American Airlines Arena

For the arena in Dallas, Texas, see American Airlines Center.

American Airlines Arena
AAA The Triple A
Location	601 Biscayne Boulevard Miami, Florida 33132
Coordinates	25°46′53″N 80°11′17″W
Broke ground	February 6, 1998
Opened	December 31, 1999
Owner	Miami-Dade County
Operator	Basketball Properties Ltd.
Surface	Multi-surface
Construction cost	$213 million ($294 million in 2013 dollars)
Architect	Arquitectonica 360 Architecture (formerly Heinlein Schrock Stearns)
Project manager	Parsons Brinckerhoff
Structural engineer	Thornton Tomasetti
Services engineer	Flack+Kurtz
General contractor	Morse-Diesel/Odebrecht/Facchina
Main contractors	John J. Kirlin, LLC Simpson Constructors Crown Corr Inc.
Capacity	Basketball: 19,600; 16,500 (Without upper levels) Concerts: 5,000-20,021
Tenants
Miami Heat (NBA) (2000–present) Miami Sol (WNBA) (2000–2002) (Premios Lo Nuestro) (2005-2008, 2010-present)

The AmericanAirlines Arena is a sports and entertainment arena located in Downtown Miami, Florida along Biscayne Bay. It was constructed beginning in 1998 as a replacement for the Miami Arena and was designed by the architecture firms Arquitectonica and 360 Architecture. The Arena is home to the Miami Heat of the National Basketball Association. In the early 2000s, the Women's National Basketball Association team Miami Sol played at the arena from the team's birth in 2000 until the team's folding in 2002. The AmericanAirlines Arena is directly served by the Miami Metrorail at Government Center station via free transfers to Metromover Omni Loop, providing direct service to Freedom Tower and Park West stations. The Arena is also within walking distance from the Historic Overtown/Lyric Theatre Metrorail station.

American Airlines maintains the American Airlines Arena Travel Center at the venue. AmericanAirlines Arena should not be confused with the American Airlines Center, which is located in Dallas. The official spelling of the building is distinct as "American" and "Airlines" is considered as one word. An example of this wording is FedExForum or FedExField, the only difference is that "AmericanAirlines" and "Arena" are not joined together.

The AmericanAirlines Arena has 2,105 club seats, 80 luxury suites, and 76 private boxes. The Waterfront Theater is Florida's largest theater which is housed within the arena, that can seat between 3,000 and 5,800. The theater can be configured for concerts, family events, musical theatre and other stage shows.

History

The AmericanAirlines Arena opened on December 31, 1999 and its construction cost was $213,000,000. Architectural design team members included George Heinlein, Cristian Petschen, Reinaldo Borges, and Lance Simon. The AmericanAirlines Arena was inaugurated with a concert by Gloria Estefan. Two days later, on January 2, 2000, the Miami Heat played its first game in the new arena by defeating the Orlando Magic 111–103.

The main façade of the arena at night

As part of its sponsorship arrangement, American Airlines had a giant aircraft painted on top of the arena's roof, with an American Airlines logo in the center. The design is visible from airplanes taking off and landing at Miami International Airport, where American has a hub. The arena also has luxury skyboxes called "Flagship Lounges," a trademark originally used for American's premium-class lounges at certain airports.

Local sportscasters often refer to the arena as the "triple-A". Some sports reporters on the local news stations such as WSVN have referred to the arena as "A³" (A cubed). The arena is known for its unusual scoreboard, designed by Artist Christopher Janney. Drawing on the underwater anemone forms, the scoreboard also changes colors depending on the atmosphere. For concerts in an arena configuration, end stage capacity is 12,202 for 180-degree shows, 15,402 for 270-degree shows, 18,309 for 360-degree shows. For center stage concerts the arena can seat 19,146.

The Miami Heat has not had to pay to use the $357 million-venue, which sits on $38 million of county land; the county has paid $64 million in operating subsidies. "It was never a good deal," says former Miami-Dade Commissioner Katy Sorenson, who opposed the new arena in 1996. "There are certain politicians who just get stars in their eyes and don't really think about what the real cost is going to be."

Transportation

Traffic congestion after events can cause delays for those who choose to drive to the arena. Visitors to the American Airlines Arena are encouraged to take the Miami Metrorail or Metrobus, as parking can be scarce and expensive. The nearest Metrorail stations are Government Center and Historic Overtown. Additionally, the Metromover provides free transportation throughout Downtown Miami and Brickell. For more information, visit: Miami-Dade Transit.

