Manchester Central has welcomed 14,000 more people to indoor sporting events this year when compared to pre-pandemic levels.
In the last year sporting activities have included fitness festivals, cheerleading, extreme obstacle courses, boxing, American football, wheelchair rugby and dancing.
The events have welcomed 16,630 people in total, an increase from 2,600 in 2019.
Sporting events
Events include the Rugby League World Cup wheelchair final, which was watched by a combined peak audience of 1.3m people on TV, with over 4,500 people watching live at the venue; the largest ever live audience for the sport, setting a new world record in the process. HYROX Manchester kicked off the 2022 sporting programme in January, and American football NFL team, Jaguars Live came to the venue in June.
Manchester Central has also played host to the filming of Ninja Warrior, the England Boxing National Amateur Championship Final and Future Cheer.
Next year, events such as HYROX will return in January then again in May for the World Championships, alongside new fixtures in the calendar including the British Weight Lifting Open 2023 and the UK Drug Free Bodybuilding Championship 2023.
Shaun Hinds, CEO at Manchester Central, said: “Our venue has come alive once again with the return of largescale indoor sports events. The variety of sports that have been held here is testament to the space being so versatile and our team facilitating exciting and innovative ways to host a range of activities.”
