Vector Arena is a 12,000-seat arena for sports and entertainment events in Auckland

Auckland

The Auckland metropolitan area , in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country with residents, percent of the country's population. Auckland also has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world...

, New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

. Named for a sponsor, Vector Limited

Vector Limited

Vector Limited is a multi-network infrastructure company in New Zealand. It is the national number one provider of electricity distribution, number one provider of gas transmission and distribution, number one provider of electricity and gas metering, number two wholesaler of LPG and number three...

, the arena is located at Quay Park, Parnell

Parnell, New Zealand

Parnell is a suburb of Auckland, New Zealand. It is often billed as Auckland's "oldest suburb" since it dates from the earliest days of the European settlement of Auckland in 1841...

, very close to the former Auckland Railway Station

Auckland railway station

Auckland Railway Station is the former main railway station of Auckland, New Zealand, and is located on the eastern edge of the Auckland CBD near Mechanics Bay...

. Vector Arena cost around $80 million, and of this sum ratepayers contributed $68 million for the facility to be managed by QPAM, the NZ operator, in New Zealand first big public-private partnership

Build-Operate-Transfer

Build-own-operate-transfer or build-operate-transfer is a form of project financing, wherein a private entity receives a concession from the private or public sector to finance, design, construct, and operate a facility stated in the concession contract...

. This runs for 40 years before ownership is transferred to the city.

After delays due to construction-related issues, the arena's first concert was Rock Star Supernova on 24 March 2007.

Past events

The venue has since hosted numerous local and international events, with a full list available from the official website.

Delays

Scheduled to open early 2006, this was first delayed towards the end of 2006, when a second opening date was again missed. The delays were apparently due to the Arena's builder, Mainzeal

Mainzeal

The Mainzeal Group Ltd is one of the leading New Zealand property and construction companies. According to its website, Mainzeal creates about NZ$400 million of assets for its clients per annum and employs some 500 people in the whole of New Zealand...

, having various problems with the structure, especially with the roof, where the 120 m main truss had to be strengthened, and where added insulation to waterproof the building against the humid local climate had to be included. In a related issue, extra ventilation also had to be installed to prevent internal humidity build-up during full-capacity events.
The construction company reportedly faced huge losses on the project, and planned to sue the architects for partial compensation.

Suitability

Dave Rat

Dave Rat

Dave Rat is the founder of Rat Sound Systems Inc., a sound system designer, sound consultant and live sound engineer for many well known artists such as the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Rage Against the Machine, The Offspring, and Blink 182.Dave Rat writes articles for various professional sound...

, the sound engineer of The Red Hot Chili Peppers

Red Hot Chili Peppers

Red Hot Chili Peppers is an American rock band, formed in Los Angeles in 1983. The group's musical style primarily consists of rock with an emphasis on funk, as well as elements from other genres such as punk, hip hop and psychedelic rock...

, has criticized the sound quality of the venue after the band played concerts in the Arena during April 2007. He noted that the echo from the curved roof was problematic, and that acoustic panels would need to be installed to improve the arena, especially for those listeners on the upper seating levels. He also criticised the polished concrete floors as too slippery for mass events.

Chris Tate, sound designer for Rockstar: Supernova's first concert at the arena, has however noted that the acoustics were better than expected, and could be improved further. It was also noted that such work is already in preparation.

Sports

Vector Arena, as the largest indoor venue not only in Auckland but New Zealand is also used on occasion for sporting events. Netball

Netball

Netball is a ball sport played between two teams of seven players. Its development, derived from early versions of basketball, began in England in the 1890s. By 1960 international playing rules had been standardised for the game, and the International Federation of Netball and Women's Basketball ...

 is regularly played at the venue with the New Zealand Silver Ferns playing on several occasions while the ANZ Championship

ANZ Championship

The ANZ Championship is the pre-eminent netball league in the world. The competition is held annually between April and July, comprising 69 matches played over 17 weeks. It is contested by ten teams, five from Australia and five from New Zealand...

 has also used the arena on two occasions since 2010.

Since 2008 Vector Arena has also been a regular host of the WWE's NZ tours with Raw

WWE RAW

WWE Raw ) is a sports entertainment television program for WWE that currently airs on the USA Network in the United States...

, SmackDown and ECW all performing at the venue.

In 2011 some 10,000 fans saw an Ice Hockey

Ice hockey

Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...

 international between Canada and the United States on a $4.2m temporary ice rink.

Vector arena will host its first National Basketball League

National Basketball League (Australasia)

The National Basketball League, also known as the iiNet NBL Championship for sponsorship reasons, is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in Australasia....

 game on 28 October 2011 when the defending champion (and Auckland based) New Zealand Breakers

New Zealand Breakers

The New Zealand Breakers are a professional basketball team competing in the Australasian National Basketball League. The Breakers joined the NBL for the 2003/04 season as one of two expansion clubs. The club is based in the city of Auckland, New Zealand and play their home games at the North...

 take on the Sydney Kings

Sydney Kings

The Sydney Kings are a professional basketball team competing in the Australasian National Basketball League. They are the only team to date to win three consecutive championships in the NBL and currently sit third behind the Adelaide 36ers and Melbourne Tigers two away from the record five wins...

 in Round 4 of the 2011–12 NBL season

2011–12 NBL season

The 2011–12 National Basketball League is the thirty-fourth season of competition since its establishment in 1979. A total of 9 teams will contest the league. The regular season will be played between October 2011 and March 2012, followed by a post-season involving the top four in April 2012. The...

. The Arena is scheduled to host two more Breakers games during the season, against the Townsville Crocodiles

Townsville Crocodiles

The Townsville Crocodiles are a professional Australian basketball team based in Townsville, Queensland. They compete in the National Basketball League...

 in Round 8 (24 November) while the last game at the venue is again against the Kings in Round 17 (27 January, 2012).

The first NBL game at Vector Arena drew a New Zealand record crowd for a basketball

Basketball

Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...

game when 6,900 saw the NZ Breakers defeat the Sydney Kings 76-59.

External links

• Vector Arena (official website of the arena, including seating plans)