Honda Center

Honda Center
The Pond
Former names Anaheim Arena (planning/construction)
Pond of Anaheim (1993)
Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim (1993–2006)
Location 2695 East Katella Avenue
Anaheim, CA 92806
Coordinates 33°48′28″N 117°52′36″W / 33.80778°N 117.87667°W / 33.80778; -117.87667Coordinates: 33°48′28″N 117°52′36″W / 33.80778°N 117.87667°W / 33.80778; -117.87667
Public transit ARTIC (Anaheim Regional Transportation Intermodal Center)
Owner City of Anaheim
Operator Anaheim Arena Management, LLC
(an Anaheim Ducks subsidiary)
Capacity Hockey: 17,174
Basketball: 18,336;
Concerts (center stage) 18,900; Concerts (end stage) 18,325
Theatre at the Honda Center: 8,400
Field size 650,000 square feet (60,000 m2)
Construction
Broke ground November 8, 1990
Opened June 19, 1993
Construction cost $123 million
($223 million in 2016 dollars[1])
Architect HOK Sport (now Populous)
Project manager Turner Construction
Structural engineer Thornton Tomasetti[2]
Services engineer Syska Hennessy Group, Inc.[3]
General contractor Huber, Hunt & Nichols[4]
Tenants
Anaheim Ducks (NHL) (1993–present)
Anaheim Bullfrogs (RHI) (1993–1997)
Anaheim Splash (CISL) (1994–1997)
Los Angeles Clippers (NBA) (1994–1999)
Anaheim Piranhas (AFL) (1996–1997)
Anaheim Storm (NLL) (2004–2005)
UCLA Bruins (NCAA) (2011–2012)
Los Angeles Kiss (AFL) (2014-present)

The Honda Center (formerly known as the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim) is an indoor arena located in Anaheim, California. The arena is home to the Anaheim Ducks of the National Hockey League and is also home to the Los Angeles Kiss of the Arena Football League.

Originally named the Anaheim Arena during construction, it was completed in 1993 at a cost of $123 million. Arrowhead Water paid $15 million for the naming rights over 10 years in October 1993.[5] In the short period of time between the enfranchisement of the Mighty Ducks and the naming rights deal with Arrowhead, Disney referred to the Arena as the Pond of Anaheim.[6] In October 2006, Honda paid $60 million for the naming rights for over 15 years.[7] The Honda Center is often referred to by the locals as the "Ponda Center" or "Ponda" paying homage to its beloved old name The Pond.

History

A panorama of Honda Center's exterior.
Panorama of Honda Center's interior before a 2007 playoff hockey game.
Honda Center in its basketball configuration before an NCAA basketball game.

The arena opened on June 19, 1993, with a Barry Manilow concert as its first event. Since then, it has been host to a number of events, such as the 2003 and 2007 Stanley Cup Finals. On June 6, 2007, the Anaheim Ducks defeated the Ottawa Senators, 6–2, in game five of the Final at Honda Center to clinch the franchise's first Stanley Cup championship. The Ducks have never lost a Finals game played at the arena.[8]

UFC 59, UFC 63, and UFC 76, UFC 121 have been at Honda Center and with UFC on FOX next as well. It hosted the 2005 IBF World Championships for badminton in 2005.

From 1994 to 1998, it served as a second home for the NBA's Los Angeles Clippers. It was the home arena for the Anaheim Bullfrogs of Roller Hockey International from 1993 to 1999 and for the Anaheim Piranhas of the Arena Football League from 1996 to 1997. This arena has also hosted a PBR Bud Light Cup (later Built Ford Tough Series) event annually since 1998. Since 1994, the arena has hosted the annual John R. Wooden Classic. In 2011, the arena began hosting the Big West Conference Men's and Women's Basketball tournaments. The arena has also hosted the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament six times, as the West Regional site - 1998, 2001, 2003, 2008, 2011, 2014 and 2016. It even hosted the Frozen Four, the semifinals and final of the NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Championship, in 1999, underscoring the popularity of hockey in the region. On December 6, 2000, music legend Tina Turner played her last concert at the arena for the record breaking Twenty Four Seven Tour, but after popular demand, Turner returned to the arena before a sellout crowd on October 14, 2008, for her Tina!: 50th Anniversary Tour.

