NEC's LG Arena fitted with larger seats to cope with fat pop fans
SEATS at Birmingham’s showpiece concert arena are being super-sized – because rock and pop fans are getting FATTER.
When the LG Arena reopens after a £29 million revamp, new seating will cater for audiences that are, quite literally, bigger than ever before.
Market research into the fans of the future revealed the need for more space at the new-look venue in the NEC grounds.
So each of the 14,000 seats will be more than an inch wider, taking them to just over 1½ ft.
That’s more than 1,200 ft of extra space – equivalent to 26 double-decker buses in a row.
“Some of the seats in the former NEC Arena were a little bit narrow,” admitted Phil Mead, director of arenas for The NEC Group.
“So during this refurbishment we’ve made some amends. The seats in the LG Arena, like the rest of the development, will be brought into line with the expectations of audiences attending contemporary concerts and arena events.”
News of the bigger seats comes as the West Midlands faces an obesity epidemic, with a staggering 77 per cent of men regarded as obese or overweight, and 62 per cent of women also bigger than they should be.
Medic Dr Jeremy Tomlinson, of the University of Birmingham, warns of a BIG future: “What can we expect if the worst predictions are correct?
“Being unhealthily overweight or obese will be normal. Shop doors will need to be wider, seats on trains and buses larger, and we will need to be weighed along with our luggage at our airports.
“The range of clothes sizes and home furnishings will change, as will those for the after-life. Goliath coffins are already successful business in the USA, and we are not far behind America.”
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