Wukesong Arena

The stadium was constructed by "Beijing Wukesong Cultural & Sports Co. Ltd." whose five shareholders are Zhongguancun CENCONS Group, Haidian State-owned Assets Investment Co. Ltd, Beijing Urban Construction Group Co. Ltd, Beijing Urban Construction Co. Ltd and the Tianhong Group. After the Olympic Games, the center became an important part of Beijing's Olympic Games heritage, allowing citizens to enjoy cultural, sports, leisure, recreational, and commercial activities. It was a large-scale comprehensive project, rare in Beijing in integrating cultural, sporting, and commercial purposes with large-scale gardens and green spaces.

On 6 January 2011 MasterCard Worldwide, the rival of Olympic sponsor Visa, announced the acquisition of the naming rights to the center. It was renamed MasterCard Center effective from 21 January 2011. Nearly five years later, on 16 December 2015, LeTV Sports announced that it has obtained naming rights for the arena. It was officially renamed as LeSports Center on 1 January 2016. Beyond that, LeSports promised to provide a package of intellectual services inside and outside the arena.^[2] After the closing of LeTV Sports, the arena was briefly named Huaxi Live.^[3] From September 2017 until 2023, the Cadillac division of General Motors has owned naming rights for the arena.^[4]

On 14 December 2015 the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) announced that its Beijing expansion team would play in the arena. On 5 September 2016, Kunlun Red Star defenseman Anssi Salmela scored the first goal in the arena's first hockey game and the first home goal for Kunlun in KHL. Red Star won the game 6–3.

In 2017, 18,000 people attended the Chinese Basketball Association All-Star Game at the LeSports Centre.^{[citation needed]}

The Wukesong Arena is the biggest entertainment venue in Beijing, with many international, regional and local artists having staged their performance at the venue that spans a wide range of musical genres. International artists are highlighted using light blue in the table while non-concert entertainment events are also included.

The Wukesong Baseball Field (simplified Chinese: 五棵松棒球场; traditional Chinese: 五棵松棒球場; pinyin: Wǔkēsōng Bàngqiúchǎng) was a baseball stadium located next to the Wukesong Indoor Stadium at the Wukesong Culture and Sports Centre in Beijing, China. It was one of the nine temporary venues at the 2008 Summer Olympics, hosting baseball events.

The baseball field had a total land surface of 12,000 square metres and a capacity of 15,000. It included two competition fields and one training field.

In March 2008, the stadium hosted two games between the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres called the MLB China Series, marking the first time Major League Baseball teams played in China.

The venue hosted the baseball during the 2008 Summer Olympics^[13] Team USA clinched the bronze medal, while South Korea beat Cuba to claim the gold medal.^[14] After the Olympic Games ended, the facilities were demolished as planned, for a shopping mall called Bloomage LIVE · HI-UP.^[15][16]

• List of indoor arenas in China
• List of basketball arenas

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2. ^ "LeTV Sports to Name Beijing Wukesong Arena". CRIENGLISH.com. 18 December 2015. Archived from the original on 23 December 2015. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
3. ^ Liu, Charles (18 July 2017). "Wukesong Arena Newly Renamed as "Huaxi Live" as LeTV's Financial Woes Continue". The Beijinger. True Run Media. Archived from the original on 8 August 2018. Retrieved 7 August 2018.
4. ^ "Cadillac Named Title Sponsor of Wukesong Arena in Beijing". 21 September 2017. Archived from the original on 25 March 2019. Retrieved 29 October 2017.
5. ^ a b c d e f "NBA.com: NBA Global Games 2013: History of NBA Global Games". NBA.com. NBA. Archived from the original on 11 January 2016. Retrieved 1 November 2014.
6. ^ "Age of Dragons". 30 October 2018. Archived from the original on 8 October 2019. Retrieved 7 November 2019.
7. ^ Kang, Seung-hun (26 January 2010). "Super Junior wraps up concert in Beijing". Asiae. Archived from the original on 5 January 2014. Retrieved 26 April 2012.
8. ^ "2012 Shinhwa Grand Tour: The Return 신화 아시아 투어 콘서트 일정" Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine Shinhwa Company. 10 April 2012. Retrieved 2012-04-13 (in Korean)
9. ^ 神话备战北京演唱会 娱乐综艺"让道". Sina (in Chinese). 4 June 2013. Archived from the original on 22 November 2015. Retrieved 9 June 2013.
10. ^ Hong, Grace Danbi (22 July 2013). "Shinhwa Burns Up the Night in Beijing and Wraps Up Asia Tour". enewsWorld. CJ E&M. Archived from the original on 9 November 2013. Retrieved 25 July 2013.
11. ^ "Beijing Events – the Beijinger". www.thebeijinger.com. Archived from the original on 24 July 2015. Retrieved 24 July 2015.
12. ^ "Iron Maiden – To Play in China For First Time Ever – Metal Storm". www.metalstorm.net. Archived from the original on 15 March 2016. Retrieved 14 January 2016.
13. ^ "Castro blasts Olympics for dropping baseball – Beijing Olympics – NBCNews.com". NBC News. 16 July 2008. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
14. ^ "Photos: ROK glitters on diamond – The Official Website of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games". En.beijing2008.cn. Archived from the original on 5 January 2011.
15. ^ baltimoresun.com
16. ^ Demick, Barbara (22 February 2009). "Beijing's Olympic building boom becomes a bust". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 25 February 2009. Retrieved 22 February 2009.

Media related to Cadillac Arena at Wikimedia Commons

• Official website