Times Union Center

Not to be confused with Times-Union Center for the Performing Arts.

Times Union Center
Former names	Knickerbocker Arena (1990–1997) Pepsi Arena (1997–2007)
Location	51 S Pearl St, Albany, NY 12207
Coordinates	42°38′55″N 73°45′17″W
Broke ground	February 5, 1987
Opened	January 30, 1990
Owner	Albany County
Operator	SMG
Construction cost	$68.8 million ($116 million in 2012 dollars) $1.6 millon (2010 renovation)($1.6 million in 2012 dollars)
Architect	Crozier Associates
Structural engineer	Clough Harbour & Associates
General Contractor	Beltrone/MLB
Capacity	15,357 (concerts) 15,229 (basketball) 14,236 (hockey) 13,785 (arena football) 17,500 (max)
Tenants
Albany Firebirds (AFL) (1990–2000) New York Kick (NPSL) (1990–1991) Albany Choppers (IHL) (1990–1991) Albany River Rats (AHL) (1993–2010) Siena Saints (MAAC) (1997–present) Albany Attack (NLL) (2000–2003) Albany Conquest (AF2) (2002–2008) Albany Firebirds (AF2) (2009) Albany Devils (AHL) (2010-present)

The Times Union Center is an indoor arena, located in Albany, New York, that can fit from 6,000-17,500 people, with a maximum seating capacity of 15,500, for sporting events.

The building, designed by Crozier Associates, engineered by Clough Harbour & Associates and built by Beltrone/MLB at a cost of $68.6 million.

The arena also has 25 luxury suites, each having 16 seats, cable T.V., private bathroom, and private refrigerator, and are located at the top of the inner bowl. Suites are rented on a three-year lease basis (suites are currently sold out).

The arena was opened on January 30, 1990 as the Knickerbocker Arena, with a performance by Frank Sinatra.

The naming rights of the arena were sold to Pepsi in 1997 and it was known as Pepsi Arena from 1997-2006.

In May 2006, the naming rights were sold to the Times Union, a regional newspaper, and the name of the arena became the Times Union Center on January 1, 2007.

The building is managed by SMG.

It is within walking distance from the city's Greyhound bus station, as well as being close to hotels, bars and restaurants.

Current tenants include Siena College's men's basketball team and the Albany Devils, of the AHL.

Previous tenants have included the Albany Firebirds (formerly Albany Conquest), of af2, the Albany Firebirds, of the AFL, the Albany Patroons, of the CBA, the Albany Choppers, of the IHL, the Albany River Rats, of the AHL, the Albany Attack, of the NLL and the New York Kick, of the NPSL II.

The University at Albany has used the facility for past games against Syracuse University and has been approached to use the facility for some dates in the future in the wake of their participation in the 2006 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament.

The Times Union Center also regularly hosts exhibition games of major sports leagues.

The NBA, WNBA and NHL have all played games at the arena.

With the New Jersey Devils' AHL franchise relocating to this arena in the summer of 2010, the arena received a new scoreboard, LED ribbons above the luxury suites and new outside lighting, as well as an upgraded home team locker room.

AHL Hockey

On April 24, 2008 the longest hockey game in the 72 year history of AHL Hockey took place at Times Union Center. The marathon lasted 8 hours, 33 minutes & 36 seconds as the Philadelphia Phantoms defeated the Albany River Rats 3-2. In the process, River Rats goaltender Michael Leighton set a modern day record by making 98 saves.

College Sports

The Times Union Center hosts the ECAC Hockey championships every March and is often home to the annual Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference basketball tournament (1990–96, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006 and 2008–10).

The Times Union Center's atrium

In 2003, the Times Union Center hosted the NCAA basketball East Regional, which was won by Syracuse University on their way to their first national championship. The arena also hosted the first and second rounds of the 1995 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament as the Knickerbocker Arena.

In 2008, the Times Union Center hosted the NCAA ice hockey East Regional tournament. The arena has hosted ice-hockey regionals in even-numbered years since 2004 and is scheduled to host again in 2010, which will be the eighth time the East Regional has been held at the site.

In 2000, the Times Union Center hosted a regional quarterfinal between St. Lawrence University and Boston University, which went into quadruple overtime; becoming the longest game in the history of the tournament and the second longest game in Division I men's college hockey history (it is currently the third longest game).

The Times Union Center also hosted the Frozen Four on two occasions, in 1992 (as Knickerbocker Arena) when Lake Superior State University defeated Wisconsin for the national championship, and again in 2001 as the Pepsi Arena when Boston College defeated North Dakota.

Music

The Times Union Center and its parking garage, as viewed from the Empire State Plaza. The 1997-2006 Pepsi Arena signage is visible in this photo.

