The 3,500-capacity Swansea Arena has today (November 27) started construction as part of the first phase of the £1 billion regeneration and transformation of the city centre. The venue is set to open in 2021.

Operated by Ambassador Theatre Group (ATG), Swansea Arena adds another music venue to ATG’s portfolio of nearly 50 operated entertainment venues across the UK, US and Germany. 

ATG regularly programmes music talent across its network of 31 UK venues and was recently announced as the operator of Stockton Globe, an historic refurbished theatre set to open its doors in 2020.

ATG sells around 11 million tickets every year and operates its own ticketing site.

Katy Arnander, ATG’s content development director, said: “ATG’s global music and comedy programming strategy has had success in the US with the Smart Financial Centre (Sugarland, Texas) and Kings Theatre (Brooklyn, New York) as well as in Germany’s Admiralspalast (Berlin) and Musical Dome (Cologne). This success has come from close collaboration with top talent combined with understanding of the local and regional markets – ensuring we bring the best quality shows to the right venues for the right audiences.

“Swansea Arena is an incredibly exciting addition to ATG; the new arena will be at the forefront of our music, comedy, events and exhibitions strategy as well as presenting new content like gaming and esports which is a perfect fit for such a technologically advanced arena. We are thrilled with our plans for the venue, which will bring some of the world’s best acts to the region.” 

The new attraction will be part-funded by the £1.3 billion Swansea Bay City Deal.

Mark Cornell, CEO of ATG, said: “We are looking forward to entertaining the audiences of Swansea with the best acts from the UK and globally. We have been working with Swansea Council for a period of time now to make the Arena a world-class venue for music, comedy, conferencing and events in South Wales.

“ATG has nearly 30 years’ experience of working with councils and managing venues but this is an exciting moment that sees us expanding our portfolio to UK arenas following our success across the UK, US and Germany.”

PHOTO: Claire Dixon, ATG's UK business manager, and Katy Arnander, ATG’s content development director, at the Swansea site

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