The Hydro | |
Former names | Scotland's National Arena (planning) Scottish Hydro Arena (construction) The SSE Hydro (September 30, 2013 – October 2021) |
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Address | Exhibition Way Stobcross Road |
Location | Glasgow, Scotland |
Coordinates | 55°51′37″N4°17′06″W / 55.860297°N 4.284926°W |
Public transit | Exhibition Centre railway station |
Owner | Scottish Event Campus Limited |
Operator | AEG Live / ASM Global |
Capacity | 12,306 (all seated) 14,500 (with standing) |
Construction | |
Broke ground | February 2011 |
Built | 2011–2013 |
Opened | 30 September 2013 |
Construction cost | £125 million |
Architect | Foster + Partners |
Project manager | Turner & Townsend |
Structural engineer | Arup |
General contractor | Lendlease |
Website | |
ovohydro |
The OVO Hydro is a multi-purpose indoor arena located within the Scottish Event Campus in Glasgow, Scotland. [1]
The arena was initially named The Hydro after its main sponsor Scottish Hydro Electric. [2] The arena was known as The SSE Hydro until October 2021, when it was announced that the name was to change to "OVO Hydro", after its new sponsor OVO Energy, with a focus on making the venue more sustainable. [3] The arena was officially opened on 30 September 2013, with a concert by Rod Stewart. [4]
The OVO Hydro arena is located adjacent to the SEC Centre and the SEC Armadillo and hosts international musical stars, global entertainment and sporting events; with a maximum capacity of 14,300 and aims to attract one million visitors each year. [4] The arena was the largest entertainment venue in Scotland, before the opening of Aberdeen's P&J Live in 2019, and the fifth largest in the UK.
Planning for The Hydro began some time in 2001 as the second redevelopment of the Queens Dock in Glasgow. [5] In May 2003, a plan had been unveiled for an entertainment arena, [6] holding 12,300 seated audience members and an extra 2,000 standing.
London-based architects Foster + Partners were appointed as the design team for the Hydro in May 2004, [7] [8] with Glasgow-based Elphinstone additionally appointed as the preferred developer for the site. [9] The design of the arena was finally released to the press in October 2005, [10] and the SECC gained full planning consent for the arena by 2006. [11]
Construction for the arena began in February 2011 by construction company Lend Lease. By November 2011, building work for the roof of the arena had begun, which was completed by April 2013. The arena's signature translucent outer cushions were installed in May 2013, along with the seating inside of the arena, marking construction of the arena completed, taking two years to complete. [5]
At approximately 15:20 on Sunday 8 June 2013, [12] flames were reported to be coming from the domed roof of the partially completed building. [13] 40 firefighters from the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service attended the blaze. [14] It was determined that the fire was caused by ongoing welding work on the building's roof. [15] [16] On 18 June, the venue's operator revealed that despite additional challenges, work on the venue was still on track for completion. [17]
On 14 December 2014, the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award ceremony was held at the venue. [18] During the 2014 Commonwealth Games the SSE Hydro was home to the netball and gymnastic events. [19] On 18 July 2015, the UFC held their inaugural Scottish event UFC Fight Night: Bisping vs. Leites at the Hydro. [20] From 23 October to 1 November 2015, the SSE Hydro hosted the Artistic gymnastics world championships. [21]
In 2016, the venue hosted a heavyweight boxing fight between Dillian Whyte and Ian Lewison. Later it has hosted four boxing fights headlined by Scottish light welterweight boxer Josh Taylor. It also hosted two rounds of the 2018–19 World Boxing Super Series.
On 1 April 2024, it was announced by the American professional wrestling promotion WWE that the arena would host two back-to-back events in June. On 14 June will be an episode of Friday Night SmackDown with the following night being the pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event, Clash at the Castle: Scotland, which will be the company's first PPV and livestreaming event held in the country. [22]
The OVO Hydro was used for exterior shots of the venue for the fictional 2020 Eurovision Song Contest in the 2020 film Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga . [23]
The OVO Hydro was host to the largest televised debate seen in Scotland's history, Scotland Decides: The Big, Big Debate , held on the evening of Thursday 11 September 2014; towards the end of the Scottish independence referendum campaign. The Mentorn/BBC Scotland organised debate, in which every secondary school in Scotland was invited to take part, involved around 7,500 first time voters and was broadcast on BBC One during the evening of 11 September 2014 [24] and was presented by James Cook. [25]
In 2016, the arena handled 751,487 ticket sales; making it the eighth-busiest music arena in the world in terms of ticket sales. It also hosted the UFC's first event in Scotland. [26]
In 2019, the Hydro was the second busiest venue in the world behind Madison Square Garden in New York City. [27] The venue attracts over 1 million visitors per year, making it a regular feature in the top ten arenas globally. [28]
World's Busiest Arenas – 2018 [29] | ||
---|---|---|
Venue | Ticket sales | |
Madison Square Garden, New York City, USA | 1,155,480 | |
Kia Forum, Inglewood, USA | 1,119,313 | |
WiZink Center, Madrid, Spain | 1,118,706 | |
OVO Hydro, Glasgow, UK | 1,040,956 | |
Accor Arena, Paris, France | 938,771 | |
Little Caesars Arena, Detroit, USA | 845,651 | |
Manchester Arena, UK | 822,155 | |
Barclays Center, Brooklyn, USA | 816,980 | |
Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, USA | 807,370 | |
Qudos Bank Arena, Sydney, Australia | 790,798 |
Glasgow is the most populous city in Scotland, the third-most populous city in the United Kingdom, and the 27th-most populous city in Europe. In 2022, it had an estimated population as a defined locality of 632,350 and anchored an urban settlement of 1,028,220. Glasgow became a county in 1893, the city having previously been in the historic county of Lanarkshire, and later growing to also include settlements that were once part of Renfrewshire and Dunbartonshire. It now forms the Glasgow City Council area, one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, and is administered by Glasgow City Council.
