Times Union Center

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"Pepsi Arena" redirects here. For the arenas in Denver, see Pepsi Center; Quebec City, see Colisée Pepsi; Indianapolis, see Pepsi Coliseum.

Times Union Center
Location	51 S Pearl St Albany, NY 12207
Broke ground	February 5, 1987
Opened	January 30, 1990
Owner	Albany County
Operator	SMG
Construction cost	$68.8 million
Architect	Clough Harbour & Associates
Former names
Knickerbocker Arena (1990-1997) Pepsi Arena (1997-2006)
Tenants
Albany Firebirds (Arena Football League) (1990 -2000) Albany River Rats (AHL) (1993-present) Albany Attack (NLL) (2000-2003) Albany Conquest (af2) (2002-present)
Capacity
6,000 to 17,500

The Times Union Center is an indoor arena located in Albany, New York, with a maximum seating capacity of 17,500 for sporting events. Current tenants include Siena College's men's basketball team, the Albany River Rats of the American Hockey League, and the Albany Conquest of af2.

The arena, designed and built by Clough Harbour & Associates, was opened in 1990 as the Knickerbocker Arena. Frank Sinatra was the first artist to perform there. The naming rights of the building were sold to Pepsi in 1997, and it was known as Pepsi Arena from 1998-2006. In May 2006 the naming rights were sold to the Times Union, a regional newspaper, and the name of the arena became the Times Union Center on January 1, 2007.

Previous tenants have included the Albany Firebirds of the Arena Football League, the Albany Patroons of the Continental Basketball Association, the Albany Choppers of the International Hockey League, the Albany Attack of the National Lacrosse League, and the New York Kick of the National Professional Soccer League. The University at Albany has used the facility for past games against Syracuse University and has been approached to use the facility for some dates in the future in the wake of their participation in the 2006 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament.

The Times Union Center also regularly hosts exhibition games of major sports leagues. The NBA, WNBA, and NHL have all played games at the arena.

Contents 1 College sports 2 Music 3 Wrestling 4 External links

[edit] College sports

The Times Union Center is often home to the annual Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference basketball tournament (1990-96, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006), and hosts the ECAC Hockey League championships every March. It will host the MAAC basketball tournament again in 2008 and 2010.

In 2003, the Times Union Center hosted the NCAA basketball East Regional, which was won by Syracuse University on their way to their first national championship. The arena also hosted the first and second rounds of the 1995 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament as the Knickerbocker Arena.

In 2006, the Times Union Center hosted the NCAA ice hockey East Regional tournament. The Michigan State Spartans of the Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA), Harvard of the Eastern College Athletic Conference Hockey League (ECACHL), Maine of Hockey East, and New Hampshire, also of Hockey East, all participated in the East Region. Maine ended up advancing to the Frozen Four. The arena has hosted ice hockey regionals several times in the past, most recently in 2004.

In 2000, the Times Union Center hosted a regional quarterfinal between St. Lawrence University and Boston University, which went into quadruple overtime; becoming the longest game in the history of the tournament and the second longest game in Division I men's college hockey history (it is currently the third longest game).

The Times Union Center also hosted the Frozen Four on two occasions, in 1992 (as Knickerbocker Arena) when Lake Superior State University defeated Wisconsin for the national championship, and again in 2001 as the Pepsi Arena when Boston College defeated North Dakota.

[edit] Music

Since its opening, the Times Union Center has become a popular concert venue, due to its close proximity to larger cities like New York, Boston and Montreal, where concert tickets tend to sell out faster. It is walking distance from the city's Greyhound Bus station, as well as being close to hotels, bars and restaurants. The open parking lots near the arena provide fans an excellent tailgating area for fans before the show.

In 1996, the jamband The Grateful Dead released a concert album from their March 1990 Knickerbocker Arena performances titled Dozin' at the Knick. [1] In 2003, rock band Phish reunited with band co-founder Jeff Holdsworth for the first time in nearly 18 years.

On July 16, 2005, Bruce Springsteen played a solo acoustic show here in supported of his album Devils & Dust.

On April 30, 2006, the then Pepsi Arena hosted the annual Parkfest celebration that featured an all day long street festival outside on South Pearl Street. Performances inside the Pepsi included New Found Glory, Dashboard Confessional, Chris Brown and Busta Rhymes. The event had previously be held at the Altamont Fairgrounds.

[edit] Wrestling

In 1992, the Knickerbocker Arena played host to the World Wrestling Federation's Royal Rumble. The event is considered one of the most notable events in WWF History as Ric Flair went over an hour to win the Rumble, and claim the WWF Championship.

In 2000, the Pepsi Arena hosted the World Wrestling Federation's No Mercy. This event was notable for the return of Steve Austin to active competition after being injured (in storyline) at the hands of Rikishi. This show also featured Kurt Angle winning the WWF Championship for the first time, defeating The Rock.

In 2006, the Pepsi Arena hosted New Year's Revolution presented by World Wrestling Entertainment's (WWE) RAW. The event featured the Elimination Chamber for the WWE Championship: John Cena defeated Carlito, Chris Masters, Shawn Michaels, Kane and Kurt Angle. Following the match, Edge used his Money in the Bank contract that he won at WrestleMania 21 and defeated John Cena to win the WWE Championship. It also hosted the second ECW On Sci Fi show on June 20th, accompanying a SmackDown! taping.

[edit] External links

• Official website

• Maps and aerial photos Coordinates: 42.648522° -73.754903°
  • Satellite image from WikiMapia, Google Maps or Windows Live Local
  • Street map from MapQuest or Google Maps
  • Topographic map from TopoZone
  • Aerial image from TerraServer-USA

Current arenas in the American Hockey League
Eastern Conference		Western Conference
Arena at Harbor Yard | Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena | Cumberland County Civic Center | DCU Center | Dunkin' Donuts Center | GIANT Center | Hartford Civic Center | MassMutual Center | Norfolk Scope | Times Union Center | Tsongas Arena | Verizon Wireless Arena | Wachovia Arena at Casey Plaza | Wachovia Spectrum		Allstate Arena | AT&T Center | Blue Cross Arena | Bradley Center | Carver Arena | Copps Coliseum | MTS Centre | Omaha Civic Auditorium | Ricoh Coliseum | Toyota Center | Van Andel Arena | War Memorial at Oncenter | Wells Fargo Arena

Current Basketball Arenas in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference
Alumni Gymnasium (Rider) • Arena at Harbor Yard (Fairfield) • Draddy Gymnasium (Manhattan) • Gallagher Center (Niagara) • Hynes Athletic Center (Iona) • Koessler Athletic Center (Canisius) • McCann Field House (Marist) • Reitz Arena (Loyola (MD)) • Times Union Center (Siena) • Yanitelli Center (Saint Peter's)

Current arenas in the af2
American Conference		National Conference
Allen County War Memorial Coliseum | Chevrolet Centre | Everett Events Center | Freedom Hall | The MARK of the Quad Cities | Qwest Arena | Rabobank Arena | Resch Center | Selland Arena | Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena | Stockton Arena | Times Union Center | Toyota Center | U.S. Bank Arena | Wachovia Arena | Verizon Wireless Arena		Alltel Arena | Amarillo Civic Center | American Bank Center | Berry Center | Birmingham Jefferson Convention Center | CenturyTel Center | CityBank Coliseum | Dodge Arena | Ford Center | Germain Arena | Gray Civic Center | Laredo Entertainment Center | Tulsa Convention Center | Von Braun Center