Safety fourth!
Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is expected to stage the upcoming UFC 304 pay-per-view (PPV) event, scheduled for Sat., July 27, 2024, inside the brand-new Co-op Live arena in Manchester, England, a state-of-the-art facility that opened this month.
Well, sort of.
The Co-op Live grand opening has been plagued with safety issues and technical errors, leading to multiple cancelations and postponements, according to The Guardian. Just last night, rapper “A Boogie wit da Hoodie” was forced to cancel his show and rebook for the nearby AO Arena later this week.
The venue apologized and blamed a “defective component” of the HVAC system.
In addition, the planned concerts from Olivia Rodrigo on May 3 and May 4 were also scratched, with ticket holders being offered immediate refunds. Prior to that, Co-op Live postponed two gigs by comedian Peter Kay. It’s also worth mentioning that 4,000 tickets for Rick Astley were wiped out by the arena just an hour before his April 20 show.
Black Keys also suffered a postponement.
Not surprisingly, fans on social media are in a panic over the upcoming schedule of events, which includes concerts from Eric Clapton and The Eagles. It certainly doesn’t help that Co-op Live’s General Manager, Gary Roden, walked off the job amid the ongoing chaos.
“We are relieved that no one has been injured, but we share the disappointment and frustration of ticket holders, many of whom are Co-op members, with the continuing delay to the opening of Co-op Live and the disruption that this is causing to everyone who has been looking forward to attending events,” a Co-op Group spokesperson said (via The Guardian).
“We will be seeking a full explanation from Oak View Group, who are responsible for the building, to the obvious questions arising from this, together with a clear plan from the Co-op Live venue management team at OVG for opening the venue and postponed and future events. Safety is, of course, the number one priority and it is critical that Co-op members and other ticket-holders can enjoy events in a venue with the very highest levels of security and safety measures in place.”
For more on the upcoming UFC 304 event click here.