Sheffield Arena, known for sponsorship purposes as Utilita Arena Sheffield, is a multi-purpose arena located in Sheffield, England. It is situated near Meadowhall and lies between Sheffield city centre and Rotherham town centre.
Opened in 1991, it is used for concerts and sporting events, and is also home to the Sheffield Steelers ice hockey club. Attendance for all events at the venue has totalled around 14 million since its opening. It has a maximum capacity of 13,600.
History
Constructed at a cost of £34 million, it was opened by Queen Elizabeth II on 30 May 1991 as Sheffield Arena. The first concert took place that evening, Paul Simon playing as part of his "Born at the Right Time" tour. The arena then took on the role of Gymnastics Hall for the 1991 World Student Games which were held in the city and which prompted the investment in, and development of, both the arena and nearby Don Valley Stadium.
Since the venue opened in 1991 the arena has averaged 122 shows a year with over 650,000 customers passing through the doors each year.
The Arena was the location of the infamous Labour Party Sheffield Rally during the 1992 United Kingdom general election which was widely criticised for being prematurely triumphalist.Alyssa McDonald "The NS Interview: Neil Kinnock", New Statesman, 29 April 2010
The arena was renamed Hallam FM Arena in 2002, but returned to its original name from 1 November 2007. On 9 August 2010, Sheffield Arena was officially renamed Motorpoint Arena Sheffield, after the Derby based car sales company invested £1 million to rename the venue. In August 2015 the arena was once again rebranded as Sheffield Arena, however in September 2017 nearby Doncaster Sheffield Airport began sponsoring the arena giving it a rebrand, FlyDSA Arena. In 2021, Utilita Energy took over sponsorship of the arena.
The arena underwent a major renovation installing a new roof, doors, seats, lighting, catering and toilet facilities in July 2013.
In 2013 the arena was ranked as the 18th most popular arena in the world and this was in the year that the building was closed for over 2 months to enable the multi-million pound refurbishment of the venue. More recently, in 2019, Pollstar ranked the arena at 65th worldwide and 7th in the UK as part of their 'Top 200 Arena Venues' with 311,125 tickets sold, up 5 places from 70th in 2018.
COVID-19 pandemic During the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom, the car park of the arena was used as a drive-through phlebotomy service operated by Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, the first of its kind in the country. This allowed patients to attend for routine blood tests from within the isolation of their cars, reducing the requirement for patients to attend GPs or hospital clinics. The drive-through phlebotomy service opened on 8 April 2020 for patients with underlying health conditions, and was expanded to become available to all patients in the Sheffield area on 27 April. The drive-through was deemed such a success that it was turned into a permanent service, relocating first to a warehouse next to the Sheffield Parkway before settling into a permanent site next to the Northern General Hospital after the end of the pandemic.
To support the rollout of the local COVID-19 vaccination campaign, the Sheffield NHS Vaccination Centre opened at the arena on 25 January 2021, taking up the space previously occupied by the drive-through phlebotomy clinic before its relocation. The vaccination centre remained open until 26 July, when it was relocated to the former NHS Blood and Transplant building next to the Northern General Hospital to allow the arena to reopen for its usual events.
In April 2020, the interior space of the arena was used as a storage location for 1,800 additional hospital beds which were being delivered to hospitals in Sheffield to support pandemic operations. Photographs of the hospital beds inside the arena later leaked onto social media, and the local NHS trust issued a statement denying rumours that the arena was going to be repurposed as a Nightingale temporary hospital. In August 2020, an ophthalmology clinic was opened inside the arena featuring eye imaging suites, remaining in operation until the arena reopened for normal usage after the pandemic.
Events
Music
Sheffield's own Arctic Monkeys broke the Arena ticket sales records when they instantly sold out over 13,600 tickets for their date at the arena in November 2013. The previous record of 13,300 was held by fellow Sheffield band Pulp in December 2012.
The venue's record attendance for a seated music concert is currently held by Little Mix when 12,485 customers attended their Get Weird Tour Saturday 23 April 2016. The record for most shows in Sheffield Arena is held by Irish boyband Westlife with 32 shows played to date.
British-Irish boy-band, One Direction played their last concert, before going on an indefinite hiatus, on 31 October 2015 at the arena. The arena held from somewhere between 35,000–37,000 people raising over 3 million dollars.
