From All Black tests and Football World Cup qualifiers to big concerts and events, the Canterbury Multi-Use Arena (CMUA) will be able to host them all.

Construction is due to start in 2022. The arena is expected to open at the end of 2024.

Christchurch will soon be home to a state-of-the-art multi-use arena. The $523 million project will have a seating capacity of 30,000 for sports events and will hold up to 41,000 spectators for large music events.

In 2020 the Government and the Council approved the multi-functional arena to be built in central Christchurch between Madras, Barbadoes, Hereford and Tuam streets. 

The state-of-the-art arena will add to the central city’s vitality, catalyse further development, help re-establish Christchurch as a sporting and cultural capital and boost the city’s economy by attracting visitors from around New Zealand and the world.

The Council has allocated $303 million to the Canterbury Multi-Use Arena, and the Crown has approved $220 million towards the project(external link) from the Christchurch Regeneration Acceleration Fund.

The project investment case(external link) from 2019 says that in order for the Canterbury Multi-Use Arena to be competitive and attract international and national events, it needs to have:

  • A roof so it can host events all year-round
  • Minimum seating capacity of 25,000, with the potential to add further seating (the completed arena will have a seating capacity of 30,000)
  • A fixed rectangular turf
  • High-quality acoustics.

Preliminary designs for the new arena are currently underway, as the Kōtui consortium works through the project's design phase. 

Led by Australian-based stadium construction experts, BESIX Watpac, Kōtui includes Christchurch-based construction companies Southbase Construction and Fulton Hogan, local seismic engineering specialists Lewis Bradford, Christchurch architects Warren and Mahoney, and global stadium design experts Populous and Mott MacDonald.