The Antwerps Sportpaleis (Antwerp's Sport Palace), also called Sportpaleis Antwerpen or simply the Sportpaleis, is an arena

Arena

An arena is an enclosed area, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theater, musical performances, or sporting events. It is composed of a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for spectators. The key feature of an arena is that the event space is the...

 in Antwerp, Belgium

Belgium

Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

. It is a multipurpose hall where concerts, sporting events, festivals and fairs are organized. The arena was built for sport, especially track cycling, but there is now little sport there, an exception being the Diamond Games tennis.

According to Billboard Magazine, the Sportpaleis is the second most visited event hall in the world, second only to Madison Square Garden

Madison Square Garden

Madison Square Garden, often abbreviated as MSG and known colloquially as The Garden, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the New York City borough of Manhattan and located at 8th Avenue, between 31st and 33rd Streets, situated on top of Pennsylvania Station.Opened on February 11, 1968, it is the...

. The Sportpaleis is known for performances by both Dutch-speaking and international artists. It also hosts the Nekka-Nacht, the Proximus Diamond Games tennis tournament for women and Pop Poll De Luxe, organised by the magazine HUMO

HUMO

HUMO is a popular Belgian weekly radio and television magazine, written in Dutch.Originally the magazine was titled Humoradio, a portmanteau of 'humor' and 'radio'....

.

The main building is 88 metres wide and 132 metres long and has a roof spanning 11.600 m². Under the stands, there is a wooden cycling track 250 meters long and 8 meters wide. The arena is elliptical and has two floors.

Next to the Sportpaleis is the Lotto Arena

Lotto Arena

Lotto Arena is an arena in Antwerp, Belgium. It has a seating capacity for 8,050 people for concerts and 5,218 for sporting events. The arena opened on March 10, 2007, after nine month of construction and Adjacent to the Sportpaleis....

, a hall that can accommodate 5,000 spectators.

History

Building started on 11 January 1932. It lasted 21 months: on 11 September 1933, the building was completed, the largest indoor arena in Europe.

On 29 September 1956, road cycling world champion Stan Ockers

Stan Ockers

Constant Ockers was a Belgian professional racing cyclist.He was runner-up in the Tour de France in 1950 and 1952, and the best sprinter in that race in 1955 and 1956. In 1955 he won the Classic "Ardennes double" by winning La Flèche Wallonne and the Liège–Bastogne–Liège in the same year...

 died a few days after a crash in his 116th performance at the track.

On 19 November 1988, Roy Orbison

Roy Orbison

Roy Kelton Orbison was an American singer-songwriter, well known for his distinctive, powerful voice, complex compositions, and dark emotional ballads. Orbison grew up in Texas and began singing in a rockabilly/country & western band in high school until he was signed by Sun Records in Memphis...

 gave his last performance at the Sportpaleis, performing "You Got It", live, for the first and only time.

Janet Jackson

Janet Jackson

Janet Damita Jo Jackson is an American recording artist and actress. Known for a series of sonically innovative, socially conscious and sexually provocative records, as well as elaborate stage shows, television and film roles, she has been a prominent figure in popular culture for over 25 years...

 was scheduled to perform during her All for You Tour

All for You Tour

The All for You Tour was a worldwide concert tour in 2001 by American pop/R&B singer Janet Jackson in support of her multi-platinum album All for You...

 on 29 November but the show was cancelled due to the September 11, 2001 attacks.

Pop star, Britney Spears

Britney Spears

Britney Jean Spears is an American recording artist and entertainer. Born in McComb, Mississippi, and raised in Kentwood, Louisiana, Spears began performing as a child, landing acting roles in stage productions and television shows. She signed with Jive Records in 1997 and released her debut album...

 performed here on a stop, during her highest-grossing tour, The Circus Starring Britney Spears, on July 9th, 2009. In 2011, her team confirmed that Britney will return and perform a concert in this arena, on October 8, 2011, for her newest tour, Femme Fatale Tour

Femme Fatale Tour

The Femme Fatale Tour is the seventh concert tour by American singer Britney Spears, in support of her seventh studio album, Femme Fatale. It was officially announced in March 2011, with dates for North American venues revealed. The tour was initially planned as a co-headlining tour with Enrique...

.

Sting performed during his Symphonicities

Symphonicities

Symphonicities is the tenth studio album by English musician Sting, released on 13 July 2010 on Deutsche Grammophon. The album is a companion piece to the tour of the same name, in which Sting, performing with the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra, reinterprets some of his songs as classical...

 Tour on 13 October 2010, along with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra is a British orchestra based in London. It tours widely, and is sometimes referred to as "Britain's national orchestra"...

.

