Wolfbrook Arena

"Westpac Centre" redirects here. For the Melbourne-based sports centre, see Melbourne Sports and Entertainment Centre.

Wolfbrook Arena is an indoor arena in Christchurch, New Zealand. It is located in the suburb of Addington. It has gone through a series of name changes, the most recent of which prior to its current name having been Christchurch Arena.

Wolfbrook Arena

The arena, under old signage, in August 2019
Former names	Westpac Trust Centre (1998–2007) Westpac Arena (2007–2010) CBS Canterbury Arena (2010–2014) Horncastle Arena (2014–2020) Christchurch Arena (2020–2023)
Address	55 Jack Hinton Drive Addington 8024 Christchurch New Zealand
Location	55 Jack Hinton Drive Addington, Christchurch Canterbury, New Zealand
Coordinates	43°32′45″S 172°36′4″E
Owner	Venues Ōtautahi
Operator	Venues Ōtautahi
Capacity	Netball: 7,200 Concerts: 8,888
Construction
Opened	1998
General contractor	Charles Luney
Tenants
1999 Netball World Championships Mainland Tactix (ANZ Championship) (2008–present)

Description

Main entrance to the arena (2020)

Wolfbrook Arena is New Zealand's second-largest indoor arena with a maximum capacity of 8,888 (depending on event type), it was the largest until the construction of Auckland's Vector Arena in 2007. The indoor stadium is capable of hosting concerts, exhibitions and various sporting events. Provision for international sport and traditional indoor arena events has been integrated into the design requirements.

It has over 6,700 seats for sporting fixtures or, in the concert configuration, the seating can increase to over 7,000.

The Sports and Entertainment complex is located adjacent to the Addington Raceway and Christchurch Stadium and is surrounded by 3,000 car parking spaces. The complex is only 10 minutes from the city centre.

It has been affectionately dubbed 'The Woolshed' by Canterbury Rams basketball fans. Some Christchurch citizens colloquially refer to the arena as the horseshoe, due to its unusual architectural exterior design.

History

Construction company Chas S Luney Ltd built the stadium.^[1] The arena opened in September 1998 at a cost of NZ$32 Million. In the first ever sporting match at CBS Canterbury Arena, the Canterbury Rams basketball team suffered a close loss to the Wellington Saints 86–81 in April 1999.

It was built for two main reasons: primarily for the 1999 Netball World Cup in Christchurch, and also because Christchurch was missing out on many concerts and other attractions, because it did not have a suitable indoor arena in the city.

On 18 June 2010, Westpac Arena was officially renamed CBS Canterbury Arena.^[2] On 23 July 2014, CBS Canterbury Arena was officially renamed Horncastle Arena.^[3]

On 19 September 2020, Horncastle Arena was officially renamed Christchurch Arena.

On 1 June 2023, Christchurch Arena was officially renamed Wolfbrook Arena.^[4]

Sporting home teams

• Canterbury Rams (1999–2007)^[5]
• Canterbury Flames (2002–2007)
• Mainland Tactix (2008–present)

