Public demand for an arena in Leeds Leeds had been the largest city in the United Kingdom without a major venue to hold music or indoor sporting events. , Bristol and Leeds were the only major cities without an arena style venue. Previously, the
Queen's Hall was used for popular music concerts but this was demolished in 1989. Since 1989, there have been a number of failed attempts at building a major venue in Leeds. An arena has been long requested by residents in Leeds. The consultation on the Vision for Leeds 2004 to 2020 showed a strong demand from the public for a new arena, and the project became one of the city's 12 priorities. The Leeds Initiative formed a Cultural facilities task group to consider options. It appointed PMP consultants whose report outlined the viability of a Leeds Arena, and other potential projects such as a concert hall. The task group recommended that the Council proceed with the development of a 12,500-seat arena. Whilst this study was taking place, campaigners including the
Yorkshire Evening Post lobbied for a new arena to be built in the city. This resulted in a widescale 'Leeds needs an arena' campaign that had endorsements from local artists including the
Kaiser Chiefs as well as local businesses and residents. The campaign was well publicised in local media, and included popular Myspace and Facebook groups.
Developer and operator competition Following this, competitions began to find an operator and developer for an arena. In March 2008,
SMG were chosen as the future operators of the Leeds arena, following worldwide interest from potential operators in the scheme. SMG also operate arenas in Newcastle, Belfast and Manchester and over 200 other venues worldwide. The addition of Leeds strengthens their position in the UK Arena market. SMG's European managing director has stated that Leeds will be its "flagship venue" in Europe and that they expect First Direct Arena "to be in the top 10 in the world within two to three years of opening". Two main bidders were involved in the competition to develop the arena. These were the Council owned land at Elland Road as one location which would have been developed by
GMI Construction and land owned by
Montpellier Estates in Sweet Street,
Holbeck with Montpellier Estates being developer of the latter site. However, in November 2008, Leeds City Council announced they had terminated the developer competition and chosen Claypit Lane as the site for the new arena and would proceed as the developer. This resulted in a legal challenge from Montpellier Estates. Montpellier's claim for more than £43.5 million was rejected by
Mr Justice Supperstone in a Judgement handed down on 6 February 2013.
Plans and financing The arena's location, on Claypit Lane is situated at the Northern Quarter of Leeds city centre, behind the
Merrion Centre. The land the arena was built on was the Claypit Lane Council car park and land formerly owned by
Leeds Metropolitan University. Demolition of the former Leeds Metropolitan building was completed in 2009. Independent economic impact assessments conducted by Yorkshire Forward show that the new arena will bring over £25 million to the local economy every year and bring 300 full-time jobs. The money provided by Leeds City Council will come from part of the proceeds from their sale of
Leeds Bradford Airport in October 2007, Yorkshire Forward grant support and revenues from rent and commercial activities. The total scheme costs are estimated to be in the region of £80 million including land costs.
Design and construction following the
November 2015 Paris attacks Construction work on the Leeds Arena commenced in February 2011. Construction was completed by May 2013, with a public open day scheduled for 25 May. The arena is constructed in a super theatre fan shaped format as opposed to the more conventional bowl or horse-shoe seating arrangement commonly used by most arenas in the United Kingdom. The naming rights were set to expire in 2018. However, it was announced in March 2017 that First Direct had extended its naming sponsorship for a further five years, continuing to be called the First Direct Arena until at least 2023. In 2024, the naming rights were further extended until 2031. The arena was renamed from
first direct arena to
first direct bank arena in July 2025.
Opposition from South Yorkshire Yorkshire Forward's support and intended £18 million funding has gained much publicity and has been subject to fierce political fighting. Some critics outlined that public funding is common on most recent Arena developments as seen in the Manchester, Nottingham and Liverpool developments. Each arena gained public funding and this was not protested by other established arenas. However, there was some opposition to the Leeds Arena from the owners of
Sheffield Arena and
Clive Betts, MP for
Sheffield Attercliffe, who believe that the arena would adversely affect Sheffield Arena especially as the Leeds Arena would acquire funding from
Yorkshire Forward. However, Yorkshire Forward stated that they fully support the development of an arena in Leeds and that an independent economic impact assessment also showed that a Leeds Arena would be of benefit to the entire region. Subsequently, Yorkshire Forward reaffirmed support to provide funding to the scheme. However, following a decision by BIS, central government initially did not authorise Yorkshire Forward to provide funding to the scheme. Soon after, it was announced that £9.9 million funding was authorised by central government. This was met with fierce criticism from Sheffield MPs, but received positive responses in the Leeds City Region. ==Events==