The Belgrade Arena (Serbian Cyrillic: Београдска арена) is a multi-purpose indoor arena located in Belgrade, Serbia. It is designed as a universal hall for sports, cultural events and other programs. The venue is used for several different sports events, such as basketball, futsal, handball, judo, table tennis, tennis, volleyball, water polo, as well as for concerts. The arena's capacity stands at 18,386. Also there is small hall with underground tuminel for warming[2] while the total floor area stands at 48,000 m2 (520,000 sq ft).[3]
Belgrade Arena was a member of the European Arenas Association (EAA).[4]
Location and influence
The Belgrade Arena is situated in New Belgrade. Arena's parking is limited in spaces, though nearby residential areas provide enough room for vehicles.
It takes a 15-minute drive from Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport to the arena. Ride from downtown Belgrade would take the same amount of time, unless in rush-hour, when it could take up to 30 minutes to get to central Novi Beograd, where the arena is located.
The construction of the arena has caused a substantial increase in prices for apartments in the surrounding area, which are mostly new. A new modern business district is scheduled to be constructed across the Belgrade Arena. Hotel IN was the first new hotel to be built near the arena however the venue is also within walking distance from Hyatt Regency Belgrade and Crowne Plaza Belgrade.
Name
Logo used for the arena from 2012 to 2017.Logo used for the arena from 2017 to 2024.
During its construction, the provisory name of the arena was "Hala Limes". Yet, when the construction of the arena was finished in 2004, it was given the official name Beogradska Arena (Belgrade Arena). In February 2007, Serbian basketball coach Božidar Maljković started an initiative to name the Arena after another renowned Serbian basketball coach, Aleksandar Nikolić. Maljković presented his initiative to the city officials and the president of Serbia Boris Tadić, but the name change hasn't been accepted.[5] Instead, in 2016, another Belgrade sports hall, Pionir Hall was renamed Aleksandar Nikolić Hall.
In June 2012, the arena officials signed a five-year agreement with Komercijalna banka to change the name to "Kombank Arena", and the name change became official in September 2012.[6]
During UEFA Futsal Euro 2016, which has been held in February 2016, the Arena has been renamed from Kombank Arena to Belgrade Arena, for sponsorship reasons.[7][8]
In October 2017, the arena was once again renamed, this time to Štark Arena, following the signing of a five-year sponsorship deal with Štark, a food manufacturing company.[9] On 3 April 2024, the original arena name was restored.[10]
History
Design and construction
In 1989, The City of Belgrade was chosen to host the Basketball World Championship of 1994.[11] However, there was a condition for the city to build an all-new basketball arena. In the competition for the design of a new arena with seat capacity of at least 20,000, the winner was the design submitted by Belgrade architect Vlada Slavica from Energoprojekt.[12] In 1991 a location for the project was chosen – Blok 25 in New Belgrade.
The project was carried out amid significant difficulties. For starters, the construction of such a mega structure had to meet a very tight deadline, since it was only 3 years to the World Championships. A team of 126 companies was formed to be part of the arena committee, with Energoprojekt Visokogradnja and GP Napred as main contractors.[12][13] Two architects were chosen to design the arena's roof. In 1992 construction started as the arena committee formed a partnership with American company HOK, experienced in building sporting venues. However, tough times were ahead. As the disintegration of Yugoslavia started, the United Nations imposed sanctions on the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and HOK stopped all co-operation with the arena committee. Even with this setback, work on the Belgrade Arena continued.
In 1993, Belgrade suffered one of its worst economic years in modern history. The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia experienced record inflation rates, and as a result of the sanctions and the conflicts in Yugoslavia, Belgrade lost the right to host the 1994 Basketball World Championships.[14] Following the formal announcement by FIBA, the arena's construction still continued for some time, though at a considerably slower pace due to the lack of material. However, sometime in 1995 the construction completely stopped.
Work on the arena re-commenced in 1998 as the city was chosen to host the 1999 World Table Tennis Championships to be held in the Belgrade Arena. By this time the roof was already taking shape towards completion, part of the façade was done and the interior was half complete. Once again, Yugoslavia lost the privilege to host the competition as the city was bombed by NATO forces the year the competition was supposed to be held. The first public event held in the Arena (which was still under construction at the time) was the final Slobodan Milošević (president of Yugoslavia at the time) 2000 presidential election campaign rally, which was held on 20 September 2000.[15] That was the last time Milošević delivered a public speech.
Completion
After a change of government in Yugoslavia in 2000 and the lifting of all sanctions imposed on the country, the Arena, under new management, was completed in 2004 in time for the FIBA Diamond Ball tournament and Belgrade finally got the right to host The 2005 European Basketball Championship.[16] Temporary licenses for public use expired in early 2006, following a series of sport events and concerts in 2005. Works on an automated fire prevention system and installation of elevators to meet European standards were completed by November 2006, while no events were held in the Arena in the meantime. The Belgrade Arena received its permanent public use license on 4 November 2006 and re-opened its doors as a result.[17]
The first event held in the Belgrade Arena was a Socialist Party of Serbia and Yugoslav Left final election campaign rally, held on 20 September 2000 before the 2000 Yugoslavian general election. The construction of the Arena wasn't finished at that time. The official opening came nearly four years later, on 31 July 2004, when the FIBA Diamond Ball basketball tournament was held. Since the Arena had only a temporary license, just a few events were held during the next two and a half years. The first event held after getting a permanent license was the 50 Cent concert, on 6. November 2006.
Also, in several international competitions, the record attendance has been set at the Arena. On 2 February 2009, the 2009 Fed Cup World Group II, Serbia vs. Japantennis match set a record for an ITF event attendance with a crowd of 15,118 spectators.[18] On 5 March 2009, the first Partizan Belgradebasketball game at Belgrade Arena was held, a 2008–09 Euroleague Top 16 match against Greek powerhouse Panathinaikos. A crowd of 22,567, a record for the Euroleague, saw Partizan win 63–56.[19] On 26 July 2009, the FIVB World League final between Serbia and Brazil was held in Belgrade Arena, with an attendance of 22,680, which is a record of World League.[20] The ABA League all-time record of 22,198 spectators was set on 22 June 2023 during the Game 5 of the 2023 ABA Finals.[21]
On 26 March 2014, Crvena Zvezda played Eurocup quarterfinal game against Ukrainian champions Budivelnyk Kyiv. Zvezda won in the overtime 79–70 and this match gathered 24,232 spectators, which is a record for the Eurocup and at the time was also for any basketball game held indoors in Europe. This is also a record attendance of Belgrade Arena.[2]
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