Events

Entertainment events

Entertainment events at Christchurch Arena
Year	Date	Nationalities	Artists	Events
1998	12 September	United States	Bob Dylan	Never Ending Tour 1998
	27 November	United States	Janet Jackson	The Velvet Rope Tour
	28 November
1999	14 August	United States	Creed
2002	27 November	United States	P!nk	Party Tour
2003	18 February	United Kingdom	Cliff Richard	Wanted World Tour
	19 February
2005	22 February	United States	Cher	Living Proof: The Farewell Tour
	6 October	United States	Black Eyed Peas	Monkey Business Tour
	20 November	United States	Kelly Clarkson	Breakaway World Tour
2007	3 July	United States	Guns N' Roses	Chinese Democracy World Tour
	8 August	United States	Bob Dylan	Never Ending Tour 2007
	15 September	United Kingdom	Snow Patrol	Eyes Open Tour
	16 October	Australia	Powderfinger Silverchair	Across the Great Divide Tour
	25 November	United Kingdom	Muse	Black Holes and Revelations Tour
2008	7 May	Ireland	Westlife	Back Home Tour
	12 September	United States	Disturbed	Indestructible Tour (Music as a Weapon)
	28 October	United States	Stevie Wonder	Wonder Spring Summer World Tour 2008
2009	22 February	United Kingdom	Iron Maiden	Somewhere Back in Time World Tour
2010	16 February	United States	Faith No More	The Second Coming Tour
	1 March	United Kingdom	Cliff Richard The Shadows	The Final Reunion Tour
	5 March	United States	Paramore	Brand New Eyes World Tour
	8 April	United States	Carole King James Taylor	Troubadour Reunion Tour
	21 September	United States	Metallica The Sword	World Magnetic Tour (Metallica) Warp Riders Tour (The Sword)
	22 September
	3 November	Canada	Leonard Cohen	Leonard Cohen Tour 2008–2010
2011	10 February	United Kingdom	Sting – along with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra.	Symphonicity Tour
	10 May	United States	Disturbed	Asylum Tour
	20 November	New Zealand	Hayley Westenra	Paradiso 10th Anniversary Homecoming Tour
2012	10 April	Australia	Reece Mastin	Australia and New Zealand Tour
	19 August	United States	Slash	Apocalyptic Love World Tour
	6 November	United Kingdom	Mumford & Sons	—
2013	20 February	United States	Macklemore & Ryan Lewis	— Note: This show was organised as a student-only event by the University of Canterbury Students' Association, it was originally planned to be held at the Ilam Gardens but the event has since been re-located to allow extra tickets to be sold.
	23 February	Australia	Reece Mastin	The Summer Nights Tour
	10 October	Ireland United Kingdom	One Direction	Take Me Home Tour
	14 December	Canada	Leonard Cohen	Old Ideas World Tour
2014	20 March	United States	Lionel Richie	All the Hits, All Night Long[6][7]
	22 March	United States	Nine Inch Nails	Twenty Thirteen Tour
	10 September	United States	Bob Dylan	Never Ending Tour 2014[8][9]
2015	8 April	United Kingdom	Ed Sheeran	x Tour[10][11][12][13][14]
	21 April	Puerto Rico	Ricky Martin	One World Tour[15]
	10 September	United States	Imagine Dragons	Smoke + Mirrors Tour[16][17][18]
	2 October	United States	Maroon 5	Maroon V Tour[19][20]
2016	29 April	United Kingdom	Iron Maiden	The Book of Souls World Tour[21][22][23]
	28 July	Australia	Troye Sivan	Blue Neighbourhood Tour[24][25]
	30 July	United States	Macklemore & Ryan Lewis	The Unruly Mess I've Made Tour[26][27][28]
	18 August (1 Show)	—		Disney on Ice: Magical Ice Festival[29][30]
	19 August (2 Shows)
	20 August (3 Shows)
	21 August (3 Shows)
	29 September	United Kingdom	Ellie Goulding	Delirium World Tour[31][32]
2020	5 March	Norway	A-ha	Hunting High and Low Live Tour[33]
2022	25 November	United States	The Killers	Imploding the Mirage Tour

Sporting

Since its opening, it has been host to a number of different sporting events. These include home matches for the Canterbury Rams (basketball), New Zealand Breakers (basketball) and Mainland Tactix (netball) teams. It occasionally hosts international basketball and netball fixtures featuring the Tall Blacks and Silver Ferns respectively. It was also the host of the 1999 Netball World Championships.

It has also been host to a lot of non-regular sporting events. These include various celebrity tennis matches, ice shows, disabled games, karate championships and gymnastics competitions.

In 2007 & 2008 the arena hosted WWE professional wrestling tours, featuring the SmackDown and ECW brands. The arena again hosted a WWE event in September 2017, this time a Raw branded event.

Other uses

The arena plays a key role in the Christchurch economy hosting annual trade shows including the Christchurch Home Show, Women's Lifestyle Expo, Armageddon Expo, and the Go Green Expo.

Christchurch Arena is managed by Venues Otautahi, the same venue management company that manages the Christchurch Town Hall, Apollo Projects Stadium, Airforce Museum of New Zealand and Hagley Oval Pavilion. The combined facilities regularly host a variety of different events

The venue is also used for big gala dinners, lunches, balls, and cocktail parties.

