Scottrade Center

Scottrade Center

Former names Kiel Center (1994–2000)
Savvis Center (Aug 2000–2006)
Location 1401 Clark Avenue (honorary location: Brett Hull Way), St. Louis, Missouri 63103
Broke ground December 14, 1992[1]
Opened October 8, 1994
Owner City of St. Louis
Operator Sports Capital Partners
(parent of the St. Louis Blues)
Construction cost $135 million
($200 million in 2012 dollars[2])
Architect Ellerbe Becket[3](Kansas City)
Project Manager J.S. Alberici Construction[4]
Main contractors DKW Construction, Inc.[5]
Capacity Ice hockey: 19,150
Wrestling: 21,151
Basketball: 21,000
Tenants
St. Louis Blues (NHL) (1994–present)
Saint Louis Billikens (NCAA Division I) (1994–2008)
St. Louis Steamers (MISL) (2004–2006)
St. Louis Ambush (NPSL) (1994–2000)
St. Louis Stampede (AFL) (1995–1996)
St. Louis Vipers (RHI) (1993–1997, 1999)
River City Rage (NIFL) (2006)
Missouri Valley Conference Men's Basketball Tournament (NCAA)

Scottrade Center (originally Kiel Center and formerly Savvis Center) is a 19,150 seat arena located in downtown St. Louis, Missouri, opened in 1994. It is the home of the St. Louis Blues of the National Hockey League.

Besides ice hockey, the arena features a range of arena programming, including professional wrestling, concerts, ice shows, family shows, and other sporting events. It hosts approximately 175 events per year, drawing nearly two million guests annually. For the first quarter 2006, Scottrade Center ranked second among arenas in the United States and fourth worldwide in tickets sold. Industry trade publication Pollstar ranks Scottrade Center among the top ten arenas worldwide in tickets sold to non-team events.

The largest crowd to attend an event at the Scottrade Center was 22,612, which happened twice during the 2007 Missouri Valley Conference Tournament, known as Arch Madness.[6][7]

The arena is frequently selected by the NCAA for championship events, and played host to the NCAA Frozen Four Hockey Championships in April 2007, the NCAA Women’s Final Four Basketball Championships in 2009, and the NCAA Wrestling Championships in 2000, 2004, 2005, 2008, and 2009. It will host the NCAA Wrestling Championship again in 2012.

The building is operated by Sports Capital Partners, owner of the St. Louis Blues, under its chairman, Dave Checketts.

Contents

History

Kiel Center opened in 1994 to replace Kiel Auditorium, where the college basketball team had played, which was torn down in December 1992. The Blues had played in the St. Louis Arena prior to moving into Kiel Center in 1994. The building is currently known as Scottrade Center, after naming rights were sold in September 2006 to Scottrade (a local online investment firm and discount brokerage). The Kiel name still exists on the adjoining parking structure and the building cornerstone. Signs for the nearby MetroLink stop have been changed to read "Civic Center", since the building has been renamed three times in its short history.

The Opera House portion of the building was not razed when the original Auditorium was but has remained closed since 1992, as members of Civic Progress, Inc., who promised to pay for the renovation of the Opera House, have reneged on that promise, while opposing all outside efforts to achieve that renovation.

Blues management decried its former naming-rights deal with tech company SAVVIS, as much of the compensation was in Savvis shares, then riding high. However, when the tech bubble burst, the team was left with nearly worthless shares.

In September 2006, Scottrade founder Rodger O. Riney announced a partnership with the St. Louis Blues hockey club and arena. The new name of the arena, Scottrade Center, was revealed in a joint press conference. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but were described as "long-term and significant." Both Scottrade and the Blues said the agreement was "equitable" to both parties. Most of the signage and other promotions were changed to Scottrade Center prior to the first home game of the Blues on October 12, 2006.

In Fall 2006, an integrated LED scoring, video and advertising system from Daktronics in Brookings, South Dakota was installed in the arena, along with 1,075 feet (328 m) of 360-degree ribbon display technology. The centerhung display is made up of 12 different video displays and four 15 feet (4.6 m)-long ribbon displays.[8]

Tenants

It is the home of the St. Louis Blues hockey franchise. A number of other events are scheduled throughout the year, such as concerts, ice shows, circuses and similar large gatherings.

Former tenants of Scottrade Center include the Saint Louis University Billikens NCAA Division 1 Men's Basketball team, St. Louis Vipers roller hockey team, St. Louis Ambush and St. Louis Steamers indoor soccer teams, the St. Louis Stampede arena football team, and the River City Rage indoor football team.

Events

Sports

Wrestling and MMA

Concerts

Other events

References

  1. ^ Lorraine Kee Montre (December 15, 1992). "Hull's 'Blast' Leads the Way to New Arena". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=SL&p_theme=sl&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EB04DE5F0748F09&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM. 
  2. ^ Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–2008. Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. Retrieved December 7, 2010.
  3. ^ . http://www.ellerbebecket.com/expertise/project/2_116/Scottrade_Center_formerly_Savvis_Center_.html. 
  4. ^ http://www.alberici.com/index.cfm/Projects/Scottrade%20Center%20%28fka%20Kiel%20Center%2C%20Savvis%20Center%29
  5. ^ http://www.dkwconstruction.com/Projects.html
  6. ^ http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaab/boxscore?gid=200703030133
  7. ^ http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaab/boxscore?gid=200703040133
  8. ^ "St. Louis Blues installs LED scoring and entertainment system". http://broadcastengineering.com/news/blues-led-entertainment-system/. 
  9. ^ with appearances from Snooki, Trish Stratus, and Jim Ross, as well as a video message from The Rock
  10. ^ http://www.prowrestling.com/article/news/18385
  11. ^ Undertaker & Jim Ross' WWE Status, 2012 Rumble, More http://www.prowrestling.com/article/news/18385
  12. ^ Planned Cable Network Update, RAW on Halloween http://www.prowrestling.com/article/news/18717

External links

Events and tenants
Preceded by
St. Louis Arena		 Home of the
St. Louis Blues
1994 – present		 Succeeded by
current
Preceded by
Bradley Center
Milwaukee, Wisconsin		 Host of the
Frozen Four
2007		 Succeeded by
Pepsi Center
Denver, Colorado
Eastern
Conference
Atlantic
Northeast
Southeast
Western
Conference
Central
Northwest
Pacific
Franchise
Arenas
St. Louis Arena (1967-94) · Scottrade Center (1994-present)
Culture and lore
Key personnel
Owner: Dave Checketts · President of hockey operations: John Davidson · General manager: Doug Armstrong · Head coach: Ken Hitchcock · Team captain: David Backes
Minor league affiliates