BankAtlantic Center
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| BankAtlantic Center | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Location | One Panther Parkway Sunrise, Florida 33323 |
| Broke ground | October, 1996 |
| Opened | October 3, 1998 |
| Owner | Broward County |
| Construction cost | $212 million |
| Architect | Ellerbe Becket |
| Former names | |
| Broward County Civic Arena (1998) National Car Rental Center (1998-2002) Office Depot Center (2002-2005) |
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| Tenants | |
| Florida Panthers (NHL) (1998-present) Florida Pit Bulls (ABA) (2005-2006) Florida Bobcats (AFL) (1998-2001) |
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| Capacity | |
| Hockey: 19,250 Basketball: 20,737 |
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The BankAtlantic Center is an indoor arena located in Sunrise, a suburb west of Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The arena is accessible off of the Sawgrass Expressway at the Oakland Park Boulevard exit.
The arena is home to the Florida Panthers of the NHL and formerly the Florida Pit Bulls of the ABA and the Florida Bobcats of the AFL 1998-2001. The arena has also hosted the 2003 NHL All-Star Game and the 2005-2006 ABA All-Star game. The arena was completed in 1998 at a cost of $212 million, almost entirely publicly financed. The building seats 19,250 for ice hockey, 20,737 for basketball, between 15,207 and 21,371 for end-stage concerts, and 22,457 for center-stage concerts, boxing and wrestling such as Bash at the Beach '99, Armageddon '99 and Armageddon 2002. The arena features 70 suites and 2,300 club seats.
The building can also be used for trade shows (offering 17,000 square feet of arena floor space) and other events including circuses and ice shows. It is the Miami-Fort Lauderdale site of many major arena concert tours. U2 started their Elevation Tour at the arena in 2001. Guns N' Roses started their 2006/2007 North American "Chinese Democracy" tour in the arena on the October 24, 2006.
On October 30, 2006, Barbra Streisand was pelted with a beverage and, as her anti-GOP riff ended, another man in the crowd found himself being escorted out as he shouted at her. Streisand shrugged both incidents off, saying some people would do better to buy her records than come to her shows.
A similar scenario unfolded during Streisand's concert earlier in October at Madison Square Garden in New York, during which the singer used the F-word in shouting down a heckler.
The Who recorded and filmed their performance here on November 20, 2006 which was released on CD and DVD at themusic.com.
[edit] External link
| Preceded by Miami Arena 1993–1998 |
Home of the Florida Panthers 1998–present |
Succeeded by current |
| Current arenas in the Continental Basketball Association |
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| Western Conference | Eastern Conference | |
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| Butte Civic Center | Four Seasons Arena | Salt Lake Community College | Yakima SunDome | Anderson High School Wigwam | Mellon Arena | Minot Municipal Auditorium | Washington Avenue Armory | |
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This article about a sports venue in Florida is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
Categories: Continental Basketball Association arenas | Florida sports venue stubs | Ice hockey venue stubs | Broward County, Florida | Florida Panthers | 1998 establishments | Indoor arenas in the United States | Indoor ice hockey venues in the United States | National Hockey League venues | Sports in Miami | Sports venues in Florida | Sports venues in Miami
