Major events venue Manchester Central has welcomed 14,000 more people to indoor sporting events this year when compared to pre-pandemic levels.
The venue, which has a capacity of over 10,000 and has recently staged the Rugby League World Cup wheelchair final, has hosted several prominent sporting events this year. The former railway terminal has a wealth of indoor space ideal for hosting mass participation events and large groups of spectators.
In the last year sporting activities have included fitness festivals, cheerleading, extreme obstacle courses, boxing, American football, wheelchair rugby and dancing. The events have welcomed 16,630 people in total, an increase from 2,600 in 2019 - the most recent comparable year due to the postponement of large-scale events during the Coronavirus pandemic.
Highlights this year included the sold out Rugby League World Cup wheelchair final, which was watched by a combined peak audience of 1.3 million people on TV, with over 4,500 people watching live at the venue; the largest ever live audience for the sport, setting a new world record in the process. HYROX Manchester kicked off the 2022 sporting programme in January, proving to be a huge success with thousands of fitness fanatics attending, and American football NFL team, Jaguars Live, roared into the venue in June.
Manchester Central has also played host to the filming of Ninja Warrior, the popular ITV obstacle course, the England Boxing National Amateur Championship Final and Future Cheer, the UK’s major cheerleading gathering.
And 2023 looks set to continue the sporting theme at the venue, with events such as HYROX returning in January then again in May for the World Championships, alongside new fixtures in the calendar including the British Weight Lifting Open 2023 and the INBA/PNBA World Bodybuilding Championship 2023.
Shaun Hinds, CEO at Manchester Central, said: “Our venue has come alive once again with the return of largescale indoor sports events. The variety of sports that have been held here is testament to the space being so versatile and our team facilitating exciting and innovative ways to host a range of activities.
“Sport has the unique ability to bring people together, whether they be participating or spectating, and it’s incredible to see that happening under one roof here at Manchester Central. We are humbled to play our part in hosting these major events, which are often of international standing, to celebrate the incredible sporting talent in the world. We look forward to welcoming even more sporting events and fans next year.”
Clare Hartley, Match Operations Lead at Rugby League World Cup 2021, said: “Hosting the Rugby League World Cup Wheelchair Final at Manchester Central was a great success, the venue team were professional and helpful through the planning and delivery of the event. We loved being in the middle of Manchester, helping us to showcase the sport and also being close to Old Trafford where our two running World Cup finals were held the next day. We had a world record attendance for the sport with VIPs, spectators, volunteers, players, media and broadcasters all having an excellent experience in the venue and the city.”
The uplift in sporting events at Manchester Central comes just weeks after the venue shared its latest quarterly update which revealed that delegate spend was up 33%, with visitors spending £1.046m onsite and contributing over £13m to the local economy between July and September 2022. Furthermore, since April, delegates contributed a total £52.1m to Greater Manchester through expenditure at restaurants, bars, hotels and transport as a direct result of attending events.
With over 23,000m² of space and a capacity of over 10,000, the city’s largest business events venue continues to showcase its breadth over the final quarter of the calendar year, hosting large scale events including UCAS Create your Future 2022 and Vivid Experiences’ Christmas Party World; the latter alone is expected to welcome around 25,000 visitors to the venue during December.
