbourne Vixens, though both clubs have shifted home matches to larger-capacity arenas. Hockey Club Melbourne of the Hockey One league play home games on the main hockey pitch.
A multi-purpose stadium is a type of stadium designed to be easily used for multiple types of events. While any stadium could potentially host more than one type of sport or event, this concept usually refers to a design philosophy that stresses multifunctionality over speciality. It is used most commonly in Canada and the United States, where the two most popular outdoor team sports—Canadian football or American football and baseball—require radically different facilities. Football uses a rectangular field, while baseball is played on a diamond with a large outfield. Since Canadian football fields are larger than American ones, the design specifications for Canadian facilities are somewhat less demanding. The particular design to accommodate both is usually an oval, although some later designs use an octorad. While building stadiums in this way means that sports teams and governments can share costs, it also presents some challenges.
Sparta Amfi is an indoor ice hockey rink located in Sarpsborg, Norway. The 3,900-spectator venue is the home of Sparta Sarpsborg and Sarpsborg Skøyteklubb. The arena opened in 1963 as the first indoor ice rink in Norway. Major upgrades were carried out in 2006 and 2012, and a second rink opened in 2007.
The Harbin International Conference Exhibition and Sports Center is a convention center for Harbin, China. It hosts various conventions. It has also hosted the 2007 Cup of China figure skating competition and hosted events for 1996 Asian Winter Games, 2009 Winter Universiade and will host the same events during the 2025 Asian Winter Games. The facility has a floor space of 63,000 square meters. It is home to a multi-purpose stadium with a seating capacity of 48,000 spectators and a 10,603-seated gymnasium.
The California Vulcans are the intercollegiate sports teams and players that represent Pennsylvania Western University California, located in California, Pennsylvania. The Vulcans participate in the NCAA Division II in all sports and the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) in most sports. The school colors are Red and Black. The mascot of California is Blaze the Vulcan.
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