Maison des Sports

The Maison des Sports does not announce itself with the scale of a modern arena. It is a single, rectangular block of concrete, with a pitched roof that slopes evenly down to the pavement at Place des Bughes.

Inside, the arena is defined by its floor. It is not a synthetic surface, but a wooden parquet, the colour of honey, which the local handball team HBCAM 63 replaced with a brand new surface before the 2020-2021 season. The sound of the ball on that wood is specific to this room.

The venue has a history that runs deeper than any one sport. It was inaugurated in 1970, and the crowds that fill those blue seats have seen many things. In June 1999, the building hosted Group B games for EuroBasket, bringing together Russia and Spain in a tournament that demanded a serious atmosphere. The single-event attendance record of 4,109 spectators was set in a different context, during a women's volleyball match between VBC Chamalières and Le Cannet in January 2021.

Music has visited this place too, often when basketball is away. David Bowie performed here on 19 June 1997, as part of his Earthling Tour, and the building also remembered Johnny Hallyday and Gainsbourg in the years before the internet gave everyone their own concert. The arena is not a temple of football or a giant of basketball; it is a space where the game is played on wood, and the roof is low enough to hear the players.