See also

• List of indoor arenas in New Zealand

References

1. "Charles Seymour Luney (Chas), QSO, CNZM 1905 – 2006". Christchurch City Libraries. Retrieved 5 June 2011.
2. Heather, Ben (19 June 2010). "CBS takes venue naming rights". The Press. Retrieved 23 September 2011.
3. Meier, Cecile (24 July 2014). "Arena sponsor 'here for the long haul'". The Press. Retrieved 19 October 2014.
4. "New name for Christchurch Arena". Otago Daily Times. 24 May 2023. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
5. "Basketball returns home to Cowles", Christchurch City Council, Media Release 29 September 2007.
6. "Lionel Richie and John Farnham NZ Tour at Horncastle Arena – eventfinda.co.nz". eventfinda.co.nz. Retrieved 23 September 2016.
7. "Lionel Richie and John Farnham NZ Tour in New Plymouth – stuff.co.nz". stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 23 September 2016.
8. "Bob Dylan lands in Christchurch – stuff.co.nz". stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 23 September 2016.
9. "Review: Bob Dylan in Christchurch – stuff.co.nz". Les Kokay – stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 23 September 2016.
10. "Ed Sheeran – eventfinda.co.nz". eventfinda.co.nz. Retrieved 23 September 2016.
11. "Gig guide: Event details – undertheradar.co.nz". undertheradar.co.nz. Retrieved 23 September 2016.
12. "Ed Sheeran's secret show in Christchurch – stuff.co.nz". Vicki Anderson – stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 23 September 2016.
13. "Review: Ed Sheeran captivates Christchurch – stuff.co.nz". Vicki Anderson – stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 23 September 2016.
14. "Ed Sheeran delights fans with secret Christchurch show – nzherald.co.nz". nzherald.co.nz. Retrieved 23 September 2016.
15. "Ricky Martin – eventfinda.co.nz". eventfinda.co.nz. Retrieved 23 September 2016.
16. "Gig guide: Event details – undertheradar.co.nz". undertheradar.co.nz. Retrieved 23 September 2016.
17. "Tour news:Imagine Dragons conjure up two NZ shows – nzherald.co.nz". nzherald.co.nz. Retrieved 23 September 2016.
18. "Imagine Dragons to play Auckland, Christchurch – newshub.co.nz". newshub.co.nz. Retrieved 23 September 2016.
19. "Maroon 5 add extra Australia and New Zealand shows to 2015 tour plans - stereoboard.com". Jon Stickler - stereoboard.com. Retrieved 23 September 2016.
20. "Review: Maroon 5 V Tour – stuff.co.nz". James Croot – stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 23 September 2016.
21. "Iron Maiden – eventfinda.co.nz". eventfinda.co.nz. Retrieved 23 September 2016.
22. "Maiden announce details of concerts in New Zealand and Australia in April/May 2016 - ironmaiden.com". ironmaiden.com. Retrieved 23 September 2016.
23. "Review: Iron Maiden at Christchurch's Horncastle Arena – stuff.co.nz". Nicole Mathewson – stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 23 September 2016.
24. "Troye Sivan – eventfinda.co.nz". eventfinda.co.nz. Retrieved 22 September 2016.
25. "Concert Review: Passionate Troye Sivan connects with Christchurch crowd – stuff.co.nz". Enya Beynon – stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 22 September 2016.
26. "Macklemore & Ryan Lewis – eventfinda.co.nz". eventfinda.co.nz. Retrieved 22 September 2016.
27. "Macklemore and Ryan Lewis back on tour, returning to Auckland – stuff.co.nz". stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 22 September 2016.
28. "Macklemore & Ryan Lewis live in New Zealand – scoop.co.nz". scoop.co.nz. Retrieved 22 September 2016.
29. "Tour information – disney.com.au". disney.com.au. Archived from the original on 7 September 2016. Retrieved 23 September 2016.
30. "Disney on Ice presents Magical Ice Festival – eventfinda.co.nz". eventfinda.co.nz. Retrieved 23 September 2016.
31. "Ellie Goulding – eventfinda.co.nz". eventfinda.co.nz. Retrieved 22 September 2016.
32. "Ellie Goulding heads to New Zealand for Delirium tour – stuff.co.nz". Hannah McKee – stuff.co.nz. 17 February 2016. Retrieved 22 September 2016.
33. "A-ha and Rick Astley announce two New Zealand shows". 16 July 2019.

External links

• Venues Ōtautahi – venue manager for Christchurch Arena. Lists upcoming events and allows to take a virtual tour of the Arena