| Tampa Bay Times Forum | |
|---|---|
| Former names | Ice Palace (1996–August 2002) St. Pete Times Forum (August 2002–December 2011) |
| Location | 401 Channelside Drive, Tampa, Florida, USA 33602 |
| Broke ground | April 14, 1994[1] |
| Opened | October 20, 1996 |
| Owner | Tampa Bay Sports And Entertainment LLC |
| Operator | Tampa Bay Sports And Entertainment LLC |
| Construction cost | $139 million ($195 million in 2012 dollars[2]) |
| Architect | Ellerbe Becket[3] |
| General Contractor | Huber Hunt & Nichols[4] |
| Capacity | Ice hockey: 19,204[5] Basketball: 20,500 Concert: 21,500 Arena Football: 19,500 Wrestling: 19,000 |
| Tenants | |
| Tampa Bay Lightning (NHL) (1996–present) Tampa Breeze (LFL) (2009–present) Tampa Bay Storm (AFL) (1997–present) |
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The Tampa Bay Times Forum is an arena in Tampa, Florida, that has been used for ice hockey, basketball, and arena football games, as well as concerts.
It is home to the Tampa Bay Lightning of the National Hockey League and the Tampa Bay Storm of the Arena Football League.
In January 2012, the facility was renamed Tampa Bay Times Forum, in keeping with the renaming of the St. Petersburg Times. The newspaper's naming rights agreement is through August 31, 2018.[6]
Contents |
The venue, located in Downtown Tampa's Channelside District was a secondary location chosen after the failure of Tampa Coliseum Inc. to secure funding to construct an arena on Tampa Sports Authority land near Tampa Stadium. It opened in 1996 as the Ice Palace. Its first event was a performance by the Royal Hanneford Circus. The first hockey game was the Lightning hosting the New York Rangers, which the Lightning won by a score of 5–2.
The arena was built as a new home for the Lightning, necessary because of the lack of another suitable facility, as both the Bayfront Arena in St. Petersburg and the Expo Hall at the Florida State Fairgrounds were too small for an NHL team. Prior to the opening of the Ice Palace, the Lightning spent one season at the Expo Hall, and then moved to the Florida Suncoast Dome, which was nicknamed the "Thunderdome," in St. Petersburg, Florida in 1993. The Thunderdome, now Tropicana Field, is currently home to Major League Baseball's Tampa Bay Rays.
Control of the venue has changed hands three times since the building's opening in 1996. The lease agreement ties the arena to the ownership of the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Naming rights to the Ice Palace were sold to the then St. Petersburg Times, a daily newspaper which circulates throughout the Tampa Bay Area. Other entertainment events occasionally held in the Forum include concerts, NBA exhibition games, USF basketball and NCAA Tournament games, tennis, professional wrestling, boxing, figure skating, and rodeos (as well as stand-alone bull riding events; the Forum has hosted an event by the PBR's premier tour, the Bud Light Cup (renamed Built Ford Tough Series in 2003), annually since 1998.)
The Tampa Bay Times Forum was ranked, in 2010, as the 4th busiest arena in the United States.[7]
A $35 million renovation is scheduled to be completed before the 2012 Republican National Convention. The renovation will include a rebuilt grand plaza entrance, elimination of 2 lower level suites in each corner (8 of current 28 suites) leaving views from the concourse area to the playing area, renovation of each suite, elimination of sections 323 and 324 on the terrace level (574 seats) for a bar and stage area that will feature a new digital theatre organ, more concessions areas on the terrace level, an 11,000-sq ft outdoor deck and party area overlooking outside plaza and facing the downtown skyline, new climate controls that improve both the ice surface and spectator comfort, new lighting, all new padded seats, resurfaced and redecorated concourse, combining icons and medallions restaurants into one venue, and updated restrooms.
The building played host to the 1999 NHL All-Star Game, World Wrestling Federation Survivor Series 2000, and games of the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament in 2003, 2008 and 2011. The Forum played host to 4 of the 7 games during the 2004 Stanley Cup Finals, as the Lightning defeated the Calgary Flames 4 games to 3 to win their first Stanley Cup. The Forum also hosted ArenaBowl XII (1998) and ArenaBowl XVII (2003) and the 2007 ACC Men's Basketball Tournament.
The Forum hosted the 2008 NCAA Women's Division I Final Four Basketball Tournament on April 6–8. Tennessee beat Stanford, 64-48. In 2009, the Forum hosted the Southeastern Conference Men's Basketball Tournament.
In 2009, Britney Spears performed at the Forum for her "The Circus Starring Britney Spears" tour. The show is also notable for a wardrobe malfunction and the remark, "Okay, my pussy is hanging out of this fucking --", after she performed "I'm a Slave 4 U" and didn't realize that her mic was still on. The incident later received notable attention and has received thousands of views on YouTube.
WWE Raw and WWE SmackDown has been held at the arena numerous times. WWE held their three hour event inside of the Forum where Raw hosted their 800th episode celebration on November 3, 2008. WWE returned to the Forum once again for the December 21, 2009 edition of Raw where Tampa Bay Rays player Johnny Damon served as the guest host at the time he was a free agent. SmackDown returned to the Forum on June 8, 2010 edition for the first time in 3 years to tape the June 11 edition. WWE recently host the December 5 edition of Raw.
Tampa hosted WWE Extreme Rules on May 1, 2011 and it was the arena's first WWE PPV since Survivor Series 2000 in 11 years after they replaced the Amway Center in Orlando, the original location for the event. Following the PPV's conclusion, newly crowned WWE Champion John Cena announced the death of Osama Bin Laden which resulted in a big "USA!" chant and internal public address system of the Forum then proceeded to play "Stars and Stripes Forever". This event also features Christian winning his first world title after defeating Alberto Del Rio in a ladder match for the World Heavyweight Championship that was vacated by his real life best friend Edge, who was forced to retire due to neck injury as he was originally scheduled to defend the title against Del Rio, but showed up in a jeep to distract him which allowed Christian to take advantage. Edge then congratulate Christian after the match as the two embrace in the ring to a massive ovation from the crowd.
The arena was slated to host an NBA preseason game in 2010 between the Orlando Magic and Miami Heat, the league's two Florida teams. However, months before the game, the arena's basketball floor was treated with an oil-based cleaning solution that resulted in a slippery film forming on it. According to Magic players, the floor was so slippery that they had to walk through their shootaround. The game was canceled half an hour before the scheduled tipoff, and fans received a full refund.[8]
In 2012, the Tampa Bay Times Forum will play host to the NCAA Hockey Frozen Four championship finals; this will be the first time the "Frozen Four" will be held outside the northern US since 1999, when the University of Alaska Anchorage hosted the event at the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim, now the Honda Center, in Anaheim, California. The Frozen Four will be hosted by the University of Alabama in Huntsville, the nearest collegiate hockey team to Florida.
The Tampa Bay Times Forum is set to host the 2012 Republican National Convention.[9]
| Events and tenants | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by ThunderDome |
Home of the Tampa Bay Lightning 1996 – present |
Succeeded by current |
| Preceded by ThunderDome |
Home of the Tampa Bay Storm 1997 – present |
Succeeded by current |
| Preceded by General Motors Place |
Host of the NHL All-Star Game 1999 |
Succeeded by Air Canada Centre |
| Preceded by Xcel Energy Center St. Paul, Minnesota |
Future Host of the Frozen Four 2012 |
Succeeded by Consol Energy Center Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania |
| Preceded by Xcel Energy Center |
Future Host of the Republican National Convention 2012 |
Succeeded by TBD |
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