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)
Location Beijing, China
Owner Bloomage International Investment Group
Operator AEG China
Capacity

18,000 for basketball

14,000 for hockey
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
Beijing Ducks
HC Kunlun Red Star
Beijing Lions
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) and Beijing Olympic Basketball Arena, 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.

History

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 14 December 2015 the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) announced that its Beijing expansion team would play in the arena.

Two days later, on 16 December 2015, LeTV Sports announced that it has obtained naming rights for the arena. It was officially renamed as LeSports Center on 1 January 2016. Beyond that, LeSports promised to provide a package of intellectual services inside the arena and out.[1]

On 5 September 2016, Kunlun Red Star defenseman Anssi Salmela scored the first goal in the arena's first hockey game and the first home goal for Kunlun in KHL. Red Star won the game 6-3. In 2017, 18,000 people attended the Chinese Basketball Association All-Star Game at the LeSports Centre. [2]

Wukesong Indoor Stadium, during the 2008 Summer Olympics.

Sporting Events

Entertainments

LeSports Center is the biggest entertainment venue in Beijing, with many international, regional and local artists having staged their performance at the venue that spans a wide range of musical genres. International artists are highlighted using light blue in the table while non-concert entertainment events are also included.

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,[10] Team USA clinched the bronze medal, while South Korea beat Cuba to claim the gold medal.[11]

After the Olympic games ended, the facilities were demolished, as planned, for a shopping mall.[12][13][14]

References

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

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