Stockton Arena is 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 Stockton, California

Stockton, California

Stockton, California, the seat of San Joaquin County, is the fourth-largest city in the Central Valley of the U.S. state of California. With a population of 291,707 at the 2010 census, Stockton ranks as this state's 13th largest city...

. It opened in December 2005 and seats approximately 10,000 fans. The arena, at maximum capacity, can seat 11,800 people.

It is primarily used for ice 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...

, 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...

 and arena football

Arena football

Arena football is a variety of gridiron football played by the Arena Football League . It is a proprietary game, the rights to which are owned by Gridiron Enterprises, and is played indoors on a smaller field than American or Canadian outdoor football, resulting in a faster and higher-scoring game....

.

It is the home venue of the Stockton Thunder

Stockton Thunder

The Stockton Thunder are a minor league professional ice hockey team from Stockton, California. The Thunder are a member of the ECHL, and began playing in the 2005–06 season. The Stockton Arena is their home ice, providing a capacity for 9,737 fans...

 ECHL

ECHL

The ECHL is a mid-level professional ice hockey league based in Princeton, New Jersey with teams scattered across the United States...

 Professional Hockey team, Stockton Cougars Professional Arena Soccer League

Professional Arena Soccer League

The Professional Arena Soccer League is an North American indoor soccer league recognized by FIFRA ....

 team and from 2006-09, it was the home to the Stockton Lightning

Stockton Lightning

The Stockton Lightning were a professional arena football team. They were members of the Western Division of the National Conferenece of the arenafootball2 .The Lightning joined af2 2006 as an expansion team...

 arenafootball2

AF2

AF2 was the name of the Arena Football League's developmental league; it was founded in 1999 and played its first season in 2000. Like parent AFL, the AF2 played using the same arena football rules and style of play. League seasons ran from April through July with the postseason and ArenaCup...

 team. Arena football returned to Stockton Arena in 2011, with the arrival of the Stockton Wolves, an American Indoor Football Association team that relocated from San Jose.

The Stockton Arena is part of a downtown, waterfront entertainment center which includes Banner Island Ballpark

Banner Island Ballpark

Banner Island Ballpark is a baseball stadium located in Stockton, California, which seats over 5,300 people. It is the home field of the Stockton Ports, a minor league affiliate of the Oakland Athletics in the Class A California League.-History:...

, the home of the Stockton Ports

Stockton Ports

The Stockton Ports are a baseball team in Stockton, California. The Ports play in the Northern Division of the Class A – Advanced California League and are a Minor League affiliate of the Oakland Athletics. Their home field is Banner Island Ballpark which seats over 5,000 people and opened in...

 minor league baseball

Minor league baseball

Minor league baseball is a hierarchy of professional baseball leagues in the Americas that compete at levels below Major League Baseball and provide opportunities for player development. All of the minor leagues are operated as independent businesses...

 team and the Lexington Plaza Waterfront Hotel.

Construction delays caused the Stockton Thunder

Stockton Thunder

The Stockton Thunder are a minor league professional ice hockey team from Stockton, California. The Thunder are a member of the ECHL, and began playing in the 2005–06 season. The Stockton Arena is their home ice, providing a capacity for 9,737 fans...

 and California Cougars

California Cougars

The California Cougars are an indoor soccer team, founded in 2004. The team is a charter member of the Professional Arena Soccer League , the first division of arena soccer in North America....

 to play on extended road trips during the beginning of their 2005/2006 season. Stockton Arena opened its doors to the public on December 2, 2005.  The first sporting event was a Stockton Thunder hockey game on December 10, 2005 in front of a sold out crowd of 10,117, a game where the Thunder beat the Phoenix RoadRunners

Phoenix RoadRunners

The Phoenix RoadRunners were a minor league ice hockey team based in Phoenix, Arizona. They played in the ECHL, beginning in the 2005–2006 season and ceasing operations at the end of the 2008-2009 season...

, 4-0. 

The Stockton Arena hosted the 2008 ECHL All-Star Game

ECHL All-Star Game

The ECHL All-Star Game is an exhibition ice hockey game that traditionally marks the midway point of the ECHL's regular season, with many of the league's star players playing against each other. The starting lineup for the two teams, including the starting goaltender, is voted on by the coaches,...

, World Wrestling Entertainment

World Wrestling Entertainment

World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. is an American publicly traded, privately controlled entertainment company dealing primarily in professional wrestling, with major revenue sources also coming from film, music, product licensing, and direct product sales...

 house show

House show

A house show is a professional wrestling show run by a major promotion that is not televised, though they can be recorded. Promotions use house shows mainly to cash in on the exposure that they and their wrestlers receive during televised events, as well as test reactions to matches, wrestlers, and...

s for both SmackDown/ECW and Raw

WWE RAW

WWE Raw ) is a sports entertainment television program for WWE that currently airs on the USA Network in the United States...

, and the July 26, 2008 EliteXC: Unfinished Business

EliteXC: Unfinished Business

EliteXC: Unfinished Business was a mixed martial arts event held by EliteXC on July 26, 2008 in Stockton, CA at Stockton Arena.The show was officially announced during the Showtime broadcast of EliteXC: Return of the King and the main event featured a rematch between Middleweight Champion Robbie...

 MMA event.

On March 15, 2009, The California Cougars won their first ever league championship in the Stockton Arena, as the 2008-2009 PASL-Pro North American Champions.

On December 9, 2009, The Arena hosted the "Stockton Showcase" which featured a matchup between the Nationally Ranked California Golden Bears

California Golden Bears

The California Golden Bears is the nickname used for 29 varsity athletic programs and various club teams of the University of California, Berkeley...

 and the Pacific Tigers men's 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...

teams in front 8,704 fans, the largest crowd ever to see a Pacific Tigers basketball game in Stockton.

External links

• Official website