Amalie Arena

Amalie Arena

Amalie Arena at sunset
Former names	Ice Palace (1996-Aug 2002) St. Pete Times Forum (Aug 2002-Jan 2012) Tampa Bay Times Forum (Jan 2012-Sep 2014)
Location	401 Channelside Drive Tampa, Florida 33602
Coordinates	27°56′34″N 82°27′7″W / 27.94278°N 82.45194°WCoordinates: 27°56′34″N 82°27′7″W / 27.94278°N 82.45194°W
Owner	Tampa Sports Authority[1]
Operator	Tampa Bay Sports And Entertainment LLC
Capacity	Ice hockey: 19,092[2] Basketball: 20,500 Concert: 21,500 Arena Football: 18,500 Wrestling: 19,000
Field size	600,000 square feet (56,000 m^2)
Construction
Broke ground	April 14, 1994[3]
Opened	October 20, 1996
Construction cost	$139 million ($210 million in 2016 dollars[4])
Architect	Ellerbe Becket[5]
Structural engineer	Walter P Moore[6]
General contractor	Hunt/Morse Diesel[7]
Tenants
Tampa Bay Lightning (NHL) (1996–present) Tampa Bay Storm (AFL) (1997–present)
Website
www.amaliearena.com

Amalie Arena is an arena in Tampa, Florida, that has been used for ice hockey, basketball, and arena football games, as well as concerts. It is home to the Tampa Bay Lightning of the National Hockey League and the Tampa Bay Storm of the Arena Football League.

The building was originally known as the Ice Palace. In 2002, the building's naming rights were sold to the St. Petersburg Times which became the Tampa Bay Times in 2012; accordingly, the stadium was known as the St. Pete Times Forum from 2002 to 2012 and Tampa Bay Times Forum (2012-2014). In September 2014, the stadium was renamed Amalie Arena when the naming rights were transferred to Amalie Oil Company.^[8]

History

Former logo from the time the stadium was known as the Tampa Bay Times Forum.

The venue, located in Downtown Tampa's Channelside District was a secondary location chosen after the failure of Tampa Coliseum Inc. to secure funding to construct an arena on Tampa Sports Authority land near Tampa Stadium. The city of Tampa paid $86 million and the Tampa Bay Lightning paid $53 million for the venue's construction and infrastructure.^[9] It opened in 1996 as the Ice Palace. Its first event was a performance by the Royal Hanneford Circus. The first hockey game was the Lightning hosting the New York Rangers, which the Lightning won 5–2.

The arena was built as a new home for the Lightning, necessary because of the lack of a major league-sized arena in the Tampa Bay Area. The two existing arenas in the region, Bayfront Arena in St. Petersburg and the Expo Hall at the Florida State Fairgrounds were too small for an NHL team. Prior to the opening of the Ice Palace, the Lightning spent one season at the Expo Hall, and then moved to the Florida Suncoast Dome, which was nicknamed the "Thunderdome", in St. Petersburg, Florida in 1993. The Thunderdome, now Tropicana Field, is currently home to Major League Baseball's Tampa Bay Rays.

The arena is owned by the Tampa Sports Authority, a partnership of the city of Tampa and Hillsborough County. The authority leases the arena back to the Lightning, who operate it. The current lease agreement ties the arena to the Lightning ownership.

Naming rights to the arena were sold to the then-St. Petersburg Times, a daily newspaper which circulates throughout the Tampa Bay Area. Other entertainment events occasionally held in the Forum include concerts, NBA exhibition games, USF basketball and NCAA Tournament games, tennis, professional wrestling, boxing, figure skating, and rodeos (as well as stand-alone bull riding events; the Forum has hosted an event by the PBR's premier tour, the Bud Light Cup (renamed Built Ford Tough Series in 2003), annually since 1998.)

The Tampa Bay Times Forum was ranked, in 2010, as the 4th busiest arena in the United States.^[10]

A $35 million renovation was scheduled to be completed before the 2012 Republican National Convention. The renovation includes a rebuilt grand plaza entrance, elimination of 2 lower-level suites in each corner (8 of current 28 suites) leaving views from the concourse area to the playing area, renovation of each suite, elimination of sections 323 and 324 on the terrace level (574 seats) for a bar and stage area that will feature a new digital theatre organ, more concessions areas on the terrace level, an 11,000-sq ft outdoor deck and party area overlooking outside plaza and facing the downtown skyline, new climate controls that improve both the ice surface and spectator comfort, new lighting, all new padded seats, resurfaced and redecorated concourse, combining Icons and Medallions restaurants into one venue, and updated restrooms.^[11]

Also in 2012, the Tampa Bay Times Forum installed a new video display board. The board is billed as the largest of its kind in North America. Its two larger faces measure 28 × 50 feet (8.5 × 15.2 m), while its two smaller faces are 28 × 20 feet (8.5 × 6.1 m). In comparison, the arena's old display board measured 16 × 28 feet (4.9 × 8.5 m) on all sides.^[12]

On September 3, 2014, Lightning owner Jeff Vinik announced the renaming of the Forum to Amalie Arena after coming to an agreement with Amalie Oil Company, an oil company based in Tampa.

Events

The building played host to the 1999 NHL All-Star Game, World Wrestling Federation Survivor Series 2000, and games of the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament in 2003, 2008 and 2011.

The arena hosted four of the seven games during the 2004 Stanley Cup Finals, during which the Lightning defeated the Calgary Flames four games to three to win their first Stanley Cup. The Lightning also hosted home games in the 2015 Stanley Cup Finals against the Chicago Blackhawks.

