U Arena

Last updated

U Arena
UArena Nanterre.jpg
Former names Arena 92 (planning/construction)
Location Nanterre, France
Coordinates 48°53′45″N2°13′49″E / 48.895844°N 2.230203°E / 48.895844; 2.230203 Coordinates: 48°53′45″N2°13′49″E / 48.895844°N 2.230203°E / 48.895844; 2.230203
Capacity 30,681 (rugby)
40,000 (concerts)
5,000+ (various indoor sports)
Surface SoftGrass (artificial) [1]
Construction
Broke ground 2 December 2013
Opened 16 October 2017 [2] [3]
Construction cost 360 million [1]
Architect Christian de Portzamparc
Tenants
Racing 92

U Arena, known in its earlier planning and construction stages as, Arena 92 (stylized as Arena92), is a multi-use domed stadium that is located in Nanterre, which is a western suburb of Paris. [4] It is the first multi-use domed stadium that was built in Europe, after Telenor Arena. The venue was originally planned to have a retractable roof, but it was ultimately built with a fixed roof instead.

Nanterre Prefecture and commune in Île-de-France, France

Nanterre is a commune in the Hauts-de-Seine department, the western suburbs of Paris. It is located some 11 km (6.8 mi) north-west of the centre of Paris.

Paris Capital of France

Paris is the capital and most populous city of France, with an area of 105 square kilometres and an official estimated population of 2,140,526 residents as of 1 January 2019. Since the 17th century, Paris is one of Europe's major centres of finance, diplomacy, commerce, fashion, science, and the arts.

Telenor Arena football stadium

Telenor Arena, sometimes referred to as Fornebu Arena, is a multi-purpose indoor arena located at Fornebu in Bærum, outside Oslo, Norway. It serves as a venue for a variety of events, including concerts, exhibitions, action shows, family shows, TV and sport. It has a capacity for 15,000 spectators for sports and 23,000 for concerts, including 40 luxury boxes and club seating for 1,200. The venue has a fixed roof and an asphalt floor. The venue was opened ahead of the 2009 Norwegian football season as a replacement for Nadderud Stadion. It cost 585 million Norwegian kroner (NOK) to build, of which NOK 300 million was for the sports venue.

Contents

The venue offers three separate configurations. In its rugby configuration, it has a nominal seating capacity of 32,000. For concerts, it is able to seat 40,000. [5] Finally, a movable stand allows it to also be used for a variety of indoor sports, at various capacities, with a capacity of as low as 5,000 being possible. The venue also includes 33,000 square metres (360,000 sq ft) of office space, 300 student rooms, shops, including a club shop, a brewery and a gourmet restaurant. The arena was built by the French rugby union club, Racing 92, and replaced their previous stadium, Stade Olympique Yves-du-Manoir.

Rugby refers to the team sports rugby league and rugby union. Legend claims that rugby football was started circa 1845 in Rugby School, Rugby, Warwickshire, England, although forms of football in which the ball was carried and tossed date to medieval times. Rugby eventually split into two sports in 1895 when twenty-one clubs split from the original Rugby Football Union, to form the Northern Union in the George Hotel, Huddersfield, Northern England over the issue of payment to players, thus making rugby league the first code to turn professional and pay its players, rugby union turned fully professional in 1995. Both sports are run by their respective world governing bodies World Rugby and the Rugby League International Federation. Rugby football was one of many versions of football played at English public schools in the 19th century. Although rugby league initially used rugby union rules, they are now wholly separate sports. In addition to these two codes, both American and Canadian football evolved from rugby football.

Seating capacity number of people who can be seated in a specific space, in terms of both the physical space available, and limitations set by law

Seating capacity is the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, in terms of both the physical space available, and limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile that seats two to a stadium that seats hundreds of thousands of people. The largest sporting venue in the world, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, has a permanent seating capacity for more than 235,000 people and infield seating that raises capacity to an approximate 400,000.

France Republic with mainland in Europe and numerous oversea territories

France, officially the French Republic, is a country whose territory consists of metropolitan France in Western Europe and several overseas regions and territories. The metropolitan area of France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean. It is bordered by Belgium, Luxembourg and Germany to the northeast, Switzerland and Italy to the east, and Andorra and Spain to the south. The overseas territories include French Guiana in South America and several islands in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. The country's 18 integral regions span a combined area of 643,801 square kilometres (248,573 sq mi) and a total population of 67.3 million. France, a sovereign state, is a unitary semi-presidential republic with its capital in Paris, the country's largest city and main cultural and commercial centre. Other major urban areas include Lyon, Marseille, Toulouse, Bordeaux, Lille and Nice.

History

View of U Arena in Nanterre, seen from the Grande Arche in La Defense. UArena from GrandeArche.jpg
View of U Arena in Nanterre, seen from the Grande Arche in La Défense.

