The Wukesong Arena (), also known as the Bloomage Biotech Runbaiyan Center () for sponsorship purposes, is a multipurpose indoor arena in Beijing. It was originally built for the 2008 Summer Olympics basketball preliminaries and finals. Ground was broken on 29 March 2005 and construction was completed on 11 January 2008.
The stadium has a capacity of 19,000 and covers an area of 63,000 square metres. It includes a modern, flexible ice hockey rink designed and produced by Finnish rink manufacturer Vepe Oy in November 2016.
The arena was the main venue of the ice hockey tournament during the 2022 Winter Olympics.
History
The stadium was constructed by "Beijing Wukesong Cultural & Sports Co. Ltd." whose five shareholders are Zhongguancun CENCONS Group, Haidian State-owned Assets Investment Co. Ltd, Beijing Urban Construction Group Co. Ltd, Beijing Urban Construction Co. Ltd and the Tianhong Group. After the Olympic Games, the center became an important part of Beijing's Olympic Games heritage, allowing citizens to enjoy cultural, sports, leisure, recreational, and commercial activities. It was a large-scale comprehensive project, rare in Beijing in integrating cultural, sporting, and commercial purposes with large-scale gardens and green spaces.
On 6 January 2011 MasterCard Worldwide, the rival of Olympic sponsor Visa, announced the acquisition of the naming rights to the center. It was renamed MasterCard Center effective from 21 January 2011. Nearly five years later, on 16 December 2015, LeTV Sports announced that it has obtained naming rights for the arena. It was officially renamed as LeSports Center on 1 January 2016. Beyond that, LeSports promised to provide a package of intellectual services inside and outside the arena. After the closing of LeTV Sports, the arena was briefly named Huaxi Live. From September 2017 until 2023, the Cadillac division of General Motors has owned naming rights for the arena.
On 14 December 2015 the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) announced that its Beijing expansion team would play in the arena. On 5 September 2016, Kunlun Red Star defenseman Anssi Salmela scored the first goal in the arena's first hockey game and the first home goal for Kunlun in KHL. Red Star won the game 6–3.
In 2017, 18,000 people attended the Chinese Basketball Association All-Star Game at the LeSports Centre.
Sporting events
A list of sporting events held at Wukesong Arena Year Date Event 2008 17 October NBA Global Games: Golden State Warriors vs. Milwaukee Bucks 2009 11 October NBA Global Games: Indiana Pacers vs. Denver Nuggets 2010 13 October NBA Global Games: Houston Rockets vs. New Jersey Nets 2012 11 October NBA Global Games: Miami Heat vs. Los Angeles Clippers 2013 15 October NBA Global Games: Golden State Warriors vs. Los Angeles Lakers 2014 15 October NBA Global Games: Brooklyn Nets vs. Sacramento Kings 25 November M-1 Challenge 53 – Battle in the Celestial Empire 2017 23 September NHL China Games: Los Angeles Kings vs. Vancouver Canucks 2018 24 November UFC Fight Night 141 2019 16 November ONE Championship: Age of Dragons 31 August–15 September 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup: Several matches, including the final 2022 3–17 February 2022 Winter Olympics: Women's Ice Hockey
Entertainment The Wukesong Arena is the biggest entertainment venue in Beijing, with many international, regional and local artists having staged their performance at the venue that spans a wide range of musical genres. International artists are highlighted using light blue in the table while non-concert entertainment events are also included.
A list of entertainment events held at Wukesong Arena Year Date Nationality Artists Tours2008 6 OctoberCanadaAvril LavigneThe Best Damn World Tour 1 NovemberUnited StatesKanye WestGlow in the Dark Tour 2009 23 OctoberBeyoncéI Am... World Tour 2010 23 January South Korea Super Junior 2nd Asia Tour – "Super Show 2" 14 March United States Backstreet Boys This Is Us Tour 11 July Usher OMG Tour20112 JanuaryTaiwan (ROC)Fei Yu-ching2011费玉清北京演唱会 21 January Hong Kong Jacky Cheung Jacky Cheung 1/2 Century Tour 12 MarchUnited StatesEaglesLong Road Out of Eden Tour 26 March South Korea Rain 2011 Rain Asia Tour 7 May rowspan="2" colspan="2" The Girls Collection 13 May Glorious Days – Pantheon Rock "n" Roll World Tour Concert 21 May China (PRC) Dao Lang de Show Beel Live in Concert 2011 27 May Hong Kong Aaron Kwok 郭富城武林正传世界巡回演唱会 28 May 3 June Taiwan (ROC) Chyi YuMichelle PanTiger HuangOne-Fang Power Woman 18 June Wakin ChauJeff ChangChyi ChinChao ChuanDave WangAngus Tung 老友记六人行2011北京大型演唱会 16 July Elva Hsiao E!VA萧亚轩WOW世界巡回演唱会-北京站 25 SeptemberIrelandWestlifeGravity Tour 2012 14 FebruaryCanadaAvril LavigneBlack Star Tour 22 FebruaryIrelandWestlifeGreatest Hits Tour 12 MarchSwedenRoxetteCharm School World Tour 6 AprilCanadaSum 41Screaming Bloody Murder Tour 7 July South Korea ShinhwaGrand Tour: The Return"2012 Shinhwa Grand Tour: The Return 신화 아시아 투어 콘서트 일정" Shinhwa Company. 