Plans to build UK’s largest indoor arena in Manchester have been revealed

Manchester could be home to the UK’s largest indoor arena if ambitious new plans are approved.

The proposals would see a huge arena built next to the Etihad Stadium, and with a capacity of up to 23,500 it would overtake both the Manchester Arena (21,000) and London’s 02 Arena (20,000) to take the crown as the country’s biggest.

It would cost £350 million to build, which would make it Europe’s most expensive arena, and it’s projected to create roughly 3,500 jobs during construction and over 1,000 new jobs once completed, the Manchester Evening News reports.

The Oak View Group

It’s main focus will be big music tours, with a huge standing section that could fit 10,000 people, and the people behind the project hope to one day host the Brit Awards there – potentially stealing the event from London for the first time ever.

The American firm behind the project, the Oak View Group (OVG), also claim they’ll be ‘aggressive’ in their attempts to bring a whole host of different events to Manchester, like basketball, boxing, tennis, MMA and ice hockey.

If planning approval is given – a planning application is set to be submitted ‘in the coming weeks’ – the group say it would take three years to build, with the possibility of the first event happening as early as 2023.

Matthew Hartley / Flickr

In terms of competition with the Manchester Arena, OVG claim our city can sustain two arenas as we’re a ‘cultural capital’, adding that it’s ‘not designed to eliminate the current arena but to compliment the demand in the area.’

If the new arena is constructed, it would mean Manchester is home to the UK’s two biggest arenas.

What do you think? Is this a good idea, or is the existing arena enough?