Bayfront Arena
Encyclopedia
The Bayfront Center was an indoor arena
Arena
An arena is an enclosed area, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theater, musical performances, or sporting events. It is composed of a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for spectators. The key feature of an arena is that the event space is the...

 in St. Petersburg, Florida
St. Petersburg, Florida
St. Petersburg is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. It is known as a vacation destination for both American and foreign tourists. As of 2008, the population estimate by the U.S. Census Bureau is 245,314, making St...

 that hosted many concerts, sports, and other events, holding up to 7,500 people. It was built in 1965 and demolished in 2004.

The venue hosted the ABA's The Floridians when the team played in St. Petersburg. Prior to the Floridians the Bayfront Center Arena was home ice for the Suncoast Suns of the Eastern Hockey League and then Southern Hockey League from 1971-73. The Tampa Bay Rowdies played their indoor soccer
Indoor soccer
Indoor soccer or arena soccer, or six-a-side football in the United Kingdom, is a game derived from association football adapted for play in an indoor arena such as a turf-covered hockey arena or skating rink. The most important difference in play is that the indoor field is surrounded by a wall...

 games there throughout their existence. The arena also hosted many wrestling
Wrestling
Wrestling is a form of grappling type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. A wrestling bout is a physical competition, between two competitors or sparring partners, who attempt to gain and maintain a superior position...

 and boxing
Boxing
Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...

 cards, among them the WCW
World Championship Wrestling
World Championship Wrestling, Inc. was an American professional wrestling promotion which existed from 1988 to 2001. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, it began as a regional promotion affiliated with the National Wrestling Alliance , named Jim Crockett Promotions until November 1988, when Ted Turner and...

 SuperBrawl
SuperBrawl
SuperBrawl was an annual professional wrestling pay-per-view in World Championship Wrestling during the month of February from 1991 through 2001. Along with Starrcade, Bash at the Beach, The Great American Bash and Halloween Havoc, SuperBrawl was booked to be one of WCW's flagship pay-per-views....

 in 1991 and 1996 and Slamboree
Slamboree
Slamboree was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event from World Championship Wrestling held from 1993 through 2000. It was held in the month of May. It was originally billed as "The Legends' Reunion" because many retired legends from Jim Crockett Promotions attended the PPV and other events...

 in 1995. The vice-presidential candidate debate was host at the Bayfront Center in 1996.

From the 1960s to the 1990s, the Bayfront Center was as the location for Ringling Brothers & Barnum and Baily's
Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus
Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus is an American circus company. The company was started when the circus created by James Anthony Bailey and P. T. Barnum was merged with the Ringling Brothers Circus. The Ringling brothers purchased the Barnum & Bailey Circus in 1907, but ran the circuses...

 annual spring TV taping. Up until 1992, every spring Ringling Brothers taped a network TV special from the arena and also shot all the photos for their programs there.

The arena was demolished in 2004 to make way for an eventual replacement facility for nearby Salvador Dali Museum
Salvador Dalí Museum
The Salvador Dalí Museum in St. Petersburg, Florida, United States, houses the largest collection outside Europe of the works of the artist Salvador Dalí and is located on the Downtown St. Petersburg waterfront.-History:...

.
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