The
Araneta Coliseum is an indoor sport stadium located in the Cubao area of
Quezon CityQuezon City , is the former capital and the most populous city in the Philippines. Located on the island of Luzon, Quezon City is one of the cities and municipalities that make up Metro Manila, the National Capital Region. The city was named after Manuel L...
,
PhilippinesThe Philippines officially known as the Republic of the Philippines, is a country in Southeast Asia with Manila as its capital city. It comprises 7,107 islands in the western Pacific Ocean....
. It has hosted entertainment events in the country.
In 1952, J. Amado Araneta, a business tycoon, purchased a 35-hectare property in Cubao that is now the
Araneta CenterThe Araneta Center is a 35-hectare commercial area in Quezon City, Philippines. Araneta Center Inc. is the owner, developer and manager of Araneta Center, which brings in an estimated 1 million visitors daily. The centerpiece of the complex is the Araneta Coliseum, the largest entertainment venue...
from
Radio Corporation of AmericaRCA Corporation, founded as Radio Corporation of America, was an electronics company in existence from 1919 to 1986. Currently, the RCA trademark is owned by the French conglomerate Thomson SA through RCA Trademark Management S.A., a company owned by Thomson...
(RCA). The property, which includes the Araneta family home, is bounded by Epifanio Delos Santos Avenue, Aurora Boulevard, P.
The
Araneta Coliseum is an indoor sport stadium located in the Cubao area of
Quezon CityQuezon City , is the former capital and the most populous city in the Philippines. Located on the island of Luzon, Quezon City is one of the cities and municipalities that make up Metro Manila, the National Capital Region. The city was named after Manuel L...
,
PhilippinesThe Philippines officially known as the Republic of the Philippines, is a country in Southeast Asia with Manila as its capital city. It comprises 7,107 islands in the western Pacific Ocean....
. It has hosted entertainment events in the country.
History
In 1952, J. Amado Araneta, a business tycoon, purchased a 35-hectare property in Cubao that is now the
Araneta CenterThe Araneta Center is a 35-hectare commercial area in Quezon City, Philippines. Araneta Center Inc. is the owner, developer and manager of Araneta Center, which brings in an estimated 1 million visitors daily. The centerpiece of the complex is the Araneta Coliseum, the largest entertainment venue...
from
Radio Corporation of AmericaRCA Corporation, founded as Radio Corporation of America, was an electronics company in existence from 1919 to 1986. Currently, the RCA trademark is owned by the French conglomerate Thomson SA through RCA Trademark Management S.A., a company owned by Thomson...
(RCA). The property, which includes the Araneta family home, is bounded by Epifanio Delos Santos Avenue, Aurora Boulevard, P. Tuazon and 15th Avenue. It is the centerpiece of the Araneta Center, offering a one-stop shopping, dining and entertainment experience.
Construction of the Araneta Coliseum was started in 1957 and finished in late 1959. In 1960 to 1963, the Coliseum received international recognition as the
"Biggest covered coliseum in the world". Even today, it still remains as one of the largest clear span domes in the world and the largest indoor facility in
AsiaAsia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.6% of the earth's total surface area and with approximately 4 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population.Asia is traditionally defined as part of the...
with a dome diameter of 108 meters. It occupies a total land area of almost 40,000 square metres and has a floor area or 2,300 square metres.
The coliseum opened on March 16, 1960, with
Gabriel "Flash" ElordeGabriel "Flash" Elorde is widely considered as one of the greatest Filipino boxers of all time along with fellow super featherweight slugger Manny Pacquiao and flyweight champion in the 1920s, Pancho Villa . He was born and raised in the town of Bogo, Cebu...
boxing for the World Junior Lightweight crown from
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Harold Gomes. More than 33,000 spectators watched the contest. General admission then was 80 centavos and reserve section was five pesos.
Throughout the years, the Araneta Coliseum management adheres to the commitment of J. Amado Araneta to provide the
Filipino peopleThe Filipino people are the nationals of the Republic of the Philippines and to persons having Filipino ancestry. There are about 92 million Filipinos in the Philippines and about 11 million outside the Philippines....
with the best entertainment at the lowest admission possible. Some of the most remembered performances were the 11th and 34th FAMAS Awards,
"Thrilla in ManilaThe Thrilla in Manila was the third and final famous boxing match between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier for the Heavyweight Boxing Championship of the World, fought at the Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines on October 1, 1975....