The arena has hosted a number of WWE events including WrestleMania XII, Royal Rumble (1999), WrestleMania 2000, as well as various episodes of Monday Night Raw and Smackdown.

The Honda Center lies northeast across California State Route 57 from Angel Stadium (where Major League Baseball's Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim play) and roughly 3 miles (4.8 km) from Disneyland Park. It is also across the street from Anaheim Regional Transportation Intermodal Center with service by Amtrak (Pacific Surfliner), Metrolink (Orange County Line), Anaheim Resort Transit, Orange County Transportation Authority and private transportation companies.

The arena seats up 17,174 for its primary tenant, the Ducks. It takes only five hours to convert Honda Center from a sporting arena to an 8,400-seat amphitheater. There are 84 luxury suites in the building, which has hosted 17.5 million people, as of 2003. In 2005, the arena became the first in the U.S. to have two full levels of 360-degree ribbon displays installed. Daktronics out of Brookings, South Dakota, designed, manufactured and installed the 1,800 feet (550 m) of full-color LED technology. Outside the venue, the marquee was upgraded with two large video displays measuring 8 feet (2.4 m) high by 21 feet (6.4 m), and a new marquee was built with more LED video displays.[9]

Broadcom chairman and billionaire, Henry Samueli, owns the company that operates the arena, Anaheim Arena Management, LLC, and the arena's primary tenant, the Ducks, giving him great flexibility in scheduling events and recruiting new tenants. Samueli hopes to bring an NBA franchise to the arena, and the Sacramento Kings expressed an interest in the past to relocate to Anaheim from their current stadium, Sleep Train Arena (formerly ARCO Arena).[10] On March 3, 2011 a lawyer representing the Maloof brothers, owners of the Kings, filed applications to trademark possible names for a new basketball team at the Honda Center, including the Anaheim Royals, Los Angeles Royals, Orange County Royals, and Anaheim Royals of Southern California.[11] The Maloof brothers had until May 2, 2011 to file paperwork officially requesting a relocation to the Honda Center, but the brothers decided to keep the team in Sacramento for the 2011–12 season.[12] On March 7, 2012, the city of Sacramento, the NBA, and the Kings organization initially reached an agreement on a $391 million arena deal which would have kept the Kings in Sacramento;[13] however, one month later, the Maloof family backed out of the agreement, reviving rumors regarding potential relocation.[14] The later purchase of the Kings by Vivek Ranadivé, along with a firm deal to build a new Sacramento arena has now made a move by the Kings to Anaheim unlikely. In 2015, Samueli purchased the Norfolk Admirals of the American Hockey League and, with the AHL incarnation of the Admirals relocating to San Diego to become the reactivated San Diego Gulls, it is anticipated that Samueli through Anaheim Arena Management will purchase Valley View Casino Center in that city in time for the 2015-16 AHL season. During the 2014-2015 NHL Season, it was announced that Honda Center would get a new scoreboard that will replace the one that was in place since its opening in 1993. The new scoreboard made its debut in a Ducks Preseason game against the Los Angeles Kings. [15]

Notable concerts, film, television, and other events

The arena itself (called only The Pond for legal reasons) was featured in the Mighty Ducks animated series, which revolved around a group of duck-esque aliens from the planet Puckworld landing on Earth, to continue their battles against the draconian Saurians, who had devastated Puckworld. The group landed at the arena via a dimensional portal and started their careers in hockey. In the series, The Pond is the home base for the Ducks, and their vehicles, including the Aerowing spaceship which brought them to Earth, as well as their super-computer, Drake One, are housed under the arena's ice surface. When the Aerowing is launched the center surfacing splits, revealing the Ducks' HQ below; allowing the platform with the ship to rotate up and raise, and the Aerowing flies out of the dome's partially retracted roof. The other vehicles in their arsenal would launch similarly, except they would raise the platform, then roll out of one of the arena entrances; this would allow them access to an underground tunnel, which would then exit from under a nearby billboard.