Wembley Arena is an indoor arena next to Wembley Stadium in Wembley, London, England. The 12,500-seat facility is London's second-largest indoor arena after The O2 Arena, and the ninth-largest in the United Kingdom.
The SEC Centre is Scotland's largest exhibition centre, located in Glasgow, Scotland. It is one of the three main venues within the Scottish Event Campus.
The city of Glasgow, Scotland, has many amenities for a wide range of cultural activities, from curling to opera and from football to art appreciation; it also has a large selection of museums that include those devoted to transport, religion, and modern art. In 2009 Glasgow was awarded the title UNESCO Creative City of Music in recognition of its vibrant live music scene and its distinguished heritage. Glasgow has three major universities, each involved in creative and literary arts, and the city has the largest public reference library in Europe in the form of the Mitchell Library. Scotland's largest newspapers and national television and radio companies are based in the city.
Finnieston is an area of Glasgow, Scotland, situated on the north bank of the River Clyde roughly between the city's West End and the city centre.
The SEC Armadillo is an auditorium located near the River Clyde, in Glasgow, Scotland. It is one of three venues on the Scottish Event Campus, which includes the SEC Centre and the OVO Hydro.
Ford John Kiernan is a Scottish actor, comedian and writer. He is best known for his work with Greg Hemphill on the BBC Scotland sketch comedy series Chewin' the Fat (1999–2005) and the sitcom Still Game. He also starred as Archie Henderson in Dear Green Place (2007–2008) and as Colin Holliday in Happy Hollidays (2009).
Scottish Hydro plc was a public electricity supplier formed on 1 August 1989 after a change of name from North of Scotland Electricity plc on that date. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index but merged with Southern Electric in 1998.
SSE plc is a multinational energy company headquartered in Perth, Scotland. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange, and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. SSE operates in the United Kingdom and Ireland.
The Glasgow bid for the 2014 Commonwealth Games was the successful bid to host the 2014 Commonwealth Games by the city of Glasgow, Scotland. It beat the Abuja 2014 Commonwealth Games bid to host the games. The event was held over 11 days, with the opening ceremony taking place on 23 July, 2014, and the last day of competition and the closing ceremony on 3 August, 2014.
Kevin Andrew Bridges is a Scottish stand-up comedian. His 2012 television series Kevin Bridges: What's the Story? was based on his stand-up routines.
OVO Energy is a major energy supplier based in Bristol, England.
This article lists the Venues of the 2014 Commonwealth Games.
The 2014 MTV EMAs were held at The SSE Hydro, Glasgow, Scotland on 9 November 2014. This was the first time since 2003 when the awards were held in Scotland and the fifth time the United Kingdom has hosted the MTV EMA since the show was hosted in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The event showcases the world's hottest musical acts in a different city each year. The event was hosted by Nicki Minaj.
Insane Championship Wrestling (ICW) is a professional wrestling promotion based in Glasgow, Scotland, founded by Mark Dallas in 2006. It mixes elements of traditional sports entertainment with hardcore wrestling; thus admittance is restricted to those over 18 years old.
The ICW World Heavyweight Championship is a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship owned by Scotland's Insane Championship Wrestling promotion. The title was first established as the ICW National Heavyweight Championship at ICW's debut show on October 15, 2006, with Drew Galloway becoming the inaugural champion. On February 7, 2015, the title was officially renamed the ICW World Heavyweight Championship after Galloway successfully defended the title in a match against Matt Hardy for the Family Wrestling Entertainment promotion in New York. The championship has been defended in the United Kingdom, Ireland, the United States, Australia, Denmark, Italy, Germany, Spain, Sweden and Canada. In addition to these international title matches, defenses televised in 38 countries via Fight Network as well as an international presence on iPPV.
The ICW Zero-G Championship is a professional wrestling junior heavyweight championship owned by United Kingdom's Insane Championship Wrestling promotion. The title was first established as the Zero Gravity Championship at Fear & Loathing III on 21 November 2011, with Noam Dar becoming the inaugural champion.
The ICW Women's World Championship is a women's professional wrestling championship owned by Scotland's Insane Championship Wrestling promotion. Rhio is the current champion in her first reign. She won the title by defeating Molly Spartan on February 26, 2023, at ICW: Square Go 11 in Glasgow, Scotland
The Confetti Tour was the seventh concert tour held by British girl group Little Mix, in support of their sixth studio album, Confetti (2020). The tour began on 9 April 2022 at the SSE Arena in Belfast, and concluded on 14 May 2022 at The O2 Arena in London. The tour consisted of 28 sold-out shows across the United Kingdom and Ireland. On 27 April 2022, the group announced that the final show will be livestreamed. On 14 May 2022, the band live streamed their final tour date at the O2 Arena, in London titled: Little Mix: The Last Show (For Now...).
Media related to The SSE Hydro at Wikimedia Commons