SSE Arena, Belfast The SSE Arena was known as the
Odyssey Arena from 2000 to 2015.
Northern Ireland's biggest indoor arena, with a capacity of 11,000+ for concerts, hosts concerts and sporting events such as
Belfast Giants games. On 25 June 2015, it was announced the Arena would undergo a £3 million refurbishment and become the SSE Arena on 4 September 2015, with the naming rights to last for 10 years. Until 31st March 2026 the sponsor was
SSE plc, an energy company based in Scotland. In April 2026,
O2 was announced as the new naming rights partner for the Arena and wider site, which would take effect in July.
Sports Since opening, the SSE Arena has been the home to the UK's Elite Ice Hockey League team, the
Belfast Giants. The Belfast Giants play weekly home games against teams from across the U.K. between September and March of each year. On 2 October 2010, the
Boston Bruins faced the Belfast Giants 'Selects' in an
NHL Challenge match. The venue also hosts a number of live sporting events including
WWE which brings superstars from
WWE Raw and
WWE Smackdown brands so wrestling fans are able to watch their favourites perform live. On 16 June 2007, the SSE Arena hosted the
UFC 72: Victory as they continued their expansion into Europe where the live events were broadcast on pay-per-view in North America, the United Kingdom and Ireland. World Champion Boxer
Carl Frampton has also fought at the SSE Arena. His first fight at the venue was in 2010 when he won the Commonwealth super-bantamweight title by a fourth-round TKO stoppage against Mark Quon. Carl Frampton has continued to fight in the SSE Arena, Belfast up until 2018 and helped promote Northern Ireland by using it as the venue for his matches Since 2008, the venue has also played host to the
Premier League Darts.
Odyssey Place Formerly known as the Odyssey Pavilion, Odyssey Place houses multiple shops, restaurants, cafes, entertainment venues and leisure facilities. The Odyssey Pavilion opened in 2000, with multiple nightclubs, restaurants and café such as La Tasca, Red Panda and
Hard Rock Cafe. It also had a massive IMAX screen operated by Sheridan. Even though the IMAX screen opened in 2001, it operated until 2007. In 2001, the 12-screen
Warner Village cinema, the Sheridan IMAX screen, multiple restaurants and W5 all opened. Just a few years after the complex opened, the complex began to lose tenants, like the Hard Rock Cafe and the Budda Beach Club. The Warner Village Cinemas chain was acquired by SBC International Cinemas in 2003, which folded the chain into
Vue's operations by 2004. The Belfast cinema wasn't affected, as it still retained its branding up until 2006, when Storm Cinemas took over the cinema. On 4 June 2010, the cinema's ownership had reverted to Village Roadshow, and was rebranded as Odyssey Cinemas. In 2010, the pavilion's owner, Sheridan Millennium Ltd, went into administration, and the building was temporarily controlled by
KPMG, until energy company
SSE acquired it. At the same time,
Movie House Cinemas acquired the Odyssey Bowl, which closed months ago, and the operator reopened it on 2 December. The developer of the venue, Peter Curistan, was declared bankrupt in 2013. In 2012, the Odyssey Pavilion was put up for sale for £10m. In 2014, cinema group
Omniplex Cinemas, launched a bid to take over the lease of the pavilion. Omniplex would've rebranded the Odyssey Cinemas area under its own brand, but the Odyssey Trust rejected the bid, which was reported to be too low. Although Matagorda 2 acquired the lease of the Odyssey Pavilion in 2016, in the same year, the developer of the Pavilion, Peter Curistan, was banned as a company director for six years, which followed the collapse of five companies that ran up losses of more than £12m. Some of the companies operated entertainment businesses within the venue, which was formerly controlled by the 60-year-old businessman. In 2017, it was announced that the complex would be redeveloped, with major changes happening to the entrance and interior. In 2019, it was announced that all of the current tenants inside the complex would close as part of the redevelopment and cinema chain
Cineworld announced will be redeveloping and entering the space of the previous Odyssey Cinemas area,
Hollywood Bowl Group also announced that they would be opening a Hollywood Bowl in the former
Odyssey Bowl. The complex and tenants mostly closed in January 2020 for the redevelopment, with the cinema and the bowling alley permanently closing in its then-current state on 17 March 2020 and in May 2021, respectively. The now-called Odyssey Place reopened on 6 April 2023, Cineworld and Hollywood Bowl opened earlier with them opening in December 2021 and April 2022 respectively. New entertainment areas include The Lost City Apocalypse Adventure Golf and Funstation.
W5 W5, which stands for "Who, What, Where, When, Why", was developed by Sally Montgomery, the
Ulster Museum's project director (and then founding CEO), with the exhibitions being designed by Hands On Inc (Florida, United States), and the
Ontario Science Centre, Canada. W5 has roughly 250 interactive exhibits, along with 6 themed exhibitions, in 3500 square metres of exhibition space, workshop space and lecture theatre. W5 was a wholly owned subsidiary of the National Museums Northern Ireland until 31 March 2012 when it became a subsidiary of Odyssey Trust. W5 has won a number of awards, including Best Visitor Attraction, several times. In 2013, W5 opened 'Climbit', the biggest
Luckey Climber in Europe where small children can climb up twelve metres in total safety. As part of the redevelopment of the Odyssey complex, W5 was also refurbished and reopened in October 2021. ==Awards==