Araneta Coliseum
The Araneta Coliseum, also currently known by naming rights sponsorship as Smart Araneta Coliseum, is an indoor multi-purpose sports arena that is part of the Araneta City in the Cubao area of Quezon City, Philippines. Nicknamed "the Big Dome", it is one of the largest indoor arenas in Asia, and one of the largest clear span domes in the world. The dome measures approximately making it the largest dome in Asia from its opening in 1960 until 2001 when it was surpassed by the Ōita Stadium in Japan with a dome measuring.
The Smart Araneta Coliseum is mostly used for indoor sports such as basketball. It is a main venue of the Philippine Basketball Association. The Big Dome is also used for other sports and events such as boxing, cockfighting, local and international concerts, circuses, religious gatherings, and beauty pageants.
History
In 1952, J. Amado Araneta, a member of the Araneta family, purchased from Radio Corporation of America of land in Cubao which includes the Araneta family home and is bounded by Epifanio Delos Santos Avenue or EDSA, Aurora Boulevard, P. Tuazon and 15th Avenue. During this time, Araneta envisioned a multi-events venue inspired by the Madison Square Garden in New York City and the Roman Colosseum in Rome, Italy, which drew criticisms from his business advisers and even Amado's personal friends. This vision led to the development of business and lifestyle buildings surrounding the coliseum, which ultimately gave rise to the Araneta Center, now renamed as the Araneta City.The Araneta Coliseum was constructed from 1957 to late 1959 and designed and built by architect Dominador Lacson Lugtu and engineer Leonardo Onjunco Lugtu. From 1960 to 1963, the Coliseum was recognized as the largest covered coliseum in the world. Today, it remains one of the largest clear span domes in the world with a dome diameter of 108 meters.
The coliseum opened on March 16, 1960, with Gabriel "Flash" Elorde boxing for the World Junior Lightweight crown against Harold Gomes. General admission then was, and the reserve section was. The total demand for people who wished to enter the coliseum to watch the boxing match live breached its capacity, wherein the total capacity of the coliseum was only 36,000 people, while the total number of people who came to the coliseum totaled to around 50,000 people. The coliseum also featured a swimming pool and a gazebo during its opening, located to the current site of the Araneta City Parking Garage South and the Novotel Manila Araneta City. However, the featured facilities closed down a few years later.
On the evening of November 16, 1963, a few days after the nationwide elections, defeated Quezon provincial governor Claro Robles attempted to shoot his campaign manager Eladio Caliwara, congressman of Quezon's 2nd district, at the arena, reportedly due to Caliwara calling him a "turncoat". The two had been at the venue to watch the bout between Elorde and Love Allotey.
Among the notable events to take place at the arena were the 11th and 34th FAMAS Awards, the 1975 "Thrilla in Manila" boxing match between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier, in which the arena was renamed into the "Philippine Coliseum", and the annual Binibining Pilipinas beauty pageant. During the Thrilla in Manila, all of the 36,000 seats to watch the event live were sold out. Aside from boxing matches, the Philippine Basketball Association has played most of their games at the Araneta Coliseum since its creation in 1975. Other basketball events hosted by the arena were the 1978 FIBA World Championship, a game between the 1978 NBA champions Washington Bullets and a PBA selection in 1979, and the 1982 Asian Youth Basketball Championship where the Philippines defeated China in the final.
In the third quarter of 1998, the Aranetas and Pilipinas Shell started negotiations for a naming rights deal that would have lasted until 2008. The Aranetas, who wanted to retain their name at the arena rejected the proposed name "Shell Coliseum at the Araneta Center". Instead, the parties agreed on a contract where Shell's name and logo will be painted at the arena's basketball court, a move that was almost shelved due to objections from other PBA teams because Shell owned the then-PBA team, the Shell Turbo Chargers.
File:Araneta Coliseum Basketball with Big Cube 2011.JPG|thumb|The Araneta Coliseum with the "Big Cube" LED display during a PBA game between San Miguel Beermen and Barangay Ginebra Kings in 2011. This photo was taken before the naming rights with Smart Communications took effect.
