Philippine Arena

The Philippine Arena is a multipurpose indoor arena located in Ciudad de Victoria, a 140-hectare (350-acre) tourism enterprise zone in Bocaue and Santa Maria, Bulacan, Philippines about 30 kilometers (19 mi) north of Manila. With a maximum seating capacity of 55,000, it is the world's largest indoor arena, and one of the centerpieces of the many centennial projects built by the Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) for their centennial celebration on July 27, 2014. The arena is legally owned by the New Era University, an educational institution of Iglesia ni Cristo. The arena was officially recognized by the Guinness World Records as the largest mixed-use indoor theater in the world on July 27, 2014.
In 2011, South Korean firm Hanwha Engineering and Construction won the contract to manage the construction of the Philippine Arena. Hanwha outbested bids from Filipino firm EEI Corporation and done on August 17, 2011. Hanwha announced that it had completed the construction of the indoor arena on May 30, 2014. The venue was not formally inaugurated until almost two months later.
The Philippine Arena, along with Ciudad de Victoria, was officially inaugurated on July 21, 2014. Philippine President Benigno Aquino III and Iglesia ni Cristo Executive Minister Eduardo Manalo unveiled the marker of Ciudad de Victoria.
The initial design concept of the Philippine arena was inspired by narra tree, the mother tree of the Philippines, and the root of banyan tree. The roof was inspired by Nipa Hut.
Populous, a global mega-architecture firm, designed the arena through their office in Brisbane, Australia. The official website of the sports facility describe's the structure's architectural style as Modernist. The arena has been master-planned to enable at least 50,000 people to gather inside the building and a further 50,000 to gather at a ‘live site’ or plaza outside to share in major events. The seating bowl of the arena is a one-sided bowl and is partitioned into two parts, the upper and the lower bowl each with approximately 25,000 seating capacity. The lower bowl is the most used part of the building and the architectural design allows for easy separation of the lower bowl from the upper tier, by curtaining with acoustic and thermal properties. A retractable seating of 2,000 people capacity is also installed behind the stage which is used by the choir of the Iglesia ni Cristo for events of the church.
The seating layout of the arena is different from that of a standard arena where the stage is at the middle and is surrounded by seats. The seating of the arena closely resembles that of a Greek amphitheater, built in a semi-circle with the seats at the sides and front of the arena stage. The seatings are divided into three sections. Each of the sections are colored green, white and red: the colors of the Iglesia ni Cristo flag.
The arena has four floors or levels. Level 1 is the stage level, Level 2 is the main access level open to the general viewing public, Level 3 is the VIP area which also houses conference rooms with views facing the main plaza outside the indoor arena building, and Level 4 is the upper concourse.
Furthermore, contractor Hanwha hired their own architecture firm, Haeanh Architects for the project.
Built on 99,200 square meters (1,068,000 sq ft) of land, the arena has a dome over 9,000 square meters (97,000 sq ft). The oval roof has a dimension of 227 m × 179 m (745 ft × 587 ft) and contains 9,000 tons of steel work. The roof was made as a separate unit to reduce burden on the arena with extra load. The arena is 65 meters (213 ft) in height, or about fifteen stories high and founded on pile construction. About a third of the dead load of the building was designed for earthquake loads. The building was also divided into multiple structures to strengthen the arena's earthquake resistance.
PWP Landscape Architecture, the firm who landscaped the National September 11 Memorial & Museum, designed the landscape for the arena and the whole complex of Ciudad de Victoria. For the arena, a series of outdoor plazas, gardens and performance venues form the setting for the development including: The North and South Arrival Plazas, The Promontory Plaza, The Great Stairs, and Ciudad de Victoria Plaza that are all related to each other with two cross axes (N-S and E-W) that intersect at the Promontory Plaza. Two fountains that can shoot waters up to 15 meters (49 ft) are also installed in front of the arena.
The arena serves multiple purposes, hosting major church gatherings of the Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) and functioning as a versatile sports and concert venue. It accommodates various events, including boxing, basketball, and live music performances, but not association football or field events due to its limited size. For field events, the adjacent Philippine Sports Stadium, also owned by the Iglesia ni Cristo, is used. Every seat in the arena offers a clear line of sight, even with different configurations such as church ceremonies, boxing matches, tennis, concerts, or indoor gymnastics. The INC allows non-Iglesia tenants to use the arena but reserves the right to prohibit activities that violate its religious principles, such as gambling-related events and cockfighting.
On October 19, 2014, the Philippine Arena hosted its first commercial and non-INC event with the opening ceremonies of the 2014–15 PBA Philippine Cup. It was attended by 52,612 people, making it the largest attendance record for an opening ceremony in PBA history. It again hosted the opening ceremonies for 2019 PBA Philippine Cup on January 13, 2019, attended by 23,711.
The most attended PBA game of all time was recorded in the arena on January 15, 2023, when Barangay Ginebra San Miguel played Bay Area Dragons in front of a crowd of 54,589 for Game 7 of the 2022–23 PBA Commissioner's Cup Finals. It broke the previous record of 54,086 set back on October 27, 2017, at the same venue during Game 7 of the 2017 Governors' Cup Finals. Game 6 of the same series on October 25 also recorded a crowd of 53,624.
The 2018 FIBA 3x3 World Cup was hosted by the Philippines on June 8–12, 2018 with Philippine Arena as the venue. Serbia won the men's tournament, while the women's tournament was won by Italy. The event was co-organized by FIBA.
The Philippine Arena was one of five venues for the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup, which the Philippines hosted from August 25 to September 10, 2023. It served as the venue for the first two games of Group A on August 25, 2023, including the Philippines' opening game against the Dominican Republic, which broke the attendance record for a FIBA Basketball World Cup game with 38,115 spectators. It was originally set to host the final round, but it was moved to the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Metro Manila due to logistical and traffic concerns.
The Philippine Arena has hosted several concerts by both local and international artists. Notable acts who have performed at the venue include Blackpink, the first musical act to hold multiple nights and sell out two shows at the arena with their Born Pink World Tour; Bruno Mars, the first solo artist to sell out two shows at the arena with his 2022–24 tour; Coldplay, which holds the record for the highest attendance by a musical act at the arena, with a combined total of 96,079 attendees during their Music of the Spheres World Tour; and BINI, the first local act to headline and sell out a show at the arena with their 2025 world tour.