MasterCard Center

This article is about the indoor arena in Beijing. For the hockey arena in Toronto, see MasterCard Centre.
MasterCard Center
万事达中心

Exterior of arena
Former names Wukesong Culture & Sports Center (2008-11)
Location Beijing, China
Owner Bloomage International Investment Group
Operator AEG China
Capacity 18,000
Construction
Broke ground 29 March 2005
Opened 11 January 2008
Renovated 2009
Closed October 2008 - November 2009
Architect Gu Yonghui
Tenants
Chinese Olympic Committee
2008 Summer Olympics
Beijing Ducks
Website
www.mastercardcenter.com.cn

The MasterCard Center (simplified Chinese: 万事达中心; traditional Chinese: 萬事達中心), 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.

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,[1] Team USA clenched the bronze medal, while South Korea beat Cuba to claim the gold medal.[2]

After the Olympic games ended, the facilities were demolished, as planned, for a shopping mall.[3][4][5]

Procurement information

Wukesong Indoor Stadium, during the 2008 Summer Olympics.

Notable events

References

  1. ↑ "Castro blasts Olympics for dropping baseball - Beijing Olympics - NBCNews.com". MSNBC. 16 July 2008.
  2. ↑ "Photos: ROK glitters on diamond - The Official Website of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games". En.beijing2008.cn.
  3. ↑ http://www.baltimoresun.com/services/newspaper/printedition/sunday/maryland/bal-sp.maese22aug22,0,7134288.column
  4. ↑ Demick, Barbara (22 February 2009). "Beijing's Olympic building boom becomes a bust". Los Angeles Times.
  5. ↑ "Chinadaily". Chinadaily.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 "NBA.com: NBA Global Games 2013: History of NBA Global Games". NBA.com. NBA. Retrieved 1 November 2014.
  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.

Coordinates: 39°54′33″N 116°16′23″E / 39.90917°N 116.27306°E