THE grand final of netball’s Superleague will be the curtain-raising event in the new Worcester Arena in May.

The £15million venue, due to open later this month, will stage the showpiece opener on Saturday, May 25, and it will be broadcast live on Sky Sports and BBC Radio Five Live.

With recent England netball international fixtures having packed out Wembley Arena, the NIA and the O2, a sell-out 2,000-capacity crowd is expected to flock to the Hylton Road site.

Securing one of the UK’s major indoor sporting events is a feather in the cap for the University of Worcester, who own Worcester Arena.

Mick Donovan, the university’s head of institute for sports and exercise science, said: “From the early stages of our designs and planning for the arena, netball has been one of our focus sports. We are delighted that the Arena will bring such a prestigious event to the city.”

He added: “The University of Worcester Arena is a fantastic sports venue and already many sporting and governing bodies — athletes, sports fans and television companies — are enthusiastic about hosting events here in the future.”

There are eight teams in netball’s Superleague and the top two to emerge from the play-offs, involving all teams, will go head-to-head in Worcester.

Tickets for the final will be available from the England Netball website in the near future.

For more information on the arena, visit worcester arena.com