Notable events hosted

• Gloria Estefan performed her "Millennium Concert" on December 31st 1999. She performed here again in 2004 for her Live & Re-Wrapped Tour.
• In November 2002, Cher's Living Proof: The Farewell Tour performed at AmericanAirlines Arena for an NBC special which aired in April 2003, winning an Emmy.
• The AmericanAirlines Arena also hosted the first UFC event in the state of Florida, UFC 42: Sudden Impact, on April 25, 2003.
• On March 28, 2004, Britney Spears performed to a sold out show as part of The Onyx Hotel Tour. The show was broadcast live over the world.
• The 2004 VMAs and 2005 VMAs were held there. Celebrities entered by yacht rather than by limousine.
• The arena was once again the host of the 2012 NBA Finals (along with the Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City) when the Heat played the Oklahoma City Thunder, winning the NBA Championship in five games.
• The arena was the setting for the highly publicized MTV Video Music Awards, both in 2004 and 2005. Both events brought millions of dollars into the Miami-Dade County economy.
• Irish rock band, U2 performed 2 concerts on November 13 and 14, 2005, on their Vertigo Tour.
• In August 2006, Mariah Carey performed here for her Adventures of Mimi Tour.
• The AmericanAirlines Arena as well as the American Airlines Center, hosted the NBA Finals in 2006 and 2011, in which the Miami Heat played the Dallas Mavericks. Because of this, the series were nicknamed by some as the American Airlines series.
• In May 2007, Ricky Martin performed here for his Black and White Tour. He returned in 2011 for his Música + Alma + Sexo World Tour.
• On December 4 and 5, 2007, the Argentine rock band Soda Stereo performed at the AmericanAirlines Arena as part of his farewell tour Me Verás Volver, being this tour a sellout in Argentina and the Americas. It was six (6) sold out shows in the famous Estadio Monumental Antonio Vespucio Liberti.
• The arena was host to For Darfur benefit concert, which was the Miami stop for Kanye West Glow in the Dark Tour, on May 6, 2008.
• Celine Dion performed her Taking Chances Tour at the arena on January 23, 2009 and set an attendance record making it the largest crowd in the arena's history.
• Britney Spears performed as part of her The Circus Starring Britney Spears Tour at the arena on March 7, 2009. She set an attendance record with a sold-out crowd of 18,644, beating out Celine Dion who previously gathered a 17,725 crowd. It is noted as the largest concert attendance in the arena's history as of 2009. She also performed at the arena as part of her Femme Fatale Tour.
• Ivete Sangalo: The Brazilian pop star sold out "AAA" on August 28, 2010 as part of her world tour.
• Phish has performed New Year's Eve 2 times at AAA including runs in 2003 and 2009, a total of 8 sick concerts.
• The cast of Mexican hit TV series Two Faces Of Love beat out Britney Spears selling out a crowd of 18,693 making this the largest concert attendance in the arena's history as of 2010.
• Punk rock band Green Day performed at the arena on August 4, 2009 as part of their 21st Century Breakdown World Tour.
• In May 2010, the Backstreet Boys performed at the Waterford Theater for their This Is Us Tour.
• Canadian pop artist Justin Bieber performed to a sold out show on December 18, 2010 as part of his My World Tour. The Canadian singer returned to the arena for performances on January 26 and 27, 2013 as part of his Believe Tour.
• In 2011, Sade performed here for her Once in a Lifetime Tour.
• Taylor Swift first performed here on November 13, 2011 for her Speak Now World Tour and performed there again on April 10, 2013 as part of her Red Tour.
• British rock band Coldplay played at the arena for the first time on June 29, 2012 as part of their Mylo Xyloto Tour.
• Latin musicians Marc Anthony, Chayanne, and Marco Antonio Solís kicked-off their GIGANT3S Tour with back-to-back shows at the arena.
• Mexican rock band Maná has performed at the arena a total of six times.
• British-Irish boy band One Direction will play at the arena for the first time on June 14, 2013.
• Lady Gaga performed here for The Monster Ball Tour to a sold-out crowd of 14,695 on April 13, 2011, and was scheduled to perform here as part of her The Born This Way Ball Tour on March 16, 2013, but cancelled, not only this show but the entire rest of the tour, due to a hip injury.
• Queen of Pop Madonna performed in this venue on November 19 and 20, 2012 as part of her MDNA Tour. The sold out shows were filmed for a DVD. She previously held sold out concerts in this arena in 2004 for her Re-Invention Tour and in 2006 for her Confessions Tour.
• Australian worship band Hillsong United recorded a 2-hour long live CD/DVD set titled Hillsong United: Live in Miami which was released in August 2011, which was filmed, recorded, and played at the arena.
• Beyoncé will be performing for the first time at the AAA, as part of her The Mrs. Carter Show World Tour, on July 10, 2013.

Gallery

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  Arena during the NBA Playoffs

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  Front view of the AAA in July 2010

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  View from Biscayne Bay

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  View from the north at night

• Http://static.flickr.com/31/63560556 ecdb9ec3c6.jpg
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  Arena at night

External links

• AmericanAirlines Arena's official page
• Arena picture
• Satellite view from Google Maps

Events and tenants
Preceded by Miami Arena	Home of the Miami Heat 1999 – present	Succeeded by current
Preceded by first arena	Home of the Miami Sol 2000–2002	Succeeded by last arena
Preceded by Save Mart Center	Home of the Royal Rumble 2006	Succeeded by AT&T Center