Rihanna

Rihanna

Robyn Rihanna Fenty , better known as simply Rihanna, is a Barbadian recording artist. Born in Saint Michael, Barbados, Rihanna moved to the United States at the age of 16 to pursue a recording career under the guidance of record producer Evan Rogers...

 will come to the Sportpaleis for two sold-out concerts in October and November in 2011 as part of her Loud Tour

Loud Tour

The Loud Tour is the fourth concert tour by Barbadian recording artist Rihanna. Performing in over twenty countries in the Americas and Europe, the tour supports Rihanna’s fifth studio album, Loud...

.

Some artists who have performed at the Sportpaleis are: Shakira

Shakira

Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll , known professionally as Shakira , is a Colombian singer who emerged in the music scene of Colombia and Latin America in the early 1990s...

, Usher

Usher (entertainer)

Usher Terry Raymond IV , who performs under the mononym Usher, is an American singer-songwriter, and actor. He is considered around the world to be the reigning King of R&B. Usher rose to fame in the late 1990s with the release of his second album My Way, which spawned his first Billboard Hot 100...

, Rihanna, Lady Gaga

Lady GaGa

Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta , better known by her stage name Lady Gaga, is an American singer and songwriter. Born and raised in New York City, she primarily studied at the Convent of the Sacred Heart and briefly attended New York University's Tisch School of the Arts before withdrawing to...

, Britney Spears

Britney Spears

Britney Jean Spears is an American recording artist and entertainer. Born in McComb, Mississippi, and raised in Kentwood, Louisiana, Spears began performing as a child, landing acting roles in stage productions and television shows. She signed with Jive Records in 1997 and released her debut album...

, P!nk

Pink (singer)

Alecia Beth Moore , better known by her stage name Pink , is an American singer-songwriter, musician and actress....

, Kylie Minogue

Kylie Minogue

Kylie Ann Minogue, OBE - often known simply as Kylie - is an Australian singer, recording artist, songwriter, and actress. After beginning her career as a child actress on Australian television, she achieved recognition through her role in the television soap opera Neighbours, before commencing...

, Kings of Leon

Kings of Leon

Kings of Leon is an American rock band that originated in Albion, Oklahoma but formed in Nashville, Tennessee in 1999. The band is composed of brothers Anthony Caleb Followill , Ivan Nathan Followill and Michael Jared Followill Kings of Leon is an American rock band that originated in Albion,...

, Coldplay

Coldplay

Coldplay are a British alternative rock band formed in 1996 by lead vocalist Chris Martin and lead guitarist Jonny Buckland at University College London. After they formed Pectoralz, Guy Berryman joined the group as a bassist and they changed their name to Starfish. Will Champion joined as a...

, The Rolling Stones

The Rolling Stones

The Rolling Stones are an English rock band, formed in London in April 1962 by Brian Jones , Ian Stewart , Mick Jagger , and Keith Richards . Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early line-up...

, 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...

, Beyoncé, Avril Lavigne

Avril Lavigne

Avril Ramona Lavigne is a Canadian singer-songwriter. She was born in Belleville, Ontario, but spent most of her youth in the small town of Napanee. By the age of 15, she had appeared on stage with Shania Twain; by 16, she had signed a two-album recording contract with Arista Records worth more...

, Celine Dion

Celine Dion

Céline Marie Claudette Dion, , , is a Canadian singer. Born to a large family from Charlemagne, Quebec, Dion emerged as a teen star in the French-speaking world after her manager and future husband René Angélil mortgaged his home to finance her first record...

, Spice Girls

Spice Girls

The Spice Girls were a British pop girl group formed in 1994. The group consisted of Victoria Beckham , Melanie Brown, Emma Bunton, Melanie Chisholm and Geri Halliwell. They were signed to Virgin Records and released their debut single, "Wannabe" in 1996, which hit number-one in more than 30...

 and The Black Eyed Peas

The Black Eyed Peas

The Black Eyed Peas are an American pop group , formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1995. The group includes rappers will.i.am, apl.de.ap, and Taboo, and singer Fergie. Since the release of their third album Elephunk in 2003, the group has sold an estimated 56 million records worldwide...

, amongst others.

Audience

Billboard Magazine said the Sportpaleis was the second most visited event hall in the world between November 2007 and November 2008, with 1,239,436 visitors. Only Madison Square Garden

Madison Square Garden

Madison Square Garden, often abbreviated as MSG and known colloquially as The Garden, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the New York City borough of Manhattan and located at 8th Avenue, between 31st and 33rd Streets, situated on top of Pennsylvania Station.Opened on February 11, 1968, it is the...

in New York had more.

The arena can hold 18,500 people. It has 13,500 seats in the stands and 1,780 square center (seats) and the capacity to house a standing audience of 5,000.