10 April 2012. Retrieved 2012-04-13 8 August Big Bang Alive Galaxy Tour 25 NovemberUnited KingdomElton John40th Anniversary of the Rocket Man Tour 2013 24 March Canada Simple Plan Get Your Hearts on Tour 4 May South Korea G-Dragon One of a Kind World Tour 5 May 13 April colspan="2" The 1st V Chart Awards 25 May United StatesBackstreet Boys In a World Like This Tour 28 June United Kingdom Sarah Brightman Dreamchaser World Tour 20 July South Korea Shinhwa Grand Tour: The Classic 9 August rowspan="3" colspan="2" Michael Jackson: The Immortal World Tour 10 August 11 August 22 AugustUnited KingdomPet Shop BoysElectric Tour 29 SeptemberCanadaJustin BieberBelieve Tour 1 OctoberUnited StatesThe KillersBattle Born World Tour 2014 4 February United Kingdom James Blunt Moon Landing Tour 2 MarchCanadaAvril LavigneThe Avril Lavigne Tour 5 April United States Bruno Mars Moonshine Jungle Tour 19 April South Korea 2NE1 All or Nothing World Tour 16 May Hong Kong G.E.M. G.E.M. X.X.X. LIVE 世界巡回演唱会北京站 17 May 30 May China (PRC) Wanting Qu 2014曲婉婷say the words 我为你歌唱 中国巡回演唱会 31 May 18 July Taiwan (ROC) Jeff Chang "华素 还爱光年" 世界巡回演唱会 2 August S.H.E 2gether 4ever World Tour 3 August Mayday Just Love It 拥抱演唱会 6 September China (PRC) Hua Chenyu 华晨宇火星演唱会 7 September 13 September Singapore Yida Huang 黄义达十周年纪念演唱会 20 September China (PRC)South Korea Exo Exo from Exoplanet #1 – The Lost Planet 21 September 25 October China (PRC) Yang Kun 杨坤"今夜20岁"北京演唱会 22 November South Korea Super Junior Super Show 6 2015 14 January rowspan="2" colspan="2" Golden Disk Awards 15 January 1 April United States Pitbull 2015 World Tour 18 April Backstreet Boys In a World Like This Tour 9 May Singapore JJ Lin Timeline：Genesis World Tour 6 June South Korea Big Bang Made World Tour 7 June 13 June China (PRC) Bibi Zhou BOOM! 18 July China (PRC)South Korea Exo Exo Planet #2 – The Exo'luxion 19 July 19 September United Kingdom Muse Drones World Tour 2016 10 April The 4th V Chart Awards 24 AprilUnited KingdomIron MaidenThe Book of Souls World Tour 2 July China (PRC) Hua Chenyu Mars Concert Season 3 3 July 8 July Taiwan (ROC) Jay Chou The Invisible Show Tour 9 July 10 July 16 July South Korea Big Bang Made V.I.P Tour 17 July 24 September Hong Kong Wallace Chung Sing For Live 6 October United States Kesha Kesha and the Creepies: Fuck the World Tour 21 October Hong Kong Jacky Cheung A Classic Tour 22 October 23 October 2017 18 January United States Metallica WorldWired Tour 17 June China (PRC) Joker Xue 薛之谦"我好像在哪见过你"巡回演唱会 26 August United States Ariana Grande Dangerous Woman Tour 2018 7 May United States Fall Out Boy Mania Tour 19 MaySingaporeJJ LinSanctuary World Tour 20 May 6 September United Kingdom Jessie J R.O.S.E Tour 2019 23 February China (PRC) Rocket Girls 101 2019火箭少女101北京飞行演唱会-Light 10 August Taiwan (ROC) Fei Yu-ching 费玉清2019告别演唱会 13 August Ireland Westlife The Twenty Tour20235 August Taiwan (ROC)A-MeiASMR Would Tour6 August 2 September Wakin Chau少年俠客 23 September Ireland Westlife The Wild Dreams Tour 24 September20245 April Hong Kong Jacky CheungThe Jacky Cheung 60+ Concert Tour6 April 7 April 12 April 13 April 14 April 19 April 20 April 21 April 25 July Andy LauToday … is the Day Tour26 July27 July 28 July 202516 August Taiwan (ROC) Cyndi WangSugar High World Tour17 August
Baseball field
The Wukesong Baseball Field () was a baseball stadium located next to the Wukesong Indoor Stadium at the Wukesong Culture and Sports Centre in Beijing, China. It was one of the nine temporary venues at the 2008 Summer Olympics, hosting baseball events.
The baseball field had a total land surface of 12,000 square metres and a capacity of 15,000. It included two competition fields and one training field.
In March 2008, the stadium hosted two games between the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres called the MLB China Series, marking the first time Major League Baseball teams played in China.
The venue hosted the baseball during the 2008 Summer Olympics Team USA clinched the bronze medal, while South Korea beat Cuba to claim the gold medal. After the Olympic Games ended, the facilities were demolished as planned, for a shopping mall called Bloomage LIVE · HI-UP.baltimoresun.com
See also List of indoor arenas in China List of basketball arenas
References
External links