Verizon Center
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Verizon Center | |
|---|---|
| "Phone Booth" | |
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| Location | 601 F Street, NW Washington, D.C. 20004 |
| Opened | December 2, 1997 |
| Owner | Washington Sports and Entertainment (land leased from the City of Washington) |
| Operator | Washington Sports and Entertainment |
| Former names | |
| MCI Center (1997-2006) | |
| Tenants | |
| Washington Wizards (NBA) (1997-present) Washington Mystics (WNBA) (1998-present) Washington Capitals (NHL) (1997-present) Georgetown Hoyas (NCAA) Washington Power (NLL) (2001-2002) |
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| Capacity | |
| 20,173 (basketball) 18,277 (hockey) |
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The Verizon Center is a sports and entertainment arena in Washington, D.C., USA, named after telecommunications sponsor Verizon Communications. The name of the arena was previously MCI Center, but when MCI was acquired by Verizon, the name was changed to "Verizon Center" effective March 5, 2006 [1]. The arena has been nicknamed the "Phone Booth" because of its association with telecommunications companies. The arena is home to two teams: The Washington Wizards of the NBA and the Washington Capitals of the NHL.
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[edit] History
The arena opened on December 2, 1997 in downtown Washington's Chinatown. The building replaced the US Air Arena, which was located on the Capital Beltway in Landover, Maryland. Some complained that the building's construction, by closing off a block of G St, corrupted the historic L'Enfant layout of the Washington city streets. Others were concerned it would lead to the displacement of Chinese businesses in Chinatown. While largely considered a commercial success, the Verizon Center was the catalyst that led to gentrification of Washington's Chinatown, with rent increases after construction of the Arena forcing many small Chinese businesses to close. On the other hand, the Arena is not only a popular venue for sports and concerts, but helped to turned "Gallery Place/Chinatown" neighborhood into one of the prime sites for commercial development in Washington. Virtually all Chinese residents in the D.C. area already live in the suburbs, and displacement that occurred over the years has been mostly commercial rather than residential.
[edit] Tenants
The Verizon Center is the home arena of the NBA's Washington Wizards, the NHL's Washington Capitals, the WNBA's Washington Mystics, and the NCAA's Georgetown University Hoyas men's basketball. It used to also be home to the Washington Power of the NLL from 2001-2002. It seats 20,173 for basketball, and 18,277 for hockey.
[edit] Notable events
As well as the home games of the Center's four sports tenants, the arena also hosts numerous special events, from concerts to Champions on Ice to the Ringling Brothers & Barnum and Bailey Circus.
- World Championship Wrestling (WCW) Starrcade, 1997-2000
- NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament, first and second rounds, 1998, 2002 & 2008
- NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament, regionals, 2006
- World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) Backlash, 2000
- NBA All-Star Game, 2001
- WNBA All-Star Game 2002 (in front of an all-star game record crowd of 19,487)
- WNBA All-Star Game 2007
- 2003 ISU World Figure Skating Championships.
- World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) SummerSlam, 2005
- Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) men's basketball tournament, 2005
- BB&T Classic Basketball Tournament, annual event involving the University of Maryland and The George Washington University, among others. Held as a two-game showcase with the aforementioned schools as hosts.
- World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) Cyber Sunday, 2007
- Numerous Raw, SmackDown! and ECW Shows[citation needed]
[2]
- NCAA's Men's Frozen Four hockey championship, 2009
[edit] Notable games
June 16, 1998 - Washington Capitals vs. Detroit Red Wings: The Caps lose 4-1 to the Red Wings to be swept four games to none in the 1998 Stanley Cup Finals. It was the first, and as yet still only, visit to the Stanley Cup Finals for the Caps.
February 21, 2003 - Washington Wizards vs. New Jersey Nets: Michael Jordan scores 43 points, becoming the All-Time oldest player, and only player, at age 40 or older to ever score 40 points in an NBA Game. The Wizards win 89-86.
April 5, 2003 - Washington Capitals vs. Pittsburgh Penguins: Peter Bondra passes Mike Gartner as the Washington Capitals' career scoring leader. A tip-in ties the record early in the 3rd period and an empty net goal with 12 seconds left in the game sealed the record for Bondra. The Caps won 5-3.
April 30, 2004 - Washington Wizards vs. Chicago Bulls: The Wizards win their first playoff game in nearly 17 years with a 117-99 win over the Bulls. Oddly enough, it is the first NBA playoff game ever held within the District of Columbia (the team always played at USAir Arena in Landover, Maryland).
May 6, 2005 - Washington Wizards vs. Chicago Bulls: Jared Jeffries picked up a loose ball and went in for an uncontested tiebreaking dunk with 32 seconds left, thus giving the Washington Wizards a 94-91 win over the Bulls and taking the Eastern Conference Quarterfinal series from them four games to two. The game marks the first playoff series victory for the Wizards in twenty three years.