The U Arena was originally planned to open in 2014, but that date was delayed, due to local protests. [3] It eventually opened in October 2017, although Racing 92 did not play their first home game in the new stadium, until they hosted Toulouse, on 22 December 2017. [6] The stadium's working name, which is subject to change with future sponsorship agreements, was changed from "Arena92" to "U Arena"; referencing the configuration of the main stands, and the structure's shape, when viewed from the air, in November 2016. [7]

Racing 92 French rugby union club

Racing 92 is a French rugby union club based in suburban Paris that was formed in 2001 with the collaboration of the Racing Club de France and US Métro. They were called Racing Métro 92 between 2001 and 2015, when they changed the name to Racing 92. "92" is the number of Hauts-de-Seine, a département of Île-de-France, bordering Paris to the west, where they play, and whose council gives financial backing to the club. They currently play in the Top 14, having been promoted as 2008–09 champions of Rugby Pro D2. After starting the 2017–18 season at the Stade Yves-du-Manoir stadium at Colombes, where the France national team played for several decades, Racing played their first match at the new U Arena, since renamed Paris La Défense Arena, in Nanterre on 22 December 2017.

Stade Toulousain rugby union team

Stade Toulousain, also referred to as Toulouse, is a French rugby union club from Toulouse in Occitania. Toulouse is one of the most successful clubs in Europe, having won the Heineken Cup a joint record four times – in 1996, 2003, 2005 and 2010. They were also runners-up in 2004 and 2008 against London Wasps and Munster, respectively. Stade Toulousain have also won a record 19 French Championship titles. It is traditionally one of the main providers for the French national team. Their home ground is the Stade Ernest-Wallon. However, big Top 14 matches along with Heineken Cup games are often played at the Stadium Municipal de Toulouse. The club colours are red, black and white.

The Rolling Stones were the first band to ever perform a concert in the stadium, closing their Europe-only No Filter Tour, with three shows, on 19, 22, and 25 October 2017. [8] The arena's first rugby union match, took place on 25 November, 2017, between the French national rugby team and the Japanese national rugby team. On 11 March, 2018, the French professional basketball clubs Nanterre 92 and ASVEL Basket, played each other in a LNB Pro A 2017–18 season game. The game had an attendance of 15,220, which was the highest attendance of any game in the league's history. [9]

The Rolling Stones English rock band

The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. The first stable line-up consisted of bandleader Brian Jones, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Bill Wyman (bass), Charlie Watts (drums), and Ian Stewart (piano). Stewart was removed from the official line-up in 1963 but continued to work with the band as a contracted musician until his death in 1985. The band's primary songwriters, Jagger and Richards, assumed leadership after Andrew Loog Oldham became the group's manager. Jones left the band less than a month before his death in 1969, having already been replaced by Mick Taylor, who remained until 1974. After Taylor left the band, Ronnie Wood took his place in 1975 and continues on guitar in tandem with Richards. Since Wyman's departure in 1993, Darryl Jones has served as touring bassist. The Stones have not had an official keyboardist since 1963, but have employed several musicians in that role, including Jack Nitzsche (1965–1971), Nicky Hopkins (1967–1982), Billy Preston (1971–1981), Ian McLagan (1978–1981), and Chuck Leavell (1982–present).

Concert live performance of music

A concert is a live music performance in front of an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, choir, or band. Concerts are held in a wide variety and size of settings, from private houses and small nightclubs, dedicated concert halls, arenas and parks to large multipurpose buildings, and even sports stadiums. Indoor concerts held in the largest venues are sometimes called arena concerts or amphitheatre concerts. Informal names for a concert include show and gig.

Rugby union Team sport, code of rugby football

Rugby union, commonly known in most of the world simply as rugby, is a contact team sport which originated in England in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its most common form, a game is between two teams of 15 players using an oval-shaped ball on a rectangular field with H-shaped goalposts at each end.

Entertainment events

Entertainment events at U Arena
DateArtist(s)TourSupporting act(s)AttendanceBox office
2017
19 October The Rolling Stones No Filter Tour Cage the Elephant 109,126 / 109,126$18,529,324
22 October
25 October
2018
8 June Roger Waters Us + Them Tour N/AN/A
9 June
13 October Booba N/A

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References

  1. 1 2 Escot, Richard (16 October 2017). "Le nouvel écrin du Racing 92, la U Arena, ouvre ses portes". L'Équipe (in French). Retrieved 17 October 2017.
  2. "Moment historique ! La #UArena est officiellement inaugurée". Twitter . U Arena. 16 October 2017. Retrieved 17 October 2017.
  3. 1 2 "L'Arena 92 sera livrée en septembre 2017". L'Équipe (in French). 2 May 2016. Retrieved 2 June 2016.
  4. "Top départ pour le grand stade de Nanterre". Leparisien.fr. Retrieved 2012-05-21.
  5. Racing-Métro: La construction de l'Arena 92 enfin lancée (in French).
  6. "R92 vs ST à la U Arena - La billetterie est ouverte !" [R92 vs. ST at U Arena - The ticket office is open!] (Press release) (in French). Racing 92. 25 October 2017. Retrieved 16 November 2017.
  7. "Nanterre-La Défense : l'Arena 92 devient U Arena". Le Parisien (in French). 15 November 2016. Retrieved 11 February 2017.
  8. "STONES – NO FILTER – EUROPEAN TOUR" . Retrieved 9 May 2017.
  9. 15.220 fans in the U Arena!