Glendale Arena
Encyclopedia
Jobing.com Arena is a sport
s and entertainment arena
in Glendale, Arizona
. It is located 12½ miles northwest of downtown Phoenix.
Completed in 2003 at a construction cost of $
180 million, it seats 17,125 for hockey
and lacrosse
, 18,300 for basketball
and about 19,000 for concert events. The arena contains 3,075 club seats and 88 luxury suites. It also features a completely integrated video, scoring and advertising system from Daktronics
.
It is home to the Phoenix Coyotes
of the National Hockey League
(NHL) and also to the now-defunct Arizona Sting
of the National Lacrosse League
(NLL).
It sits on the north side of West Maryland Avenue across from University of Phoenix Stadium
, home of the National Football League
's (NFL) Arizona Cardinals
.
The venue is part of the Westgate City Center
entertainment and retail complex, funded by New York architect Ron Elsensohn.
in 1996 in the America West Arena (now the US Airways Center
) in downtown Phoenix. The AWA was not an old arena (it had made its debut as the new home of the NBA's
Phoenix Suns
only four years earlier, in 1992) but it was primarily designed for NBA basketball. It was quickly retrofitted for hockey. However, the arena floor was just barely large enough to fit a regulation hockey rink, and several seats had badly obstructed views. As a result, before the team's second season in Phoenix, its hockey capacity had to be cut down from over 18,000 seats to just over 16,000—the second-smallest capacity in the NHL at the time. After the Colorado Avalanche moved from McNichols Sports Arena
into Pepsi Center
in 1999, and the Toronto Maple Leafs
moved from the Maple Leaf Gardens
to Air Canada Centre
later in the same season, America West Arena was the smallest NHL venue. A small section of seats on the lower level actually hung over the boards, obstructing the views for up to 3,000 spectators.
When the Coyotes were sold to a partnership led by Steve Ellman, that group committed to building a new arena in suburban Glendale. With agreements signed with the city of Glendale in 2001, Glendale Arena opened midway through the 2003–04 season, on December 26, 2003, with the Arizona Sting
of the National Lacrosse League
defeating the Vancouver Ravens, 16–12. The first NHL game was held the next evening, as the Coyotes dropped a 3–1 decision to the Nashville Predators
on December 27, 2003.
Jobing.com Arena was expected to gain the 2009 NHL All-Star Game after losing the 2006 All-Star Game because of the new Collective Bargaining Agreement ratification in the National Hockey League; however the Montreal Canadiens
and their arena, Bell Centre
, were awarded the 2009 All-Star Game. Under the terms of the new agreement, the All-Star Game
would not be held during the year of the Winter Olympics
in order for players to participate in the Games. Philips Arena
in Atlanta
, which lost the All-Star Game in 2005 because of the lockout, was awarded the 2008 All-Star Game. As Carolina has been awarded the 2011 All-Star Game, it is unknown whether the All-Star Game will ever be held in Arizona.
Beginning in 2005, Jobing.com Arena has been host to the Arizona state high school basketball, volleyball, wrestling and cheerleading tournaments in a mega-event called "February Frenzy", as the result of a formal agreement between the city of Glendale and the Arizona Interscholastic Association
(AIA).
The Arizona Sting
folded after the 2007 season.
Since 2004, the PBR's Built Ford Tough Series
bull riding tour has hosted an annual event at this venue (except for 2006 when the event was held at Chase Field
).
Prior to the 2009-2010 season, this was the only current NHL arena to have never hosted a playoff game, as the Coyotes' last playoff appearance was in 2002 when they still played home games in downtown Phoenix. However, the team qualified for the 2010 Stanley Cup Playoffs
, ending that drought. They played the Red Wings
and lost the series 4-3. The 2010-2011 Coyotes season ended at Jobing.com arena with a 4 game sweep of the Coyotes by the Detroit Red Wings.
signed a 10-year, $30 million naming rights deal.
Sport
A Sport is all forms of physical activity which, through casual or organised participation, aim to use, maintain or improve physical fitness and provide entertainment to participants. Sport may be competitive, where a winner or winners can be identified by objective means, and may require a degree...
s and entertainment 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 Glendale, Arizona
Glendale, Arizona
Glendale is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, USA, located about nine miles northwest from Downtown Phoenix. According to 2010 Census Bureau, the population of the city is 226,721....
. It is located 12½ miles northwest of downtown Phoenix.
Completed in 2003 at a construction cost of $
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
180 million, it seats 17,125 for hockey
Ice hockey
Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...
and lacrosse
Lacrosse
Lacrosse is a team sport of Native American origin played using a small rubber ball and a long-handled stick called a crosse or lacrosse stick, mainly played in the United States and Canada. It is a contact sport which requires padding. The head of the lacrosse stick is strung with loose mesh...
, 18,300 for basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
and about 19,000 for concert events. The arena contains 3,075 club seats and 88 luxury suites. It also features a completely integrated video, scoring and advertising system from Daktronics
Daktronics
Daktronics is an American company based in Brookings, South Dakota that designs, manufactures, sells, and services video board, scoreboards, digital billboards and related products. The company is best known for its electronic LED displays...
