LeSports Center

LeSports Center
乐视体育生态中心

Exterior of arena
Former names MasterCard Center (2011–15)
Wukesong Culture & Sports Center (2008–11), 2022
Location Beijing, China
Owner Bloomage International Investment Group
Operator AEG China
Capacity 18,000
Construction
Broke ground 29 March 2005
Opened 11 January 2008 (2008-01-11)
Renovated 2009
Closed October 2008 – November 2009
Architect Gu Yonghui
Tenants
Chinese Olympic Committee
2008 Summer Olympics
2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup
2022 Winter Olympics
Beijing Ducks
HC Red Star Kunlun
Website
www.mastercardcenter.com.cn

The LeSports Center (simplified Chinese: 乐视体育生态中心; traditional Chinese: 樂視體育生態中心), originally Beijing Wukesong Culture & Sports Center (simplified Chinese: 五棵松体育馆; traditional Chinese: 五棵松體育館), is an indoor arena for the 2008 Summer Olympics basketball preliminaries and finals. Ground was broken on 29 March 2005 and construction was completed on 11 January 2008. The stadium has a capacity of 18,000 and covers an area of 63,000 square metres. It was scaled back from its original design due to a 43% budget cut.

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 become 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 functions and commercial purposes with large-scale gardens and green space.

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.

On December 14 2015 The KHL announced that the Beijing hockey expansion team would play in the arena.

On 16 December 2015, LeTV Sports announced that it has obtained naming rights for Beijing's iconic Wukesong Arena. It will be renamed as LeSports Center officially from 1 January 2016. Beyond that, LeSports promises to provide a package of intellectual services inside the arena and out.[1]

Baseball field

Wukesong Baseball Field during the MLB China Series in 2008.

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. It hosted 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.　

In what was to be the final Olympic Baseball matches in the foreseeable future, as the International Olympic Committee voted-out the baseball event for the upcoming 2012 London Olympics and 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics in favor of golf and rugby sevens,[2] Team USA clenched the bronze medal, while South Korea beat Cuba to claim the gold medal.[3]

After the Olympic games ended, the facilities were demolished, as planned, for a shopping mall.[4][5][6]

Procurement information

Wukesong Indoor Stadium, during the 2008 Summer Olympics.

Notable events

Concerts

International artists are highlighted in light blue.

Cirque de Soleil presented the Michael Jackson: The Immortal World Tour t the venue on 9, 10 & 11 August 2013. The arena hosted the Golden Disk Awards on 14 and 15 January 2015.

Sporting Events

References

  1. ↑ "LeTV Sports to Name Beijing Wukesong Arena". CRIENGLISH.com. 18 December 2015.
  2. ↑ "Castro blasts Olympics for dropping baseball - Beijing Olympics - NBCNews.com". MSNBC. 16 July 2008.
  3. ↑ "Photos: ROK glitters on diamond – The Official Website of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games". En.beijing2008.cn.
  4. ↑ http://www.baltimoresun.com/services/newspaper/printedition/sunday/maryland/bal-sp.maese22aug22,0,7134288.column
  5. ↑ Demick, Barbara (22 February 2009). "Beijing's Olympic building boom becomes a bust". Los Angeles Times.
  6. ↑ "Chinadaily". Chinadaily.
  7. ↑ Kang, Seung-hun (26 January 2010). "Super Junior wraps up concert in Beijing". Asiae. Retrieved 26 April 2012.
  8. ↑ "2012 Shinhwa Grand Tour: The Return 신화 아시아 투어 콘서트 일정" Shinhwa Company. 10 April 2012. Retrieved 2012-04-13 (Korean)
  9. ↑ 神话备战北京演唱会 娱乐综艺“让道”. Sina (in Chinese). 4 June 2013. 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. Retrieved 25 July 2013.
  11. ↑ http://www.thebeijinger.com/events/2015/jun/muse-live-beijing-2015
  12. ↑ http://www.metalstorm.net/events/news_comments.php?news_id=28342
  13. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "NBA.com: NBA Global Games 2013: History of NBA Global Games". NBA.com. NBA. Retrieved 1 November 2014.

Coordinates: 39°54′36″N 116°16′29″E / 39.9099889°N 116.274664°E / 39.9099889; 116.274664

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