" which was the Ali-Frazier World Heavyweight Championship Fight, the
Philippine Basketball AssociationThe Philippine Basketball Association is a professional basketball league in the Philippines founded in 1975. It is the first and the oldest professional basketball league in Asia...
Games, and annually, the
Binibining PilipinasBinibining Pilipinas is a beauty contest held annually in the Philippines...
Beauty Pageant.
In 1999, the coliseum underwent its first major renovation at the cost of P200 million.
On December 2005, the
Ang Dating DaanAng Dating Daan is a religious radio and television program in the Philippines produced by Members Church of God International and hosted by Brother Eli Soriano.-Background:...
25th Anniversary broke the record of 22,000 plus in one big occasion. June 3,2008 an estimated over 30,000 people of the
Ang Dating DaanAng Dating Daan is a religious radio and television program in the Philippines produced by Members Church of God International and hosted by Brother Eli Soriano.-Background:...
join the Bible Exposition in the said venue.
Last September 30, 2007, an estimated crowd of 23,315 crammed the coliseum to watch the pivotal Game 2 of the basketball semifinals between rivals De La Salle University Green Archers and
Ateneo de Manila UniversityThe Ateneo de Manila University is a private university run by the Society of Jesus in the Philippines. It began in 1859 when the City of Manila handed control of the Escuela Municipal de Manila in Intramuros, Manila, to the Jesuits. It was then a state-subsidized school...
Blue Eagles
UAAP Season 70UAAP Season 70 was the 2007-2008 season of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines, which was hosted by the University of Santo Tomas. The De La Salle University-Manila's Green and Lady Archers and De La Salle-Santiago Zobel School's Junior Green Archers returned after being...
. It is so far the highest recorded basketball game crowd after the renovations.Then at The
2008 PBA Fiesta ConferenceThe 2008 Philippine Basketball Association Fiesta Conference or known as the 2008 Smart PBA Fiesta Conference for sponsorship reasons, is the last conference of the 2007-08 PBA season. The tournament began on March 29 with a game between the Coca-Cola Tigers and the Talk 'N Text Phone Pals at...
Finals between
Air21 ExpressThe Burger King Whoppers is a professional basketball team in the Philippine Basketball Association that was founded in 2002.Burger King is owned by the Linaheim Corporation, a subsidiary of the Lina Group of Companies, telecommunications mogul Manuel V...
and
Barangay Ginebra KingsThe Barangay Ginebra Kings is a professional basketball team of the Philippine Basketball Association founded in 1979 and owned by the Ginebra San Miguel, Inc., a subsidiary of the San Miguel Corporation...
22,902 people watched the do-or-die game for the championship. The 2008 UAAP Samsung Cheerdance Competition held a record breaking crowd of 23, 448 people who rocked the coliseum.
Sports Usage
left
The arena is primarily the home arena for the
Philippine Basketball AssociationThe Philippine Basketball Association is a professional basketball league in the Philippines founded in 1975. It is the first and the oldest professional basketball league in Asia...
and the UAAP basketball leagues. The facility has also hosted the 1975
Thrilla in ManilaThe Thrilla in Manila was the third and final famous boxing match between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier for the Heavyweight Boxing Championship of the World, fought at the Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines on October 1, 1975....
, 1978
FIBA World ChampionshipThe 1978 FIBA World Championship was an international basketball competition hosted by Philippines from October 1 to 14, 1978.Rizal Memorial Coliseum at Manila and Araneta Coliseum at Quezon City, Metro Manila were the venues for the event.-Venues:...
the 2007
Philippines World Pool ChampionshipThe 2007 WPA Men's World Nine-ball Championship was the 18th annual international nine-ball pool tournament for men sanctioned by the World Pool-Billiard Association . It was held at the Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines from 3–11 November 2007...
.
It annually hosts every PBA Basketball Championship,
NCAA Basketball ChampionshipThe National Collegiate Athletic Association basketball tournament is held every first semester of the academic year . Each year, eight schools vie to win the two championships: the Juniors and Seniors...
as well as UAAP Basketball Championship.
