五棵松体育馆（凯迪拉克中心） | |
 Exterior of arena (c.2008) | |
| Former names | Wukesong Culture & Sports Center (2008–2011) MasterCard Center (2011–2015) LeSports Center (2016–2017) Huaxi Live (2017) Cadillac Arena (2017–present) |
|---|---|
| Address | Beijing, China |
| Location | Haidian District |
| Owner | Bloomage International Investment Group |
| Operator | AEG |
| Capacity | 19,000 |
| Construction | |
| Broke ground | 29 March 2005 |
| Opened | 11 January 2008 |
| Renovated | 2009 |
| Closed | October 2008 – November 2009 |
| Architect | Gu Yonghui |
| Tenants | |
| HC Kunlun Red Star (KHL) (2016–present) | |
The Wukesong Arena (simplified Chinese: 五棵松体育馆; traditional Chinese: 五棵松體育館; pinyin: Wǔkēsōng Tǐyùguǎn), also known as the Cadillac Center (simplified Chinese: 凯迪拉克中心; traditional Chinese: 凱迪拉克中心; pinyin: Kǎidílākè Zhōngxīn) for sponsorship purposes, is a multipurpose indoor arena in Beijing. It was originally built for the 2008 Summer Olympics basketball preliminaries and finals. Ground was broken on 29 March 2005 and construction was completed on 11 January 2008.
The stadium has a capacity of 19,000 and covers an area of 63,000 square metres. It includes a modern, flexible ice hockey rink designed and produced by Finnish rink manufacturer Vepe Oy in November 2016.
History[]
The arena in February 2007
The stadium was constructed by "Beijing Wukesong Cultural & Sports Co. Ltd." whose five shareholders are Zhongguancun CENCONS Group, Haidian State-owned Assets Investment Co. Ltd, Beijing Urban Construction Group Co. Ltd, Beijing Urban Construction Co. Ltd and the Tianhong Group. After the Olympic Games, the center became an important part of Beijing's Olympic Games heritage, allowing citizens to enjoy cultural, sports, leisure, recreational, and commercial activities. It was a large-scale comprehensive project, rare in Beijing in integrating cultural, sporting, and commercial purposes with large-scale gardens and green spaces.
On 6 January 2011 MasterCard Worldwide, the rival of Olympic sponsor Visa, announced the acquisition of the naming rights to the center. It was renamed MasterCard Center effective from 21 January 2011. Nearly five years later, on 16 December 2015, LeTV Sports announced that it has obtained naming rights for the arena. It was officially renamed as LeSports Center on 1 January 2016. Beyond that, LeSports promised to provide a package of intellectual services inside and outside the arena.[1] After the closing of LeTV Sports, the arena was briefly named Huaxi Live.[2] Since September 2017, the Cadillac division of General Motors has owned naming rights for the arena.[3]
On 14 December 2015 the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) announced that its Beijing expansion team would play in the arena. On 5 September 2016, Kunlun Red Star defenseman Anssi Salmela scored the first goal in the arena's first hockey game and the first home goal for Kunlun in KHL. Red Star won the game 6–3.
Sporting events[]
| A list of ice hockey events held at Wukesong Arena | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Date | Event |
| 2017 | 23 September | NHL China Games: Los Angeles Kings vs. Vancouver Canucks |
| 2022 | TBA | 2022 Winter Olympics: Women's Ice Hockey . |
References[]
- ↑ LeTV Sports to Name Beijing Wukesong Arena. CRIENGLISH.com (18 December 2015).
- ↑ Wukesong Arena Newly Renamed as "Huaxi Live" as LeTV's Financial Woes Continue. True Run Media (18 July 2017).
- ↑ Cadillac Named Title Sponsor of Wukesong Arena in Beijing.
