Mohegan Sun Arena

Mohegan Sun Arena

Mohegan Sun Arena after the CT class LL state championship basketball game
Address	1 Mohegan Sun Blvd
Location	Uncasville, Connecticut
Coordinates	41°29′28″N 72°5′23″W / 41.49111°N 72.08972°W / 41.49111; -72.08972Coordinates: 41°29′28″N 72°5′23″W / 41.49111°N 72.08972°W / 41.49111; -72.08972
Owner	Mohegan Sun
Operator	Mohegan Sun
Capacity	Basketball: 9,323 Concerts: 10,000 Lacrosse: 7,700
Opened	October 2001
Tenants
Mohegan Wolves (AF2) (2002–2003) Connecticut Sun (WNBA) (2003–present) New England Black Wolves (NLL) (2015–present)
Website
http://mohegansunarenapa.com

The Mohegan Sun Arena is a 10,000 seat multi-purpose arena in Uncasville, Connecticut located inside Mohegan Sun. The arena facility features 30,000 square feet (2,800 m²) of configurable exhibition space and a 400-foot (120 m) clear span. It was built by the Perini Building Company, and opened in October 2001.^[1]

History

The arena originally served as home of the Mohegan Wolves arena football team until it was sold and moved to Manchester, New Hampshire in 2004.

On January 28, 2003 the arena was announced as the official home court for the Connecticut Sun. Prior to the fall of 2002, the NBA operating model precluded any WNBA team without an NBA "brother" counterpart. By the time the Connecticut Sun moved in, Val Ackerman was the WNBA president and Mark L. Brown was the chairman of the Mohegan Tribe. While the arena is attached to the Mohegan Sun casino, the facility does not accept any form of sports wagering or sports booking because sports betting is illegal in Connecticut.

On September 8, 2005, as a companion to the arena, the Mohegan Sun casino opened a Connecticut Sun merchandise store called "Winter Essentials." It was the first store in the United States that sold professional basketball goods on casino ground. However, the store was closed when the casino underwent renovations in 2008. Connecticut Sun merchandise can now be purchased in the Arena during games.

The multi-purpose facility has hosted a wide variety of events; including the American Kennel Club, WWE,^[2] concerts from major classical, country, jazz, metal, rap, rock, and pop acts, as well as sporting events such as PBR events, Bellator, NCAA games, PBA tournaments, early UFC bouts, and the World's Strongest Man Super Series Competition. The largest event on record to have been held at the arena was the inaugural Barrett-Jackson collector car auction in the Northeast in 2016, for which 90,000 tickets were sold to the multi-day event. ^[3]

Major network and cable television broadcasting companies, including CBS, NBC, ABC, FOX, ESPN and CNN have all produced events through this arena.

Seating

As of 2006, the seating can be configured into 5 common sports configurations. Basketball, boxing, bowling, rodeo, table tennis, lacrosse. It also can be reconfigured to fit many types of concerts: regular, fullhouse, centerstage, and halfhouse. The arena has won awards for being one of America's most modern concert venues. The arena was awarded the 2008 and 2010 Country Music Award for "Casino of the Year". It was also ranked the 4th best venue by Billboard Magazine.

Notable events

Mohegan Sun Arena

• WNBA All-Star Game – (2005),^[4] (2010),^[5] (2015)
• Bellator MMA – Bellator 2, Bellator 11, Bellator 15, Bellator 39, Bellator 48, Bellator 63, Bellator 98, Bellator 110, Bellator 123, Bellator 134 and Bellator 140.
• National Lacrosse League 2002 All-Star Game.
• 2014 American Athletic Conference Women's Basketball Tournament
• 2015 American Athletic Conference Women's Basketball Tournament
• 2016 American Athletic Conference Women's Basketball Tournament
• 2017 American Athletic Conference Women's Basketball Tournament

Strength Athletics Grand Prix

Since 2005, the arena has hosted one of the premier international strongman Grand Prix events.

Year	Champion	Runner-Up	3rd Place	Event Name
2005	Mariusz Pudzianowski	Jessen Paulin	Don Pope	Mohegan Sun Grand Prix Final of WSM Super Series 2005[6]
2006	Mariusz Pudzianowski	Jesse Marunde	Josh Thigpen	Mohegan Sun Grand Prix Final of WSM Super Series 2006[7]
2007	Mariusz Pudzianowski	Kevin Nee	Mark Felix	Mohegan Sun Grand Prix Start of WSM Super Series 2007[8]
2008	Derek Poundstone	Mariusz Pudzianowski	Terry Hollands	Mohegan Sun Grand Prix Start of WSM Super Series 2008[9]
2009	Derek Poundstone	Travis Ortmayer	Brian Shaw	Mohegan Sun Grand Prix 2009[10] 17 May 2009 Start of Giants Live 2009
2010	Derek Poundstone	Brian Shaw	Stojan Todorchev	Mohegan Sun Grand Prix 2010[11] 25 April 2010 Start of WSM Super Series 2010

References

External links

• http://www.mohegansun.com/entertainment/arena-360view-popup.html
• http://www.wnba.com/sun/news/winteressentials.html Mohegan Sun Winter Essentials Store
• http://www.mohegansunarena.net/mohegan-sun-arena-seating-chart/ Mohegan Sun Arena Seating Chart