Evening News Switches To Phones

One of the UK’s most popular arenas is changing its name as a result of a five-year multimillion-pound deal with a phone company.

Manchester Evening News Arena, regularly one of the busiest venues in the world, is becoming the Phones 4u Arena – Manchester.

This is the second major naming rights deal signed by venue operator SMG Europe this summer, following the recent sponsorship deal with the HSBC banking group for the First Direct Arena in Leeds, which opened last week with a sold-out performance by Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band

The Manchester money will be used for the re-branding, including refurbishment inside and outside the arena. SMG has a 25-year management lease to manage and operate the venue.

Although the official opening of the Leeds venue is the First Direct Arena show Sept. 4, the chance to get Springsteen moved SMG to ready the venue six weeks earlier.

“We had contact with Live Nation and had to convince them that we could be ready in time,” SMG Europe regional vice president John Knight explained.

It was Springsteen’s first indoor show in the UK in six years. The venue capacity was cut to 13,000 to to accommodate the act’s normally outdoor setup.

The venue got The Boss’s seal of approval.

“Thanks for a great night, this is a beautiful building and I’d like to thank the promoter and the folks that run the building,” he told the audience.