Thanks. So it's purely a size thing rather than a shape thing.

Not to be too persnickity, but I'd say it's fundamentally a money thing. There's a progression. garage to house party to crappy club to decent club to venue to big venue to arena to stadium with various grades of stage in between... Madonna is in her own micro-category, of course.

Am I right in remembering that when Madonna came to town ages ago, she had to add dates because the Kingdome couldn't hold all the rabid fans here in the NW?

I may have misunderstood a bit. I know of no size specific definition distinguishing an arena from a stadium. In sports parlance football and baseball are always played in a stadium while basketball and hockey are always played in an arena or, in the case of amateur scholastic sports, a field or a gym.

You think Century Link is bad? I don't know a single person in Utah who calls the Delta Center "EnergySolutions Arena" ... and it hasn't been the Delta Center for probably 5-7 years now.

At least we get a good nickname like The Clink.

Also, to answer your question, The Clink = a stadium, The Gorge/White River = an arena. I think... could be wrong :)

I like the nickname. I don't like the full name, although it's better than the ESA ugh. Tx.

Both are large flat areas surrounded by spectator seating. Although the development of the domed/retractable roofed stadium has greyed the area a bit, generally an arena is enclosed and a stadium is roofless.

The concept of the stadium developed in ancient Greece as a unit of measurement, about 200m- the length of the foot-race at the olde timey olympics, as well as the place where the olde timey olympics wrer held.
The idea of the stadium continued into the Roman empire as both a unit of measurement and a place where foot-races (and the occasional chariot race, lacking an available circus) were held.
Currently in the US a stadium is a place where football and baseball are played and watched.
Stadium can also refer to a vaguely fixed length of time such as the period insects spend in stasis between metamorphosis.

Arena is derived from the word herena AKA sand, due to the sand that was used as a floor in arenas to soak up the blood from the gladitorial blood-sports ancient romans were so fond of. yay!
Nowadays, here in the US, arenas are places where people play, and watch people playing, basketball and hockey.
An arena is also a conceptual space in which social conflict occurs, e.g., a political arena.

Thank you for the clarification. Seems like there are many differences - I had no idea.

nor did I...