January 21, 2006 - Georgetown Hoyas vs. Duke Blue Devils: The then-unranked Georgetown University Hoyas would defeat the then-undefeated #1 ranked Blue Devils 87-84, marking the first notable game of coach John Thompson III's career, as well as an important boost enroute to the NCAA tournament, where they would reach the Sweet Sixteen.
March 26, 2006 - George Mason Patriots vs. Connecticut Huskies: The Patriots, playing in front of a mostly partisan crowd due to George Mason University being just across the Potomac River from the arena, defeat the top seeded UConn Huskies to become only the second double-digit seed to reach the NCAA Final Four.
[edit] Ownership
The arena is owned by Washington Sports & Entertainment (which owns the Wizards and formerly owned the Capitals), but on land leased from the city of Washington. At the end of the 30 year lease, the land is set to revert back to the ownership of the city, with the mayor of Washington to make mandatory biennial reviews of the city's continuing need for the arena.
[edit] Trivia
- The Verizon Center sits atop the Gallery Place-Chinatown station on the Red, Yellow, and Green lines of the Washington Metro.
- Chris Rock filmed a brief scene from his 2003 comedy Head of State in the building.
- The six "Washington Mystics Attendance Champions" banners that hang at the Verizon Center have been the focal point of much criticism over the years, with many people believing that the rafters should be reserved for achievements by sports teams and not by the fans. They think it is insulting to have banners for championships and retired numbers hang next to "attendance champion" banners. The Washington City Paper has called them "embarrassing" [3], a 2005 ESPN.com article by Todd Wright had Wright commenting " it's time to lose those Mystics attendance banners hanging from the rafters" [4], the Sports Road Trip website mocked the banners by stating "Oh... Mystics... WNBA "attendance champions" in '98 and '99. "Wheeeeeeee!" [5]. When Washington Post writer Jon Gallo was asked about the banners, he stated "The attendance banners were largely achieved because the Mystics gave away approximately 30 percent of their tickets before Sheila Johnson took over the team. If the Mystics had made everyone pay for a ticket, then they would not have had the best attendance in the league." [6].
- Two notable fan fixures at Washington Capitals games at Verizon since the late '90s include Goat and The Horn Guy. "Goat," aka William Stilwell, sits in Section 105 and loudly stomps and starts cheers for the team, with his loud voice that The Washington Post once called "the loudest voice and stompiest stomp on F Street." [7] "The Horn Guy," aka Sam Wolk, blows out three blasts on a horn to which the arena responds "Let's Go Caps!," a chant that can be heard during radio and TV broadcasts, home and away. [8]
[edit] External links
| Preceded by US Airways Arena 1973–1997 |
Home of the Washington Wizards 1997–present |
Succeeded by current |
| Preceded by US Airways Arena 1974–1997 |
Home of the Washington Capitals 1997–present |
Succeeded by current |
| Current arenas in the Women's National Basketball Association |
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| Eastern Conference | Western Conference | |
|---|---|---|
| Conseco Fieldhouse | Madison Square Garden | Mohegan Sun Arena | Palace of Auburn Hills | UIC Pavilion | Verizon Center | ARCO Arena | AT&T Center | KeyArena | Staples Center | Target Center | Toyota Center | US Airways Center | |
| Current Basketball Arenas in the Big East |
|---|
| Alumni Hall (Providence women) •Allstate Arena (DePaul men) • Bradley Center (Marquette men) • Carnesecca Arena (St. John's) • Carrier Dome (Syracuse) • Continental Airlines Arena (Seton Hall men) • Dunkin' Donuts Center (Providence men) • Fifth Third Arena (Cincinnati) • Freedom Hall (Louisville) • Gampel Pavilion (Connecticut) • Hartford Civic Center (Connecticut) • Joyce Center (Notre Dame) • Louis Brown Athletic Center (Rutgers) • Madison Square Garden (St. John's men) • McDonough Gymnasium (Georgetown women) • McGuire Center (Marquette women) • The Pavilion (Villanova) • Petersen Events Center (Pittsburgh) • Sullivan Athletic Center (DePaul women) • USF Sun Dome (South Florida) • Verizon Center (Georgetown men) • Wachovia Center (Villanova) • Walsh Gymnasium (Seton Hall women) • WVU Coliseum (West Virginia) |
Categories: Articles with unsourced statements since March 2007 | All articles with unsourced statements | Big East Conference | Indoor arenas in the United States | College basketball venues | Basketball venues in the United States | Georgetown Hoyas basketball | Indoor ice hockey venues in the United States | Sports venues in Washington, D.C. | 1997 establishments | Washington, D.C. culture | Washington Capitals | Verizon | National Hockey League venues | National Basketball Association venues | Washington Mystics | Washington Wizards | ACC Men's Basketball Tournament Venues | NCAA Men's Frozen Four venues