View of the TU Center from Pearl Street

Since its opening show, starring Frank Sinatra on January 30, 1990, the Times Union Center has become a popular concert venue, due to its proximity to larger cities like New York, Boston, and Montreal, where concert tickets tend to sell out faster.

The open parking lots near the arena provide an excellent tailgating area for fans before the show.

In 1990, The Grateful Dead recorded their 1996 release, Dozin' at the Knick, at the arena.

Notable Capacity Sellouts

• Billy Joel - Record 9 straight nights. A banner hanging from the rafters commemorates this.
• Billy Joel & Elton John
• Bruce Springsteen
• U2
• Phish
• Aerosmith - Only band to sellout arena in same year on two different tours (1998)
• Dave Matthews Band
• Grateful Dead - Hold record for most concerts played at arena (13) between 1990 & 1995.
• Pearl Jam
• Green Day
• Luciano Pavarotti - Highest single event gross revenue (1999)
• Red Hot Chilli Peppers
• Garth Brooks - The fastest gross income for any event when 51,000 tickets were sold in less than three hours for his 1997 three-day appearance. 283 tickets per minute.
• 2003 NCAA Men's Basketball East Regional - Syracuse, Auburn, Oklahoma & Butler.

Professional Wrestling

The Arena has held numerous professional wrestling events and moments. Promotions such as the World Wrestling Federation has visited the arena quite often. From 1990-1998 189,833 WWF fans have walked through the Times Union Center doors. Three superstars won their first WWF Championship in this arena. 1992's Royal Rumble took place here, with an attendance of 16,307. The event is considered one of the most notable events in WWF History as Ric Flair went for almost an hour to win the Rumble, and claim the WWF Championship for the first time.

In 1999 the then Pepsi Arena, Stone Cold Steve Austin had a beer truck driven down the ramp to the ring and sprayed Vince McMahon, The Rock, and Shane McMahon with beer.

In 2000, the Pepsi Arena hosted the World Wrestling Federation's No Mercy, notable for the return of Steve Austin to active competition after being injured at the hands of Rikishi. This show also featured Kurt Angle winning the WWF Championship for the first time, defeating the Rock. The show was also sold-out with an attendance of 14,342

In 2002, the newly renamed World Wrestling Entertainment hosted the Tour of Defiance and in 2003 the WWE recorded a historic episode of SmackDown when the Undertaker took on the Big Show and Brock Lesnar in a handicap match. Also featured the return of Too Cool (Scotty 2 Hotty & Rikishi).

Edge also won his first WWE Championship in January 2006, when it hosted New Year's Revolution after cashing in his Money in the Bank briefcase on John Cena. The attendance was 11,000.

On August 28, 2007 the Times Union Center held the first live televised ECW on Sci Fi accompanied by the first WWE SmackDown taping after WWE Summerslam 2007. The SmackDown taping featured the return of Rey Mysterio to SmackDown after a knee injury. WWE Smackdown also had a double taping, on November 25, 2008 where it featured The Undertaker facing The Big Show in a Steel Cage match.

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling held their first live event at the arena on September 7, 2008.

On September 28, 2009, WWE Monday Night Raw was held there with guest host, Al Sharpton. The show returned again on December 27, 2010 at the Times Union Center.

On April 12, 2011, WWE Friday Night SmackDown was once again held at the Times Union Center just one week after WrestleMania XXVII. It is also here where Edge vacated his World Heavyweight title, the day after he announced on WWE Monday Night Raw that he is forced to retire due to a career threatening injury.

Other Events

The PBR hosted a Built Ford Tough Series event at the arena in January 2008.

In the Center's only tennis event, Andre Agassi played John McEnroe just three days after Agassi won the U.S. Open in 1994.

The New York State Democratic Convention nominated First Lady Hillary Clinton as the U.S. Senate candidate at their statewide convention at Times Union Center on May 16, 2000. Her husband, former President of the United States Bill Clinton, attended the event.

External links

• Official website

Media related to Times Union Center at Wikimedia Commons

Events and tenants
Preceded by Houston Field House (Capital District)	Home of the Albany River Rats 1993 – 2010	Succeeded by Time Warner Cable Arena (Charlotte)
Preceded by Saint Paul Civic Center Saint Paul, Minnesota	Host of the Frozen Four 1992	Succeeded by Bradley Center Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Preceded by Providence Civic Center Providence, Rhode Island	Host of the Frozen Four 2001	Succeeded by Xcel Energy Center Saint Paul, Minnesota
Preceded by Tsongas Center at UMass Lowell (Lowell)	Home of the Albany Devils 2010-present	Succeeded by current arena