National Indoor Arena

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Coordinates: 52°28′47″N 01°54′54″W / 52.47972°N 1.915°W / 52.47972; -1.915

National Indoor Arena

Location	The NIA King Edwards Road Birmingham B1 2AA England
Opened	1991
Owner	NEC Group
Tenants
All England Open Badminton Championships

The National Indoor Arena or The NIA is a large indoor arena and is owned by the NEC Group. It is situated in central Birmingham, England and was opened in 1991, as the largest indoor arena at the time in the UK. The NIA hosts a range of events ranging from sporting events, to musical concerts, and has a capacity to seat up to 13,000 using both permanent seating and temporary seating configurations.

The NIA is located alongside the Birmingham Canal Navigations Main Line's Old Turn Junction and opposite the National Sea Life Centre in Brindleyplace. Close to the NIA, is The ICC which is also owned by the NEC Group.

The seating is arranged into upper-tier, lower-tier and flat floor seating sections. The lower-tier and flat floor sections are made up of removable seating whilst the upper-tier is made up of fixed seating. Areas for disabled visitors is provided between the upper-tier and lower-tier flooring, on the Atrium level.

[edit] Notable events

Over the years it has hosted many notable events:

• 1993 and 2003 World Badminton Championships
• 1995 Netball World Championships
• 1998 Eurovision Song Contest

The NIA hosting an athletics meeting

ECW on the 16th October 2007, before the ECW tapings at the NIA, Birmingham UK

• 1999 World Judo Championships
• WWF Rebellion 1999
• 2003 IAAF World Indoor Championships
• Davis Cup tennis matches
• BBL Cup and BBL Finals Weekend matches
• Many basketball, powerlifting, table tennis, and wrestling competitions
• The British games company Games Workshop used the arena to stage their Games Day and Golden Demon events until 2003, when they moved to the larger National Exhibition Centre.
• The British Indoor Rowing Championships since 2000
• The Gladiators television programme from 1992 to 2000
• The All England Open Badminton Championships from 1994 to present day.
• WWE Raw on the Survivor Series 2005 Tour.
• WWE Raw, ECW and SmackDown television taping on 15 October and 16 October 2007
• 2007 European Athletics Indoor Championships
• Michael Flatley's Stage Show, Celtic Tiger
• UFC 89

The NIA has also hosted many music concerts including Bob Dylan (2009), Beyonce, Tina Turner, Fleetwood Mac, Nickelback, Celine Dion, Anastacia, The Prodigy, Christina Aguilera, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Britney Spears, Paul McCartney, Oasis, Chris Brown, Pussycat Dolls, Ne-Yo, Babyshambles, Coldplay, Gwen Stefani, Ocean Colour Scene, Green Day, Velvet Revolver, Lostprophets, Pink, Destiny's Child, Kaiser Chiefs, The Osmonds, Girls Aloud, Elton John and The Stereophonics. In November 2006, Scissor Sisters announced on stage that they had broken the record for ticket sales at the NIA Arena as they played in their Tah-Dah tour. In 2009, Beyonce made her debut at the NIA with 1 date on 23 May and due to phenominal demand she added an extra date for 11 November; two dates for the Tina Turner, Tina!: 50th Anniversary Tour were added at the NIA due to phenomenal demand as well and Muse announced a concert there in support of The Resistance Tour.

[edit] External links

• Official Website
• Construction of the Arena's Roof

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