The Arena also hosted ArenaBowl XII (1998) and ArenaBowl XVII (2003), as well as the 2007 ACC Men's Basketball Tournament.

The Arena hosted the 2008 NCAA Women's Division I Final Four Basketball Tournament on April 6–8. Tennessee beat Stanford, 64–48. In 2009, the Arena hosted the Southeastern Conference Men's Basketball Tournament; they will again host the SEC Men's Basketball tournament in 2022^[13] They also hosted the 2015 NCAA Women's Division I Final Four, plus 2019.

In 2009, Britney Spears performed at the Arena to a sold-out crowd during "The Circus Starring Britney Spears." The show is also notable for a wardrobe malfunction and the remark, "Okay, my pussy is hanging out of this fucking-," after she performed "I'm A Slave 4 U" and didn't realize that her microphone was still on. The incident later received notable attention and, in videos, has received thousands of views on YouTube.

WWE Raw and WWE SmackDown has been held at the Arena numerous times. Raw hosted their three-hour 800th episode celebration on November 3, 2008 along with the December 21, 2009 edition, where Johnny Damon served as the guest host, and the first Raw of 2013 on January 7 featuring the return of The Rock and a hard-hitting Tables, Ladders and Chairs match between Ryback and then-WWE Champion CM Punk for the championship. WWE returned to the Arena on July 20 to host the 2014 Battleground PPV event.

Tampa hosted WWE Extreme Rules on May 1, 2011 and it was the arena's first WWE PPV since Survivor Series 2000 in 11 years after they replaced the Amway Center in Orlando, the original location for the event. Following the PPV's conclusion, newly crowned WWE champion John Cena announced the death of Osama Bin Laden which resulted in a big "USA!" chant and internal public address system of the Arena then proceeded to play "Stars and Stripes Forever."

The arena was slated to host an NBA preseason game in 2010 between the Orlando Magic and Miami Heat, the league's two Florida teams. However, months before the game, the arena's basketball floor was treated with an oil-based cleaning solution that resulted in a slippery film forming on it. According to Magic players, the floor was so slippery that they had to walk through their shootaround. When it became apparent that there was no way to make the court playable, the game was canceled half an hour before the scheduled tipoff. All fans received a full refund.^[14]

In 2012, the Amalie Arena played host to the NCAA Hockey Frozen Four championship finals; this was the first time the "Frozen Four" was held outside the northern US since 1999, when the University of Alaska Anchorage hosted the event at the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim, now the Honda Center, in Anaheim, California. The Frozen Four was hosted by the University of Alabama in Huntsville, the nearest collegiate hockey team to Florida. Boston College won the National Championship game 4–1 against Ferris State. After the success of the tournament, the NCAA selected the Arena to host the 2016 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament for the second time in four years.

On April 21, 2012, the Amalie Arena was host to Rammstein on their Made In Germany tour.^[15]

The Amalie Arena hosted the 2012 Republican National Convention.^[16]

Kanye West threw his infamous tirade where he demanded that the lights need to be turned off after finishing three songs in the middle of his Yeezus Tour. This caused him to storm off the stage for a few minutes but returned to finish the rest of the concert.

Marvel Universe Live! kicked off its national tour at the Amalie Arena on July 11, 2014.

The Garth Brooks World Tour with Trisha Yearwood was scheduled to be held in Amalie Arena on June 5 and 6, 2015, but all three of the shows were canceled due to the Stanley Cup Finals.^[17]

In 2016 the arena hosted the NCAA Frozen Four.

Gallery

• 

  Amalie Arena exterior view in 2005 with old St. Pete Times Forum signage.

• 

  Inside the Amalie Arena, April 8, 2006.

• 

  Interior from near ice level in 2007.

See also

• Downtown Tampa
• List of indoor arenas in the United States

References

1. About TSA
2. "Tampa Bay Lightning Game Notes" (PDF). National Hockey League. October 8, 2015. Retrieved November 7, 2015.
3. Zizzo, Mike (April 17, 1994). "Bettman Scores Big With Innovations". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved March 12, 2012.
4. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. Retrieved November 10, 2015.
5. "St Petersburg Times Forum". Ellerbe Becket. Retrieved October 12, 2009.
6. Walter P Moore – Arenas (archived)
7. Ballparks.com – Tampa Bay Lightning
8. News from Tampa Bay Lightning, September 3, 2014, retrieved 12 May 2015
9. "Appendix 5.4 to Sports Facility Reports, Volume 2, Number 2" (pdf). National Sports Law Institute of Marquette University Law School. 2001. Retrieved August 23, 2012.
10. "The Top 5 Busiest Arenas In America". Is It Packed. November 4, 2010. Retrieved February 5, 2013.
11. Cristodero, Damian (February 2, 2011). "Tampa Bay Lightning Announces $35 million in Renovations to the St. Pete Times Forum". St. Petersburg Times. Retrieved May 25, 2012.
12. "The Transformation Continues". May 3, 2012. Retrieved May 22, 2013.
13. http://www.secsports.com/championship/mens-basketball
14. English, Antonya (October 23, 2010). "Tampa Exhibition Between Orlando Magic and Miami Heat Canceled Due to Floor Conditions". St. Petersburg Times. Retrieved October 23, 2010.
15. "Ramstein". Tampa Bay Times Forum. Retrieved February 5, 2013.
16. Smith, Adam C. (September 2, 2012). "Winners and Losers of the Republican National Convention in Tampa". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved February 5, 2013.
17. Cridlin, Jay (May 31, 2015). "Garth Brooks cancels Tampa concerts due to Stanley Cup playoffs". Tampa Bay Times.

External links

• Official website