THE CONCERT venue at Birmingham’s National Exhibition Centre is changing its name again.
The NEC Group has announced that the Genting Arena will now be ‘rebranded’ as Resorts World Arena from December as part of its continued partnership with Genting UK.
Acts Adele, Take That, Kylie, Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, Paul Weller and Harry Styles perform there since it became the Genting Arena in January 2015.
Genting UK will still hold the title sponsorship of the venue alongside the new brand name.
The move means the Arena will be more closely aligned with Genting’s Resorts World Birmingham which opened three years ago.
The venue says the decision also follows NEC Group’s results for the year to 31 March 2018 announced in July, highlighting how attendance at the group’s two arenas grew by 17 per cent against the previous year to over 1.6 million.
Phil Mead, managing director of NEC Group Arenas said: “The alignment of the Resorts World brand to our world class arena will serve both parties well in maximising branding opportunities.
“Resorts World Birmingham was the first piece of the group’s leisure strategy to transform the NEC campus into a 24-hour leisure and entertainment destination, and has helped us to increase campus footfall, reaching 7.5 million in 2018.
“As a top destination on many touring routes, the Arena has recently played host to global artists such as Iron Maiden, Paul Weller, Britney Spears and Kylie Minogue and has invested in excess of £3million in its facilities since partnering with Genting UK, enhancing the customer experience both front and back of house.
“This, teamed with the outstanding outlet shopping, leisure, and a wide range of bars and restaurants for our visitors over the road at Resorts World Birmingham, makes this an extremely cohesive partnership that’s helping to make our ambitious campus plans reality.”
Ian Bennett, operations director for Resorts World Birmingham added: “It makes sense to align the two venues under one brand. We are delighted to continue our relationship with the Arena and the NEC Group with this exciting new brand development.”
