Shropshire Star

NEC arena changing its name again

The major concert venue at Birmingham's National Exhibition Centre is changing its name again.

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How the arena will look after its latest change of name

From December 3 the Genting Arena will be officially re-named as Resorts World Arena.

It will tie in with Resorts World Birmingham opposite the arena which has seen big names like of Adele, Take That, Kylie, Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, Paul Weller and Harry Styles perform there since it became the Genting Arena in January 2015.

A new Resorts World Arena sign outside will soon be going up at the 15,700-seat venue.

The first scheduled show under its new name will be Jeff Wayne's The War of the Worlds on December 8.

The arena was originally built as the seventh hall of the NEC and opened as Birmingham International Arena in 1980 with a concert from Queen.

It was later known as the NEC Arena and LG Arena before becoming the Genting Arena.

Live events business NEC Group said the re-branding to Resorts World Arena was part of its continued partnership with Genting UK which holds the title sponsorship.

The new name is a means of aligning it to the popular Resorts World Birmingham leisure and entertainment destination,which opened three years ago.

Phil Mead, managing director of NEC Group Arenas said: “The alignment of the Resorts World brand to our world class arena will serve both parties well in maximising branding opportunities. Resorts World Birmingham was the first piece of the group’s leisure strategy to transform the NEC campus into a 24-hour leisure and entertainment destination, and has helped us to increase campus footfall, reaching 7.5 million in 2018."

More than £3 million has been invested in the arena's facilities since partnering with Genting UK.

Ian Bennett, operations director for Resorts World Birmingham, said: “Resorts World Birmingham will celebrate its third birthday this October and since we opened we have established ourselves as a major destination for leisure and entertainment experiences.

"Visitors to the arena are increasingly using Resorts World to add to their visit whether as a pre-event venue or to extend their experience post-show. Therefore, it makes sense to align the two venues under one brand. We are delighted to continue our relationship with the arena and the NEC Group with this exciting new brand development.”

Information for customers on the implications of the name change can be found on the current Genting Arena website.