Sheffield Sharks unveil new 2500-seat home arena

By Sam Neter on October 5, 2023

Sheffield Sharks have unveiled their new 2,500 seat arena ahead of the home season opener on Sunday against Newcastle Eagles.

Based in the Sheffield Olympic Legacy Park, the 44,000 square foot, £14million ‘Canon Medical Arena’ has been a decade-long project, having come to fruition through a collaboration with Canon Medical Systems UK.

A section of the building will host a cutting-edge medical diagnostics centre managed by Living Care, designed to serve not only elite and professional athletes but also the general NHS patient population.

The Sharks’ side of the facility has offices, locker rooms, a conference centre and three basketball courts, the centre one being the show court that will be surrounded by 2,000 retractable seats.

WBBL side Sheffield Hatters will also play there, along with a South Yorkshire netball team, DNC Netball.

The project means all concessions and car parking fees on game days go to the Sharks, potentially increasing revenues by up to 40%.

“Both the Sharks and Canon Medical have a strong commitment to giving back to our community and we did this together via the ReSPECT (Recommended Summary Plan for Emergency Care and Treatment) Project for the last 5 years,” said Yuri Matischen, Chairman of the Sharks, and MD of Park Community Arena, the company that will operate and ultimately own the facility.

Park Community Arena have a long term financial arrangement with Canon Medical to fund the arena.

“This gives young people at risk of coercion into gangs the opportunity to use sport as a vehicle to divert from those activities and a mentor programme headed up by role models in the form of pro athletes”, added Sarah Backovic, MD of the Sharks, and Director of Park Community Arena.

“Expanding on what has been a very successful partnership, we can now explore wider opportunities that support the Sheffield City Region, providing a venue for affordable use to all communities for sport and culture,” continued Matischen.

“From grass roots to elite performance teams and events, this transformational facility is open to all.”

Sharks Head Coach, Atiba Lyons, and Director of Park Community Arena, was truly excited in having a permanent home.

“After 15 years as a coach in Sheffield, we have an amazing opportunity to expand and grow our players and our teams, to become an even stronger club with huge community outreach, and the added benefit of immediate access to medical scanning.”

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