Leicester Arena

Leicester Arena

Leicester Arena, home to the Leicester Riders.
Location	Leicester, United Kingdom
Coordinates	52.64389°N 1.13097°W / 52.64389; -1.13097
Owner	Leicester Riders Foundation
Operator	LCSA Limited
Capacity	Concerts: 3,000 Basketball: 2,400
Opened	January 2016
Tenants
Leicester Riders (2016-present)

The Leicester Arena, known as the Mattioli Arena due to sponsorship, is a multi-purpose sports arena located in Leicester, England.

The arena has a seating capacity for 3,000 spectators and its main tenants are the Leicester Riders of the British Basketball League, whilst regularly hosting darts and snooker competitions.

From 2018 to 2024, the arena was known as Morningside Arena.

Background

The £4.8 million arena, which is owned by the Leicester Riders Foundation, was officially opened in January 2016. It is used as the home venue for the basketball team Leicester Riders, as well as the wheelchair basketball team the Leicester Cobras. It is also used by the students of Leicester College as well as by the local community.^[1] It hosted its first game on 30 January 2016, in a quarter-final match between Leicester Riders and Surrey Scorchers in the British Basketball League Trophy, won by the Riders 77–60.^[2]

In 2018 Morningside Pharmaceuticals agreed to take the naming rights of the venue for three years, rebranding the arena as Morningside Arena.^[3]

The venue hosted the 2019 Champions League of Darts^[4] and the 2021 British Open in snooker.^[5]

On 9 February 2024, the arena was rebranded as Mattioli Arena following a naming agreement with the Ian & Clare Mattioli Charitable Trust.^[6]

International basketball matches

Date	Competition	Home team	Result	Away team	Ref.
24 November 2017	2019 FIBA World Cup Qualifier	Great Britain	92–95 (ot)	Greece	[7]

Other major sports events

Date	Competition	Winner(s)	Ref.
19–20 October 2019	2019 Champions League of Darts	Michael van Gerwen (NED)	[8]
16–22 August 2021	2021 British Open Snooker	Mark Williams (WAL)	[5]
3–9 October 2021	2021 World Grand Prix Darts	Jonny Clayton (WAL)	[9]
20–23 January 2022	2022 Snooker Shoot Out	Hossein Vafaei (IRN)	[10]
25–28 January 2023	2023 Snooker Shoot Out	Chris Wakelin (ENG)	[11]
19 December 2022 – 2 March 2023	2023 Championship League Snooker	John Higgins (SCO)	[12]
16–22 March 2023	2023 WST Classic Snooker	Mark Selby (ENG)	[13]

References

1. "New sports arena opens with Riders' match this weekend". Leicester City Council. 29 January 2016.
2. "Leicester Riders beat Surrey Scorchers in new arena". BBC. 31 January 2016.
3. "Leicester Riders announce naming rights deal for arena". 28 February 2018.
4. Allen, Dave (18/2/19) "Champions League of Darts moves to Leicester"
5. "2021 British Open". Archived from the original on 4 July 2021. Retrieved 16 August 2021.
6. "Leicester Arena Becomes Mattioli Arena In Recognition Of Charitable Trust". 9 February 2018.
7. Dugdale, Rob (24 November 2017). "Basketball World Cup qualifying: Great Britain lose thriller in overtime to Greece". BBC.
8. "Champions League of Darts: Leicester to stage 2019 event". BBC Sport. 18 February 2019. Retrieved 5 October 2021.
9. "World Grand Prix Darts moved from Dublin to Leicester's Morningside Arena for 2021". Sky Sports. 5 July 2021. Retrieved 5 October 2021.
10. Livie, Alex (24 January 2022). "Hossein Vafaei stuns Mark Williams to win Snooker Shoot Out and become first Iranisn to win ranking tournament". Eurosport. Retrieved 26 January 2023.
11. "Chris Wakelin makes career breakthrough with Snooker Shoot Out final win over Julien Leclercq". Eurosport. 28 January 2023. Retrieved 29 January 2023.
12. "John Higgins ends title drought by retaining Championship League snooker crown against Judd Trump – 'It feels amazing'". Eurosport. 2 March 2023. Retrieved 5 March 2023.
13. "Mark Selby wins WST Classic snooker title in front of delighted Leicester fans – 'Ready for World bid'". Eurosport. 22 March 2023. Retrieved 23 March 2023.

External links

• Official website