US Airways Center
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| The Purple Palace The Snake Pit |
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| Former names | America West Arena (1992–2005) |
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| Location | 201 East Jefferson Phoenix, Arizona 85004 |
| Opened | June 1 1992 |
| Owner | The City of Phoenix |
| Operator | Phoenix Arena Development, L.P. |
| Construction cost | $90 million USD |
| Architect | Ellerbe Becket |
| Capacity | Basketball: 18,422 Hockey: 16,210 |
| Tenants | |
| Arizona Rattlers (AFL) (1992–present) Phoenix Suns (NBA) (1992–present) Arizona Sandsharks (CISL) (1993–1997) Phoenix Coyotes (NHL) (1996–2003) Phoenix Mercury (WNBA) (1997–present) Phoenix RoadRunners (ECHL) (2005–2009) |
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US Airways Center (formerly America West Arena) is a sports and entertainment arena located in Phoenix, Arizona. It opened in 1992, and is the home of the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association, the Phoenix Mercury of the Women's National Basketball Association, the Arizona Rattlers of the Arena Football League,Phoenix Roadrunners of the ECHL, and the Arizona Sandsharks of the CISL.
The arena, which is situated near Chase Field, is named after its sponsor, US Airways. After America West's merger with US Airways, it was announced that America West Arena would be renamed to US Airways Center on November 14, 2005 with the name change taking place in January 2006.
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[edit] Sports teams and events
Basketball, arena football, and ice hockey are all played at the Center, in addition to concerts, professional wrestling, ice shows, and other events.
The Phoenix Coyotes of the NHL once called the US Airways Center home, starting with their move to Phoenix in 1996, and up until 2003, when they moved to Jobing.com Arena (formerly Glendale Arena), which was more suited for NHL hockey. It was also the home of the indoor soccer team Arizona Sandsharks of the CISL.
Its most common nickname is "The Purple Palace," though during the Rattlers' season it is known as "the Snake Pit."[citation needed]
Capacity for basketball was originally 19,023, but was downsized in recent years to 18,422.
Three of the games of the 1993 NBA Finals between the Suns and the Chicago Bulls, including game six where John Paxson hit basketball's version of the shot heard around the world, were played there, as was one of the three 1998 WNBA Finals games and two ArenaBowl games. In 1997, the Rattlers won ArenaBowl XI at America West Arena. The 1995 NBA All-Star Game was played in the arena, and the arena has been named as the location for the 2009 NBA All-Star Game.[1]
[edit] History
Construction of this arena began in 1988, as Suns owner Jerry Colangelo envisioned a need for a new playing facility to replace Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum which was nicknamed "The Mad House on McDowell" (the Coliseum was located just off a street by the name of McDowell in downtown Phoenix). In 1992, the new arena was officially inaugurated with a 111-105 Suns win over the Los Angeles Clippers. After the Suns lost the NBA championship series that year, a parade that attracted more than 300,000 Suns fans made its way through downtown and finished at the new arena.[citation needed]
[edit] NHL years
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This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references (ideally, using inline citations). Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (March 2009) |
When the Winnipeg Jets NHL franchise announced their intention to move to Phoenix as the Coyotes for the 1996-97 season, the arena was hastily reconfigured for hockey.
The resulting setup was inadequate and widely criticized. A portion of seats in the lower level, which had been sheared in half to fit the rink, actually hung over the boards and ice, obstructing the view of almost a third of the ice from over 3,000 seats.[2] The problem was so serious that after the team's first season in Phoenix, the team had to curtain off some seats in the areas where the net couldn't be seen, cutting listed capacity from over 18,000 seats to just over 16,000. The Coyotes added a second video board in an area where the view was particularly obstructed, and also put up numerous proposals to improve sight lines in order to boost capacity back over the 17,000 mark. They also had to sell many obstructed-view tickets at a reduced price. In addition, an unfavorable lease caused further financial troubles from which the franchise has yet to recover from. The Coyotes moved into an arena of their own, Jobing.com Arena located in suburban Glendale for the 2003–04 NHL season.
[edit] Transportation
The Center is served by METRO Rail's Washington at 3rd Street station as service commenced on 27 December 2008.
[edit] References
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: US Airways Center |
- ^ "Phoenix selected as host for 2009 NBA All-Star game". Yahoo! Sports. 2007-11-07. http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=ap-all-stargame-phoenix&prov=ap&type=lgns. Retrieved on 2007-11-07.
- ^ http://hockey.ballparks.com/NHL/PhoenixCoyotes/index.htm
[edit] External links
| Preceded by Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum |
Home of the Phoenix Suns 1992–present |
Succeeded by current |
| Preceded by first arena |
Home of the Arizona Rattlers 1992 – present |
Succeeded by current |
| Preceded by first arena |
Home of the Phoenix Mercury 1997 – present |
Succeeded by current |
| Preceded by first arena |
Home of the Phoenix RoadRunners 2005 – present |
Succeeded by current |
| Preceded by Winnipeg Arena |
Home of the Phoenix Coyotes 1996 – 2003 |
Succeeded by Jobing.com Arena |
| Preceded by Target Center New Orleans Arena |
Host of the NBA All-Star Game 1995 2009 |
Succeeded by Alamodome Dallas Cowboys New Stadium |
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