Wolfbrook Arena

Wolfbrook Arena is an indoor arena in Christchurch, New Zealand. It is located in the suburb of Addington. Opened in September 1998, it has gone through a series of name changes, most recently in 2023, when it was renamed from Christchurch Arena.

Description

Wolfbrook Arena is New Zealand's second-largest indoor arena, with a maximum capacity of 9,000 (depending on event type); it was the largest until the construction of Auckland's Vector Arena in 2007. The indoor stadium hosts concerts, exhibitions and sporting events. Provision for international sport and traditional indoor arena events was integrated into the design requirements.[citation needed] It has over 6,700 seats for sporting fixtures, which can increase to over 7,000 for concerts.

The Sports and Entertainment[clarification needed] complex is located adjacent to the Addington Raceway and Christchurch Stadium and is surrounded by 3,000 car parking spaces. The complex is only 10 minutes from the city centre.

It has been affectionately dubbed 'The Woolshed' by Canterbury Rams basketball fans. Some Christchurch citizens colloquially refer to the arena as the horseshoe, due to its unusual architectural exterior design.

History

Construction company Chas S Luney Ltd built the stadium.[failed verification] The arena opened in September 1998 at a cost of NZ$32 million. In the first ever sporting match at CBS Canterbury Arena, the Canterbury Rams basketball team suffered a close loss to the Wellington Saints 86–81 in April 1999.

It was built for two main reasons: primarily for the 1999 Netball World Cup in Christchurch, and also because Christchurch was missing out on many concerts and other attractions because it did not have a suitable indoor arena in the city.[citation needed]

Westpac Arena, which had previously been named WestpacTrust Centre, was renamed CBS Canterbury Arena on 18 June 2010. It was renamed Horncastle Arena on 23 July 2014, then Christchurch Arena on 19 September 2020. It was renamed Wolfbrook Arena, after sponsor Wolfbrook Property Group, on 1 June 2023.

Sporting home teams

• Canterbury Rams (1999–2007)
• Christchurch Sirens (2007)
• Canterbury Flames (2002–2007)
• Mainland Tactix (2008–present)

Events

Entertainment events

Sporting

It has hosted a number of different sporting events, including home matches for the Canterbury Rams (basketball), New Zealand Breakers (basketball) and Mainland Tactix (netball) teams. It occasionally hosts international basketball and netball fixtures featuring the Tall Blacks and Silver Ferns respectively. It was the host of the 1999 Netball World Championships. It has hosted many non-regular sporting events, including various celebrity tennis matches, ice shows, disabled games, karate championships and gymnastics competitions.

In 2007 and 2008 the arena hosted WWE professional wrestling tours, featuring the SmackDown and ECW brands. It again hosted a WWE event in September 2017, this time a Raw branded event.

Other uses

The arena plays a key role in the Christchurch economy, hosting annual trade shows, including the Christchurch Home Show, Women's Lifestyle Expo, Armageddon Expo, and the Go Green Expo.

Christchurch Arena is managed by Venues Otautahi, the venue management company that also manages the Christchurch Town Hall, Apollo Projects Stadium, Airforce Museum of New Zealand and Hagley Oval Pavilion. The combined facilities regularly host a variety of different events

The venue is also used for big gala dinners, lunches, balls, and cocktail parties.

See also

• List of indoor arenas in New Zealand

External links

• for Christchurch Arena. Lists upcoming events and allows to take a virtual tour of the Arena