Araneta is of the two arenas as the main home of the PBA, the other being the
Cuneta AstrodomeCuneta Astrodome is an indoor sporting arena located in Pasay City, Philippines. It is better known as the home of the Philippine Basketball Association from 1993, when it left the Philsports Arena, then known as the ULTRA, until 1998...
.
Other events
It also hosts many non-sporting events, such as concerts, shows, graduations, seminars,
Disney on IceDisney On Ice is a touring ice show produced by Feld Entertainment under agreement with The Walt Disney Company. Aimed primarily at children, the shows feature figure skaters dressed as Disney cartoon characters in performances that each derive their music and plot from elements collected from...
, the circus, and beauty pageants.
Facilities
Nicknamed “The Big Dome,” it hosts sporting and entertainment events in the country.
Construction of the Araneta Coliseum started in 1957 and ended in late 1959. it occupies a total land area of almost four hectares and has a 2,300-square meter floor area.
The Araneta Coliseum embarked on a P250-million renovation in 1999. the renovation includes a complete back-of-the-house overhaul with the construction of a plush locker, dressing, production and press rooms. All seats for the premier sections in the patron and lower box areas were replaced.
The Aranetas installed a new catwalk to accommodate the most technically demanding event setups in addition to housing a four-sided center hung scoreboard, the only one of its kind in the Philippines.
Capacity
The Araneta Coliseum has the largest capacity in
Southeast AsiaManila
Bangkok
Ho Chi Minh City
Kuala Lumpur
Singapore
Yangon
Bandung
Hanoi
Surabaya
Taichung
Kaohsiung
Medan|-|}...
garnering almost 25,000 seats.
The Coliseum's large
seating capacitySeating capacity refers to the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, either in terms of the physical space available, or in terms of limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile that seats two to a stadium that...
(14,711 for
basketballBasketball is a team sport in which two teams of 5 players try to score points against one another by placing a ball through a
10 foot high hoop under organized rules...
; up to 24,679 for end-stage concerts and 15,657 for center-stage concerts) and suburban location have also made it very popular for large concerts and, to a slightly lesser degree, major
boxingBoxing is a combat sport where two participants, generally of similar weight, fight each other with their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee and is typically engaged in during a series of one to three-minute intervals called rounds. There are three ways to win...
matches.
Sports events
- 1975 Thrilla in Manila
The Thrilla in Manila was the third and final famous boxing match between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier for the Heavyweight Boxing Championship of the World, fought at the Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines on October 1, 1975....
- 1978
The 1978 FIBA World Championship was an international basketball competition hosted by Philippines from October 1 to 14, 1978.Rizal Memorial Coliseum at Manila and Araneta Coliseum at Quezon City, Metro Manila were the venues for the event.-Venues:...
World Basketball ChampionshipThe FIBA World Championship is a world basketball tournament for men's national teams held quadrennially by the International Basketball Federation ....
- 2007 Philippines World Pool Championship
The 2007 WPA Men's World Nine-ball Championship was the 18th annual international nine-ball pool tournament for men sanctioned by the World Pool-Billiard Association . It was held at the Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines from 3–11 November 2007...
Regular events
- PBA
The Philippine Basketball Association is a professional basketball league in the Philippines founded in 1975. It is the first and the oldest professional basketball league in Asia...
Basketball: elimination round (selected games), Playoffs (selected games), PBA Finals
- UAAP Basketball: Opening Ceremonies, Regular Season (selected games), UAAP Cheerdance Competition
The UAAP Cheerdance Competition is an annual one-day event of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines for cheerleading. However, it does not count in the tabulation to determine the UAAP Overall Championship....
, Final Four and UAAP FinalsThe University Athletic Association of the Philippines holds its basketball tournaments from July to October of a calendar year.The tournament is divided into two divisions, the Seniors' division, which is further divided into the Men's tournament, for male collegiate players, and the Women's...
- NCAA Basketball: Opening Ceremonies, NCAA Cheerdance Competition, NCAA Eliminations, NCAA Semi-Finals and NCAA Finals
Entertainment events
- FAMAS Awards of the Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences:
- The 11th FAMAS Awards on April 14, 1963
- The 34th FAMAS Awards on May 18, 1986
External links