What Are The Biggest Indoor Arenas In The World?

An indoor arena is a fully roofed, climate-controlled structure whose playing surface sits below tiered concentric seating, optimised to give every spectator an unobstructed sight-line. Since Madison Square Garden pioneered the type in 1890, capacities have ballooned nearly tenfold through iterative engineering leaps, digital modelling, and global competition for mega-events.

This article ranks venues by seated capacity for core indoor sports, such as basketball, ice hockey, and volleyball, excluding retractable-roof football stadiums such as AT&T Stadium or Caesars Superdome. Advances in long-span steel, lamellar domes, and movable seating now allow single-bowl arenas to host crowds once reserved for outdoor venues. The current record holder, the Philippine Arena near Manila, seats 55,000 and relies on a 180-metre, 9,000-ton truss roof to create a column-free volume of 260,000 m³. Close behind is the 37,000-seat Saitama Super Arena, whose bleachers slide on air bearings to reconfigure the bowl in six hours.

The 10 Largest Indoor Arenas In The World

Jump to the list of the top 100 largest indoor arenas in the world

Philippine Arena

Philippine Arena is the world's largest indoor arena: a 55,000-seat, 65 m-tall, 227×179 m domed structure opened in 2014 for Iglesia ni Cristo's centennial. Designed by Populous and built by Hanwha for US$213 million, the modernist venue hosts national-team basketball, FIBA World Cup games, sell-out concerts, and record 55,000-strong variety-show audiences. The facility is owned by New Era University and is Guinness-certified as the world’s largest mixed-use indoor theatre.

Mineirinho

Mineirinho Arena, officially Estádio Jornalista Felipe Drummond, is Brazil's largest indoor venue. Opened 1980 beside Mineirão stadium in Belo Horizonte's Pampulha complex, the state-owned multipurpose hall seats 25,000. Built by ADEMG, it regularly stages top-tier volleyball, basketball, UFC bouts, and major concerts by artists from Guns N' Roses to Rihanna.

Co-op Live

Co-op Live, opened 14 May 2024 on Manchester's Etihad Campus, is the UK's largest indoor arena and third worldwide. Designed by Populous for Oak View Group and City Football Group, the £365-450 million all-electric venue holds 23,500 (20,500 seated). Thirty-two bars, restaurants and lounges ring a square, acoustics-optimised bowl praised by performers. Solar panels, rain-harvesting, zero landfill waste and local sourcing underpin sustainability; investors include Harry Styles and other celebrity backers.

Saitama Super Arena

Saitama Super Arena, Chūō-ku, Saitama, Japan, opened 2000, seats up to 36,500, making it one of the world's largest indoor arenas. Dan Meis' movable-seating design converts from 22,500-seat arena to stadium layout. Hosting basketball at Tokyo 2020, MMA, major concerts and figure skating, it anchors Japan's premier multipurpose sports-entertainment calendar and Year-end martial-arts traditions.

Mexico City Arena

Mexico City Arena (Arena CDMX), Azcapotzalco, Mexico City, opened Feb 25, 2012, is Latin America's largest indoor venue. Designed by KMD Architects, the US$300 million, 45 m-high arena seats up to 22,300 and contains 124 suites, 5,000-car parking, two heliports and colossal 6,200 m² outdoor/700 m² indoor Daktronics LED screens. Home to NBA G League's Capitanes, it hosts NBA, boxing, UFC cards, Triplemanía lucha libre, concerts and 2024 Miss Universe.

Bell Centre

Bell Centre, downtown Montreal, Quebec, opened on 16 March 1996 to replace the storied Forum, and is Canada's largest indoor arena. Built for C$270 million, the 21,105-seat hockey configuration (22,114 basketball; up to 19,200 concerts) venue hosts the NHL's Montreal Canadiens and major NBA exhibitions, UFC cards, WWE pay-per-views, figure-skating world championships and chart-topping tours. Steep grandstands, six restaurants and a huge video scoreboard create an intense atmosphere that has produced consecutive sell-outs since 2005, earning the building's status among the world's busiest arenas today.

KFC Yum! Center

KFC Yum! Center, on Louisville's Ohio River waterfront, opened 10 October 2010 as a US$238 million Populous-designed arena seating 22,090 for basketball, America's largest hoops-dedicated arena, and 21,500 for volleyball. Home of the University of Louisville Cardinals, it also stages top concerts, UFC, NBA exhibitions, and indoor football. Features include an integrated Daktronics video system, 72 suites and a year-round Main Street sports bar. Record attendance is 23,085 set by Metallica's sell-out 2019 spectacular show.

Greensboro Coliseum

Greensboro Complex, Greensboro, North Carolina, opened 1959 as a war-memorial coliseum and expanded into an eight-venue campus seating 35,000-plus. Its centerpiece First Horizon Coliseum now holds 22,000, but past expansions saw crowds over 23,600 for Phish and 23,000 for ACC basketball. The city-owned, Oak View Group-operated site stages ACC men's and women's tournaments, NCAA Final Four history, UNC Greensboro and NBA G League Swarm games, arena football, figure skating nationals, major concerts and, from 2025, ECHL hockey's Greensboro Gargoyles team.

Enterprise Center

Enterprise Center, downtown St. Louis, Missouri, opened on 8 October 1994, seats 18,096 for NHL hockey and up to 22,000 for concerts. Designed by Ellerbe Becket for US$135 million, the city-owned arena has housed the St. Louis Blues since 1995 and stages Arch Madness MVC basketball, NCAA regionals, SEC tournaments, Frozen Four 2025, UFC, PBR and blockbuster tours. Three renovation phases (2017-19) upgraded technology, seating and premium clubs. Naming-rights history: Kiel, Savvis, Scottrade, Enterprise, for busy schedules.

Dean Smith Center

Dean E. Smith Center, "Dean Dome", is UNC-Chapel Hill's privately funded 21,750-seat arena, opened 1986 in a blasted rock ravine and named for coaching icon Dean Smith. Maple Roy Williams Court anchors the two-tier bowl; lifetime donor seats dominate the lower level, influencing the famed yet sometimes "wine-and-cheese" atmosphere. Despite that, the Tar Heels boast an 84 % home winning rate. Successive upgrades added HD boards, ribbons and lighting, but narrow concourses and limited premium space spur debate over major renovation or replacement.

The Largest Indoor Arenas In The World