In 1999, the Araneta Group initially planned to demolish the coliseum due to high amusement taxes and rising costs, which gave the company little revenue despite being subsidized by the company since its opening in 1960. The planned demolition was one of the proposals to the company in order to save funds for other business ventures. The plan was eventually scrapped in favor of the coliseum's renovation project, due to the coliseum's historical significance and for being a landmark in both the metropolis and the country. The company later hired Denzel Skinner to spearhead the renovation works, and drew inspiration from the renovation works made in some US indoor arenas. The coliseum underwent its first major renovation at the cost of ₱200 million. The major changes include the renovation of the lower box area, replacement of seats for the patron and lower box sections, and installation of a four-sided center-hung scoreboard. The section names were also given numerical designations: 100 for Patron section, 200 for Lower Box, 300 for Upper Box A, and 400 for Upper Box B. In 2006, an LED display was added to the scoreboard.
From 2001 to 2008, the highest-grossing event at the arena is the Pacquiao vs. Larios boxing fight between Manny Pacquiao and Óscar Larios, earning ₱96.2 million. A concert by Westlife was attended by 17,887 people and earned ₱18.5 million, while a Cliff Richard concert earned ₱17.2 million despite being watched by 5,647 spectators.
Prior to the Ultimate All-Star Weekend in July 2011, it was announced that the Aranetas entered into a naming rights deal with mobile network operator Smart Communications, Inc., renaming the arena into "Smart Araneta Coliseum". The 5-year naming rights deal includes improvements and renovations to the arena such as the installation of curved escalators to improve access in the upper box and general admission areas, which was subsequently cancelled due to undisclosed reasons, and the construction of a parking lot that can accommodate up to 2,000 cars. The overall renovation project of the coliseum costed ₱1 billion.
Additional improvements for the renovation of the coliseum were made in 2012, including the renovation of the Red Gate entrance and the Green Gate side facade, landscaped surroundings, and the replacement of Upper Box level seats, thus increasing its seating capacity. The Lower Box and Patron sections were combined to make a new Patron section. A pathway between the former Patron and Lower Box sections was also made. The former Upper Box A section was renamed as Box section and the former Upper Box B section is now referred to as the "Upper Box" section. The renovation project of the coliseum was completed in June 2014.
On January 7, 2015, the Hydra-Rib basketball backboards first used in 1995 were replaced with Spalding ones. The backboards were first used in Game 1 of the 2014–15 PBA Philippine Cup Finals. On June 9, 2017, the OES SHOTS-14G7 shot clocks were replaced. The newer clocks were first used in Game 3 of the 2017 PBA Commissioner's Cup Quarterfinals match between the TNT Katropa and Meralco Bolts.
Ahead of the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup, the Araneta Coliseum underwent another renovation, and included the replacement of the previous "Big Cube" LED video board with a slightly larger and modernized LED video board, as well as the refurbishment of seating areas and renovation of team dugouts. New entrances were opened on the upper box, lower box and general admission levels, with direct connections to the ground level and the upper ground A level of the Gateway Mall 2, which is also connected to the mall's "Coliseum Plaza" area, a food alley area located along the Red Gate entrance.
Architecture and design
The Araneta Coliseum is an indoor arena designed by Dominador Lacson Lugtu. The sports venue has a large span dome with a diameter of as its roof. The dome is high at its highest point. The structure is supported by 48 concrete columns and 48 metal ribs. It has a floor area of.Richard de Leon of Atlantic, Gulf and Pacific did the steel framework of the venue – 4,965 aluminum sheets of gauge measuring was devised. Steam-treated wood from a variety of Philippine hardwood such as apitong, tanguile and narra fitted using tongue and groove was also used as support.
Notable events
Basketball
Araneta Coliseum, along with SM Mall of Asia Arena, is the primary venue of the Philippine Basketball Association and the University Athletic Association of the Philippines basketball.It annually hosts every PBA basketball championship and NCAA basketball championship, as well as the regular season and off-season opening games and championships of UAAP Basketball, UNTV Cup, and Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League.
The SEABA U16 Championship on May 14 to 18, 2017 and 2017 SEABA Championship on May 15 to 21, 2017 were held in the arena, where the Philippines won their 4th SEABA U-16 and 8th SEABA title.
FIBA World Cups
The first FIBA Basketball World Cup held in Asia was the 1978 FIBA World Championship in the Philippines from October 1 to 14, 1978. The arena was one of the two venues, alongside Rizal Memorial Coliseum, and was the venue for the final round.It was also one of the venues for the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup, which was co-hosted by the Philippines from August 25 to September 10, 2023. The tournament's final draw was held at the Coliseum on April 29, 2023. The arena hosted the first and 17th–32nd classification rounds. Except for the opening game, which was held at the Philippine Arena, the Coliseum hosted all of the Philippine national team's games during the 2023 World Cup.