.
It is home to the Phoenix Coyotes
Phoenix Coyotes
The Phoenix Coyotes are a professional ice hockey team based in Glendale, Arizona. They are members of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League . They play their home games at Jobing.com Arena....
of the National Hockey League
National Hockey League
The National Hockey League is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates a major professional ice hockey league of 30 franchised member clubs, of which 7 are currently located in Canada and 23 in the United States...
(NHL) and also to the now-defunct Arizona Sting
Arizona Sting
The Arizona Sting was a member of the National Lacrosse League from 2004 to 2007. They played at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio, from 2001 to 2003 as the Columbus Landsharks. On August 28, 2003, it was announced that the team was relocating to Glendale, Arizona...
of the National Lacrosse League
National Lacrosse League
The National Lacrosse League is a men's professional indoor lacrosse league in North America. It currently has nine teams; three in Canada and six in the United States. Unlike other lacrosse leagues which play in the summer, the NLL plays its games in the winter and spring. Each year, the playoff...
(NLL).
It sits on the north side of West Maryland Avenue across from University of Phoenix Stadium
University of Phoenix Stadium
University of Phoenix Stadium, opened August 1, 2006, is a multipurpose football stadium located in Glendale, Arizona. It is the home of the Arizona Cardinals of the National Football League and the annual Fiesta Bowl...
, home of the National Football League
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
's (NFL) Arizona Cardinals
Arizona Cardinals
The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in Glendale, Arizona, a suburb of Phoenix. They are currently members of the Western Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
.
The venue is part of the Westgate City Center
Westgate City Center
Westgate City Center is the name of a mixed-use development located in Glendale, Arizona. Westgate is described as a super-regional destination for shopping, entertainment, commercial office and luxury residential...
entertainment and retail complex, funded by New York architect Ron Elsensohn.
History
The arena's construction broke ground on April 3, 2002 and the Coyotes moved into the arena in late 2003. The team had spent its first 7½ seasons since relocating from WinnipegWinnipeg
Winnipeg is the capital and largest city of Manitoba, Canada, and is the primary municipality of the Winnipeg Capital Region, with more than half of Manitoba's population. It is located near the longitudinal centre of North America, at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers .The name...
in 1996 in the America West Arena (now the US Airways Center
US Airways Center
US Airways Center is a sports and entertainment arena located in downtown 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, and the Arizona Rattlers of the Arena...
) in downtown Phoenix. The AWA was not an old arena (it had made its debut as the new home of the NBA's
National Basketball Association
The National Basketball Association is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in North America. It consists of thirty franchised member clubs, of which twenty-nine are located in the United States and one in Canada...
Phoenix Suns
Phoenix Suns
The Phoenix Suns are a professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. They are members of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association and the only team in their division not to be based in California. Their home arena since 1992 has been the US...
only four years earlier, in 1992) but it was primarily designed for NBA basketball. It was quickly retrofitted for hockey. However, the arena floor was just barely large enough to fit a regulation hockey rink, and several seats had badly obstructed views. As a result, before the team's second season in Phoenix, its hockey capacity had to be cut down from over 18,000 seats to just over 16,000—the second-smallest capacity in the NHL at the time. After the Colorado Avalanche moved from McNichols Sports Arena
McNichols Sports Arena
McNichols Sports Arena was an indoor arena, in Denver, Colorado, USA, adjacent to Mile High Stadium. Completed in 1975, at a cost of $10 million, it seated 16,061, for hockey games, 17,171, for basketball games and contained 27 luxury suites, which were installed as part of the 1986 renovation. It...
into Pepsi Center
Pepsi Center
Pepsi Center is a multi-purpose arena in Denver, Colorado, United States. The building is home to the Denver Nuggets of the National Basketball Association, the Colorado Avalanche of the National Hockey League, and the Colorado Mammoth of the National Lacrosse League...
in 1999, and the Toronto Maple Leafs
Toronto Maple Leafs
The Toronto Maple Leafs are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League...
moved from the Maple Leaf Gardens
Maple Leaf Gardens
Maple Leaf Gardens is an indoor arena that was converted into a Loblawssupermarket and Ryerson University athletic centre in Toronto, on the northwest corner of Carlton Street and Church Street in Toronto's Garden District.One of the temples of hockey, it was home to the Toronto Maple Leafs of the...
to Air Canada Centre
Air Canada Centre
The Air Canada Centre is a multi-purpose indoor sporting arena located on Bay Street in Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada.The arena is popularly known as the ACC or the Hangar ....
later in the same season, America West Arena was the smallest NHL venue. A small section of seats on the lower level actually hung over the boards, obstructing the views for up to 3,000 spectators.
