BankAtlantic Center
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| Former names | Broward County Civic Arena (1998) National Car Rental Center (1998-2002) Office Depot Center (2002-2005) |
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| Location | 1 Panther Pkwy, Sunrise, Florida 33323 |
| Coordinates | 26°9′30″N 80°19′32″W / 26.15833°N 80.32556°WCoordinates: 26°9′30″N 80°19′32″W / 26.15833°N 80.32556°W |
| Broke ground | October, 1996 |
| Opened | October 3, 1998 |
| Owner | Broward County |
| Operator | SMG World |
| Construction cost | $185 million[1] |
| Architect | Ellerbe Becket |
| Capacity | Basketball: 20,737 Ice hockey: 19,250 Concerts:
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| Tenants | |
| Florida Panthers (NHL) (1998-present) Florida Pit Bulls (ABA) (2005-2006) Florida Bobcats (AFL) (1999-2001) Florida ThunderCats (NPSL) (1998-1999) Miami Caliente (LFL) (2009-present) |
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The BankAtlantic Center (previously known as Broward County Civic Arena, National Car Rental Center and Office Depot Center) is an indoor arena located in Sunrise, Florida, a suburb of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, near the popular Sawgrass Mills Mall. The arena is easily accessible from the Sawgrass Expressway at the Oakland Park Boulevard exit. The arena is home to the Florida Panthers of the National Hockey League and the Florida Pit Bulls of the American Basketball Association.
The arena was completed in 1998 at a cost of $185 million, almost entirely publicly financed. The arena features 70 suites and 2,300 club seats.[1]
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[edit] History
The search for a new arena began in 1993, when H. Wayne Huizenga obtained the new franchise for the Florida Panthers Hockey Team. The search process became a fast-track development strategy when the site in Sunrise, Florida, was selected in June, 1996. In July, 1996, Alex Muxo gathered more than a dozen architects, engineers and contractors for the first major design brainstorming session. Time was of the essence. A state-of-the-art arena had to be built by August 30, 1998, to accommodate the fall 1998 Hockey Season.
Seventy suites were completed with wet bars, closed circuited monitors and leather upholstery. Averaging over 650 square feet, the suites are the largest in the country for this type of facility. All the activity was generated by over 50 subcontractors and 2.3 million man hours without a single injury.
[edit] Regular events
The arena is home to the Florida Panthers of the NHL and formerly the Florida Pit Bulls of the ABA and the Florida Bobcats of the AFL 1998-2001 along with the only season of the Florida ThunderCats. This arena also serves as the host for the Orange Bowl Basketball Classic held every December in conjunction with the namesake college football game.
The arena has also hosted the 2003 NHL All-Star Game and the 2005–2006 ABA All-Star game.
[edit] Notable events
- The Bee Gees ushered in the new millennium with a "BG2K" concert at the arena on December 31, 1999. It was to be their last full arena concert as a group.
- The Florida Panthers hosted the 2001 NHL Entry Draft at the arena.
- The Dave Matthews Band performed a single show at the arena in 2001; their usual venue in southeast Florida is the Cruzan Amphitheatre. There was a power interruption during the performance; they have not returned to the venue.[2]
- U2 started their Elevation Tour at the arena in 2001.[3] and Support Act The Corrs on There In Blue Tour
- The arena served as the site for the 2003 NHL All-Star Game on February 2, 2003. The Western Conference defeated the Eastern Conference, 6-5, in a shootout victory. It marked the first "official" shootout in the NHL.
- Phil Collins ended the North American leg of his "First Final Farewell Tour" at the arena on September 30, 2004.
- Gwen Stefani held concert apart of her Harajuku Lovers Tour 2005 on December 21, 2005
- Guns N' Roses started their 2006/2007 North American "Chinese Democracy" tour in the arena on the October 24, 2006.
- Also in 2006, The Who recorded a live CD as part of the Encore Series that November.
- In 2007 Miley Cyrus sold out the arena in a matter of minutes for her Best of Both Worlds Tour. Tickets could be resold for $65–$3,700[4]
- On May 23, 2008, Senator Barack Obama held a rally as part of his Presidential campaign.
