Colonel William A. Phillips

Accor Arena (originally known as the Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy), also known as Paris-Bercy, is an indoor sports arena and concert hall located in the neighbourhood of Bercy, on the Boulevard de Bercy, in the 12th arrondissement of Paris, France. The closest Métro station is Bercy, which also serves the Finance Ministry across the aforementioned boulevard.

Designed by the architectural firm Andrault-Parat, Jean Prouvé and Aydin Guvan, the arena has a pyramidal shape and walls covered with a sloping lawn. It has a seating capacity ranging from 7,000 to 20,300, depending on the event. As part of the 2014–2015 renovations efforts, the arena was renamed Bercy Arena on 1 January 2015. It was again renamed AccorHotels Arena in October 2015,[2] until it received its current name in June 2020.[3][4] Since 1985, the arena has hosted the annual Festival des Arts Martiaux.[5]

Events

Sports

The arena during the Paris Masters in 2008.

The Accor Arena is the main venue for the Paris Masters ATP Tour tennis tournament, and hosts the annual LNB All-Star Game basketball event and the Grand Slam Paris judo tournament. It is also used for many other sports events, such as table tennis, handball, basketball, boxing, gymnastics, track cycling and show jumping.

Since 1985, the Accor Arena hosts the annual Festival des Arts Martiaux. The event was founded by Karaté Bushido and showcases martial arts masters from around the world.[5]

POPB (Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy) hosted the European gymnastics championship in 2000, the 1991 and 1996[6] FIBA EuroLeague Final Fours, and the FIBA EuroBasket championship in 1999, among others. It also hosted the 2009–10 EuroLeague Final Four. It also hosted the Masters Karting Paris Bercy star race, from 1993 to 2001, and again in 2011. It was co-host of the 2017 IIHF World Championship and the FIBA Women's EuroBasket 2021.

The arena hosted the 2017 European League of Legends Championship Series Summer Finals[7] and the 2019 League of Legends World Championship Finals.

On January 24, 2020, it hosted an NBA regular season game between the Milwaukee Bucks and Charlotte Hornets, who would be represented by Frenchman Nicolas Batum. The Chicago Bulls beat the Detroit Pistons 126-108 at the arena on January 19, 2023 during the 2022–23 NBA season.[8] The 2023–24 NBA season will see the Brooklyn Nets play the Cleveland Cavaliers at the arena.

The arena hosted France's first UFC event on 3 September 2022, for UFC Fight Night: Gane vs. Tuivasa.[9] UFC returned to the arena on 2 September 2023 for UFC Fight Night: Gane vs. Spivak.[10]

In May 2023, the arena hosted the BLAST.tv Major for the video game Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, in what would be the final major played on Global Offensive before Counter-Strike 2 was released in September 2023.

The arena is set to be a venue for the 2024 Summer Olympics, hosting the basketball finals and the artistic gymnastics events.

Music

The arena is one of the main venues for concerts in Paris. It has hosted numerous French and international performers over the years.

Norwegian band A-ha played 2 concerts at Bercy in 1988.[11][12] Among those who have performed there the most are French rock singer Johnny Hallyday with 93 solo concerts from 1987 to 2016 and 8 concerts with the group Les vieilles canailles, totalising 101 performances, French singer-songwriter Michel Sardou with 91 concerts from 1989 to 2012, French entertainer Dorothée with 56 concerts from 1990 to 1996 and another in 2010, Canadian singer Celine Dion with 35 concerts from 1995 to 2017, Canadian-born French singer Mylène Farmer with 33 concerts from 1989 to 2013, as well as American singer-songwriter Madonna with 25 concerts from 1990 to 2023. French electronic music duo Daft Punk performed and recorded their performance for Alive 2007 at Bercy. German band Rammstein performed and recorded their performance for Rammstein: Paris at Bercy. American rock band My Chemical Romance also performed at Bercy in June 2022 as part of their Reunion Tour.[13]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Phases finales". La Ligne Bleue. No. 41. Cergy: French Ice Hockey Federation. 6 March 2020.
  2. ^ "AccorHotels Acquires Naming Rights for Bercy Arena in Paris". Archived from the original on 9 May 2016. Retrieved 12 October 2015.
  3. ^ "Accor Arena". Accor Arena (in French). Archived from the original on 24 July 2020. Retrieved 2 June 2020.
  4. ^ AccorHotels Arena devient AccorArena [AccorHotels Arena becomes AccorArena]. YouTube (in French). 24 May 2020. Archived from the original on 18 November 2021. Retrieved 2 June 2020.
  5. ^ a b Isabelle Blondel (23 March 2017). "Festival des Arts Martiaux de Paris: les temps forts". Le Figaro Magazine (in French). Archived from the original on 28 August 2022. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
  6. ^ 1996 Final Four: Victory comes to Greece and the Greens Archived 12 October 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  7. ^ Arrivé, Paul (28 June 2017). "eSport - League of Legends : les finales LCS à l'AccorHotels Arena de Paris". L'Équipe (in French). Archived from the original on 10 August 2017. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
  8. ^ "All-star crowd sees Bulls beat Pistons in Paris". BBC Sport. Retrieved 20 January 2023.
  9. ^ "UFC FIGHT NIGHT : GANE vs. TUIVASA". accorarena.com. Archived from the original on 3 September 2022. Retrieved 3 September 2022.
  10. ^ Farah Hannoun (5 June 2023). "UFC announces return to Paris for Fight Night event on Sept. 2". mmajunkie.usatoday.com. Retrieved 5 June 2023.
  11. ^ "A-ha diary 1984 - now". Archived from the original on 15 February 2022. Retrieved 16 February 2022.
  12. ^ "Stay on These Roads Tour 1988 – 1989 | a-ha live". Archived from the original on 16 February 2022. Retrieved 16 February 2022.
  13. ^ T, Célia (3 June 2022). "MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE @ Accor Arena (01/06/22) - Reports". RockUrLife - webzine rock, metal, alternatif, pop, punk, indie (in French). Retrieved 8 March 2024.

External links

Media related to AccorHotels Arena at Wikimedia Commons