The Honda Center has the second highest gross ticket sales from special events on the West Coast, following only the Staples Center.[16] These events have included the following over the years:

Capacity

Hockey

  • 17,174 (1994–present)
    • At least 17,610 with standing room
  • 17,200 (1993–1994)

Basketball

  • 18,336 (2011–present)
    • At least 18,521 with standing room
  • 17,608 (2000–2011)
  • 18,200 (1993–2000)

Other Events

  • 18,900 (Concerts, center stage)
  • 18,325 (Concerts, end stage)
  • 8,400 (Theatre at the Honda Center)

Largest Crowds

Hockey Basketball
# Date Opponent Score Attendance # Date Opponent Score Attendance
 1  Mar. 20, 2013 Blackhawks at Ducks 4–2, ANA 17,610 (102.54%)  1  Mar. 12, 1998 Lakers at Clippers 108–85, LAL 18,521 (101.76%)
 2  Feb. 26, 2012 Blackhawks at Ducks 3–1, ANA 17,601 (102.49%)  2  Feb. 4, 1997 Lakers at Clippers 108–86, LAC 18,462 (101.44%)
 3  May 12, 2009 Red Wings at Ducks 6-3, DET 17,601 (102.49%)  3  Feb. 25, 1999 Lakers at Clippers 115–100, LAL 18,456 (101.41%)
 4  Jan. 2, 2009 Flyers at Ducks 5–4, PHI (SO) 17,597 (102.46%)  4  Dec. 2, 1995 Bulls at Clippers 104–98, CHI 18,321 (100.66%)
 5  Apr. 8, 2011 Kings at Ducks 2–1, ANA 17,587 (102.40%)  5  Apr. 12, 1997 Nuggets at Clippers 116–94, LAC 18,211 (100.06%)

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Honda Center.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–. Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. Retrieved November 10, 2015.
  2. ↑ http://s3.amazonaws.com/tt_assets/pdf/SportsEntertainmentBrochure.pdf
  3. ↑ Syska Hennessy Group - Honda Center
  4. ↑ "Honda Center". Hockey.ballparks.com. Retrieved 2013-02-22.
  5. ↑ ovguide.com
  6. ↑ In the 1993–94 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim media guide, Disney and the Ducks organization referred to the arena as the "Pond of Anaheim." This was prior to the naming rights deal with Arrowhead Water. ASIN: B001EBD3BM
  7. ↑ Shaikin, Bill; Johnson, Greg (July 20, 2006). "Pond to Get a New Name". Los Angeles Times.
  8. ↑ In 2003, all the games in the final were won by the home team. In 2007, the Ducks had home ice advantage during the finals and the only game they lost was game three, held in Ottawa.
  9. ↑ "Daktronics Photo Gallery: Honda Center".
  10. ↑ "Sources: Kings consider relocation".
  11. ↑ "Maloof attorney files trademark papers for 'Anaheim Royals' name".
  12. ↑ "Kings owners get extension to file for relocation".
  13. ↑ Gonzalez, Antonio. "Sacramento approves arena plan to keep Kings". Yahoo/AP.
  14. ↑ Kasler, Dale. "Kings arena deal crumbles as Maloofs back away from plan". Sacramento Bee. Retrieved 15 April 2012.
  15. ↑ http://ducks.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=776852
  16. ↑ Casacchia, Chris (April 4, 2011). "Royal Reach: NBA Team Would Boost Honda Center Business, Bring Challenges". Orange County Business Journal 34 (14): 66.
  17. ↑ "'SMTOWN LIVE WORLD TOUR Ⅲ' to be Held in Beijing, Seoul, Tokyo and LA!". S.M.Entertainment Official Facebook. 3 April 2012. Retrieved 2012-04-04
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