- On October 29, 2008, Senator Barack Obama held a rally as part of his Presidential campaign, and addressed the nation live on several television networks.
- On August 14 and 15, 2001 Madonna played two sold out shows here as part of her Drowned World Tour, on Wednesday the 15th her then husband Guy Ritchie surprised Madonna on stage with a cake to celebrate her birthday on August 16 and the arena sang Happy Birthday.
- On April 2, 2009, Iron Maiden played the last show of their Somewhere Back in Time World Tour here.
- Metallica played here for the first time on November 6, 2004, during their Madly In Anger With The World Tour. They played here a second time on October 1, 2009, during their World Magnetic Tour.
- KISS (band) played here for their Kiss Alive/35 World Tour tour on October 22, 2009.
[edit] Boxing, mixed martial arts and wrestling
The arena has held boxing, mixed martial arts and wrestling events such as Bash at the Beach '99, Armageddon '99 and Armageddon 2002. It also hosted WWE Monday Night Raw on November 19, 2007 which featured the return of Chris Jericho. The arena held EliteXC: Heat featuring the main event of Seth Petruzelli and Kimbo Slice took place on October 4, 2008. On January 2, 2009, WWE Raw held a live event, in which John Cena defeated Randy Orton to retain the World's Heavyweight title in the main event. On February 15, 2009, a lightweight bout between Nate Campbell and Ali Funeka took place in the arena.
Strikeforce MMA will be making their debut at the arena on January 30th, 2010 with an event set to air on Showtime.
[edit] Barbra Streisand
On October 30, 2006, Barbra Streisand was pelted with a beverage and, as her politically-charged presentation ended, another man in the crowd found himself being escorted out as he shouted at her. Streisand shrugged both incidents off, saying some people would do better to buy her records than come to her shows. Her two shows here were filmed for a CBS TV special and a DVD released on April 28, 2009.
[edit] George Michael
George Michael ended his North-American leg of his 25 Live tour by playing one last show in Fort Lauderdale.
[edit] Future Development
Plans to develop property surrounding the arena are currently in progress. The plan involves removing the parking lot surrounding the building, in order to place high-rise apartments, as well as restaurants and retail businesses. An underground parking garage will be built to accommodate people driving into the arena for events. Concept designs can be found at City Of Oz website.[citation needed]
[edit] Capacity
[edit] Seating
- Basketball: 20,737
- Hockey: 19,250
- End-Stage Concerts: 15,207 - 21,371
- Center-Stage Concerts: 22,457
- 17,000 square feet (1,600 m2) of arena floor space for trade shows and other events such as circuses and ice shows.[1]
[edit] Parking and loading docks
- Total: 7,045 Spaces (Does not include production or bus/oversized vehicle parking)
- General Parking: 4,787 Spaces
- Suite/Club Seat Parking: 1,430 Spaces
- Garage: 226 Spaces
- Disabled Parking: 90 Spaces
- Event Staff: 512 Spaces
- Truck Doors: 5
- Waste Removal Docks: 2[1]
[edit] Food and novelty concessions
- Plaza Level: 3 Food Courts and Pantherland Retail
- Mezzanine Level: 3 Food Courts and two Points of Purchase Kiosks[1]
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d e f "Facts and Figures". http://www.bankatlanticcenter.com/about/FactsandFigures.asp. Retrieved 2007-10-22.
- ^ "Tour: 2001 summer". http://dmbalmanac.com/TourShowSet.aspx?id=38&tid=2&where=2001. Retrieved 2009-06-11.
- ^ "U2Tours.com - Elevation Tour, 1st leg". http://www.u2tours.com/find.src?TOUR=Elevation+-+1st+leg&Concert=&x=21&y=21. Retrieved 2007-12-12.
- ^ "Ticket Craze". 2007-15-29. http://www.mymostwanted.com/news3/example/index.php/2007/09/15/hannah-montana-tickets-sell-out-instantly.html. Retrieved 2007-09-29.
[edit] External links
| Preceded by Miami Arena |
Home of the Florida Panthers 1998 – present |
Succeeded by current |
| Preceded by Staples Center |
Host of the NHL All-Star Game 2003 |
Succeeded by Xcel Energy Center |
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