Entertainment events held at the Sheffield Arena Year Date Nationalities Artists Events Supporting Acts Attendance Box Office199217 JuneIrelandU2Zoo TV TourThe Fatima Mansions199316 MayEnglandIron MaidenReal Live TourThe Almighty 1994 14 November Sweden Roxette Crash! Boom! Bang!1995 4 April United States Janet Jackson Janet World Tour MN8 3 December United Kingdom David Bowie Outside Tour 1996 4 December United States Gloria Estefan Evolution Tour 1997 8 September United States Toni Braxton Secrets Tour N/A colspan="2" 1998 4 June Janet Jackson The Velvet Rope Tour Another Level1999 9 September Whitney Houston My Love Is Your Love World Tour 11 December Cher Believe Tour2001 6 MarchIrelandWestlifeWhere Dreams Come True Tour 7 March 8 March2002 1 MayWorld of Our Own Tour 2 May 3 May 4 May 5 May 14 MayAustraliaKylie MinogueKylieFever2002 15 May 6 June United States Destiny's Child Destiny's Child World Tour Devin2003 18 JulyIrelandWestlifeUnbreakable Tour 19 July 21 July 22 July 6 July United Kingdom Iron Maiden Dance of Death World Tour Funeral for a Friend2004 13 FebruaryCanadaShania TwainUp! TourBjörn Againe 8 March 29 AprilIrelandWestlifeThe No 1's Tour 30 April 1 May 19 May United States Cher The Farewell Tour2005 18 MarchIrelandWestlifeBack Home Tour 19 March 7 June United States Destiny's Child Destiny Fulfilled... and Lovin' It2006 27 AprilIrelandWestlifeFace to Face Tour 28 April 18 July United States Guns N' Roses Chinese Democracy Tour Bullet for My Valentine 18 November United Kingdom Muse Black Holes and Revelations Tour The Noisettes18 DecemberUnited KingdomIron MaidenA Matter of Life and Death TourTrivium; Lauren Harris2007 13 MarchIrelandWestlifeThe Love Tour 14 March 7 December Barbados Rihanna Good Girl Gone Bad Tour2008 25 MarchIrelandWestlifeBack Home Tour 26 March 25 May 29 November United Kingdom Coldplay Viva la Vida Tour2009 28 February United States Metallica World Magnetic Tour Machine HeadThe Sword 7 June United States Beyoncé I Am... World Tour11,049 / 11,049$901,75018 NovemberUnited KingdomMuseThe Resistance Tour 2010 9 MayIrelandWestlifeWhere We Are Tour 10 May 13 May Barbados Rihanna Last Girl on Earth Tour 4 June United States Lady Gaga The Monster Ball Tour Semi Precious Weapons colspan="2" 2011 28 MarchIrelandWestlifeGravity Tour 29 March24 JulyUnited KingdomIron MaidenThe Final Frontier World TourAirbourne11,650 / 11,650$711,879 5 November United States Britney Spears Femme Fatale Tour Joe Jonas 19 November Barbados Rihanna Loud Tour2012 13 MayIrelandWestlifeGreatest Hits Tour 19 May 12 June 17 June United States Blink-182 20th Anniversary Tour (Blink-182)2014 30 March United States Justin Timberlake The 20/20 Experience World Tour DJ Freestyle 13 November Australia Kylie Minogue Kiss Me Once Tour Third Party 20 November United States Lady Gaga ArtRave: The Artpop Ball Lady Starlight 2015 28 February Ireland The Script No Sound Without Silence Tour Colton AveryTinie Tempah colspan="2" 2016 12 March United Kingdom Ellie Goulding Delirium World Tour John Newman 5 April Australia 5 Seconds of Summer Sounds Live Feels Live World Tour Don Broco 201710 MayUnited KingdomIron MaidenThe Book of Souls World TourShinedown9,043 / 10,566$639,499 21 June Electric Light Orchestra Alone in the Universe TourTom Chaplin 3 July United States Green Day Revolution Radio Tour Rancid 17 October United Kingdom Little MixThe Glory Days TourLina Makhul 27 October 28 October 2018 14 December Def Leppard Hysteria & More TourCheap Trick 201925 January The 1975 Music For Cars Tour 7 June Ireland Westlife The Twenty TourThe Rua,Keelie Walker 8 June 19 September United States Ariana Grande Sweetener World Tour Social House 28 October England Little Mix LM5: The Tour rowspan="2" 29 October 2022 28 November Ireland Westlife The Wild Dreams Tour 2023 30 September England The Reytons What's rock and Roll Tour TBA 10 November England Louis Tomlinson Faith in the Future World Tour 2025 23 May Australia Kylie Minogue Tension Tour Jodie Harsh 10 October United States Katy Perry The Lifetimes Tour
Comedy The arena is a regular venue for some of the world's best known Comedians such as Russell Brand, Lee Evans, Jack Whitehall, Eddie Izzard and Peter Kay who in 2011 played the arena for 5 nights running with all shows selling out within hours of going on sale. In June 2018 Michael McInytyre broke the venue's record attendance for a seated comedy show when his Big World Tour played the FlyDSA Arena on Saturday 23 June 2018 in front of 12,347 fans.
Sheffield Steelers
The arena is the home to the city's Elite Ice Hockey League team, the Sheffield Steelers, who began to play at the arena in 1991. Whilst the standard capacity for ice hockey at the arena is around 9,300, the Steelers have recorded crowds of over 10,000 in the building with extra seating being installed at the venue. In 2019 the Steelers were the highest ranked team in the UK in terms of attendance and 35th in Europe drawing an average crowd of 6,045 to the arena.
The first ever competitive Sheffield Steelers game at Sheffield Arena took place on Sunday 6 October 1991, when the Steelers were held to a 3–3 draw against Chelmsford Chieftains in front of 300 spectators. However, the first Ice Hockey game played at the Sheffield Arena took place on Thursday 26 September 1991 when Durham Wasps beat a Sheffield Steelers select 7–1 to win the World Leisure Cup. Durham's Rick Brebant scored the first goal at 2:18 in front of an estimated crowd of 2,000.
In February 2020 it was announced that the arena had secured planning permission to install a new 22-ton machine to make production of the ice surface more cost-effective and environmentally friendly.
Disney On Ice Disney On Ice holds the record for the most performances & customers of any touring show to perform at the Arena. Feld Entertainment has promoted the show every year since the building opened over November/December. As of 2013 there have been 260 performances seen by 1.3 million customers.
Other events
The arena was the location for the Labour Party's 1992 Sheffield Rally. Attended by over 10,000 party members and the entire shadow cabinet. Held just before that year's general election, which Labour was widely expected to win, the event is often seen as a factor in the party's defeat. While the event was seen as a success to those within the hall, many commentators, and Labour politicians, viewed it as triumphalist in nature. However, it has also been asserted that the event had negligible impact on the outcome, with a fall in the party's support having already occurred.