CO-OP LIVE MANCHESTER’S NEW ARENA

Co-op Live, a £365m indoor arena in Manchester, is set to become the biggest indoor arena in the UK. The venue, built by City Football Group and Oakview Music Group, has a capacity of 23,500 and aims to attract more major events from London. Harry Styles has invested in the development and advised on elements of the arena’s design. The venue has also secured this year’s MTV Europe Music Awards, which will take place there in November. With other backers including promoters SJM and Gaiety, it has ambitious plans to lure more major award shows, gigs, and sporting events from the capital and elsewhere in the north of England.

Co-op Live executive director and general manager Gary Roden believes that Manchester can sustain two major indoor venues, not to compete with the city’s existing AO Arena. He thinks Manchester can sustain two major indoor venues and that the ambition is “not to compete with” the city’s existing AO Arena. After the renovation, the AO will remain “the biggest arena in the UK for many types of show configurations”, while fans and artists have new facilities and improved acoustics.

The launch comes six months after the opening of another major venue in Manchester, the £240m Aviva Studios. Meanwhile, struggling small music venues have been looking at the boom in big halls with envy. The Music Venue Trust (MVT) calls for £1 from every arena ticket to go to the pubs and clubs where many future headline acts cut their teeth. The new arena will give £1m a year to the Co-op Foundation charity and will work with smaller venues on things like training.