When the Coyotes were sold to a partnership led by Steve Ellman, that group committed to building a new arena in suburban Glendale. With agreements signed with the city of Glendale in 2001, Glendale Arena opened midway through the 2003–04 season, on December 26, 2003, with the Arizona Sting
Arizona Sting
The Arizona Sting was a member of the National Lacrosse League from 2004 to 2007. They played at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio, from 2001 to 2003 as the Columbus Landsharks. On August 28, 2003, it was announced that the team was relocating to Glendale, Arizona...
of the National Lacrosse League
National Lacrosse League
The National Lacrosse League is a men's professional indoor lacrosse league in North America. It currently has nine teams; three in Canada and six in the United States. Unlike other lacrosse leagues which play in the summer, the NLL plays its games in the winter and spring. Each year, the playoff...
defeating the Vancouver Ravens, 16–12. The first NHL game was held the next evening, as the Coyotes dropped a 3–1 decision to the Nashville Predators
Nashville Predators
The Nashville Predators are a professional ice hockey team based in Nashville, Tennessee. They are members of the Central Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League...
on December 27, 2003.
Jobing.com Arena was expected to gain the 2009 NHL All-Star Game after losing the 2006 All-Star Game because of the new Collective Bargaining Agreement ratification in the National Hockey League; however the Montreal Canadiens
Montreal Canadiens
The Montreal Canadiens are a professional ice hockey team based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . The club is officially known as ...
and their arena, Bell Centre
Bell Centre
The Bell Centre , formerly known as the Molson Centre , is a sports and entertainment complex in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It opened on March 16, 1996 after nearly three years under construction...
, were awarded the 2009 All-Star Game. Under the terms of the new agreement, the All-Star Game
National Hockey League All-Star Game
The National Hockey League All-Star Game is an exhibition ice hockey game that is traditionally held at the midway point of the regular season of the National Hockey League , with many of the league's star players playing against each other...
would not be held during the year of the Winter Olympics
Winter Olympic Games
The Winter Olympic Games is a sporting event, which occurs every four years. The first celebration of the Winter Olympics was held in Chamonix, France, in 1924. The original sports were alpine and cross-country skiing, figure skating, ice hockey, Nordic combined, ski jumping and speed skating...
in order for players to participate in the Games. Philips Arena
Philips Arena
Philips Arena is an indoor arena in Atlanta, Georgia.Completed in 1999 to replace The Omni, at a cost of $213.5 million, it is home to the Atlanta Hawks, of the National Basketball Association, and the Atlanta Dream, of the Women's National Basketball Association...
in Atlanta
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...
, which lost the All-Star Game in 2005 because of the lockout, was awarded the 2008 All-Star Game. As Carolina has been awarded the 2011 All-Star Game, it is unknown whether the All-Star Game will ever be held in Arizona.
Beginning in 2005, Jobing.com Arena has been host to the Arizona state high school basketball, volleyball, wrestling and cheerleading tournaments in a mega-event called "February Frenzy", as the result of a formal agreement between the city of Glendale and the Arizona Interscholastic Association
Arizona Interscholastic Association
The Arizona Interscholastic Association is the major high school sports association in the state of Arizona. It comprises most of the state's public district high schools, various charter and private schools, plus one high school in California San Pasqual High School in Winterhaven, California,...
(AIA).
The Arizona Sting
Arizona Sting
The Arizona Sting was a member of the National Lacrosse League from 2004 to 2007. They played at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio, from 2001 to 2003 as the Columbus Landsharks. On August 28, 2003, it was announced that the team was relocating to Glendale, Arizona...
folded after the 2007 season.
Since 2004, the PBR's Built Ford Tough Series
Built Ford Tough Series
The Built Ford Tough Series is the "major league" tour of the PBR competitions. It is a 30-city event series culminating in the PBR World Finals every year in Las Vegas, Nevada. The top 45 riders of the PBR compete in the BFTS with the rankings determined by points and money won...
bull riding tour has hosted an annual event at this venue (except for 2006 when the event was held at Chase Field
Chase Field
Chase Field is a baseball stadium located in downtown Phoenix, Arizona and is the home of the Arizona Diamondbacks of Major League Baseball. It opened in , just in time for the Diamondbacks' first game as an expansion team...
).
Prior to the 2009-2010 season, this was the only current NHL arena to have never hosted a playoff game, as the Coyotes' last playoff appearance was in 2002 when they still played home games in downtown Phoenix. However, the team qualified for the 2010 Stanley Cup Playoffs
2010 Stanley Cup playoffs
The 2010 Stanley Cup playoffs of the National Hockey League began on April 14, 2010, after the 2009–10 NHL regular season. The Finals ended on June 9, 2010, with the Chicago Blackhawks defeating the Philadelphia Flyers four games to two to win their fourth championship and their first since 1961...
, ending that drought. They played the Red Wings
Detroit Red Wings
The Detroit Red Wings are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit, Michigan. They are members of the Central Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League , and are one of the Original Six teams of the NHL, along with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens, New York...
and lost the series 4-3. The 2010-2011 Coyotes season ended at Jobing.com arena with a 4 game sweep of the Coyotes by the Detroit Red Wings.
Naming rights
On October 25, 2006, local online company Jobing.comJobing.com
Jobing.com is an employment website focusing on local recruiting in 18 U.S. cities. It is a three time "Fastest Growing Company," making the list consecutively in 2005-2007...
signed a 10-year, $30 million naming rights deal.