Former names | Classic Center Arena (2022–2024) |
---|---|
Address | 300 N Thomas Street |
Location | Athens, Georgia, U.S. |
Coordinates | 33°57′40.1″N83°22′14.9″W / 33.961139°N 83.370806°W |
Public transit | Athens Transit at Athens Multimodal Transportation Center |
Owner | Unified Government of Athens Clarke County |
Operator | Classic Center Authority |
Capacity | 8,500 (in the round concerts) 7,000 (end-stage concerts) 5,500 (hockey) |
Construction | |
Broke ground | April 28, 2022 |
Opened | December 13, 2024 |
Construction cost | $146 million |
Architect | Perkins&Will and Smallwood, Reynolds, Stewart, Stewart |
Project manager | Impact Construction Management |
General contractor | J. E. Dunn Construction Group |
Tenants | |
UGA Ice Dawgs (2024–present) Athens Rock Lobsters (FPHL) (2024–present) |
Akins Ford Arena is an indoor arena in Athens, Georgia. [1] [2] It is part of the Classic Center complex and is intended as an upgrade to the Classic Center Grand Ballroom, which had been configured as a 2,000-seat arena. It will become the new home of the UGA Ice Dawgs of the College Hockey South conference and on March 28, 2024, it was announced it would be home to an FPHL expansion team, [3] later named the Athens Rock Lobsters. It has a capacity of 8,500. It is owned by the Unified Government of Athens Clarke County.
In January 2019, the Classic Center Authority announced their intent to construct the new Classic Center Arena adjacent to the existing site. [4] The arena will be connected to the existing Classic Center, the Multimodal Transportation Center and the downtown district via a new elevated walkway.
On August 20, 2024, it was announced that Akins Ford, of Winder, Georgia, had purchased the arena's naming rights for an undisclosed period and sum. [5]
Oglethorpe County is a county located in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 14,825. The county seat is Lexington.
Athens is a consolidated city-county in the U.S. state of Georgia. Downtown Athens lies about 70 miles (110 km) northeast of downtown Atlanta. The University of Georgia, the state's flagship public university and an R1 research institution, is in Athens and contributed to its initial growth. In 1991, after a vote the preceding year, the original City of Athens abandoned its charter to form a unified government with Clarke County, referred to jointly as Athens–Clarke County where it is the county seat.
The Georgia Force was the name of three separate versions of Arena Football League (AFL) teams based in the Atlanta Metropolitan Area of Georgia, United States.
Capital One Arena is an indoor arena in Washington, D.C. Located in the Chinatown section of the larger Penn Quarter neighborhood, the arena sits atop the Gallery Place rapid transit station of the Washington Metro. The arena was opened on December 2, 1997, as MCI Center but renamed to Verizon Center in 2006 when MCI was acquired by Verizon Communications and changed again to its current name in 2017.
Paycom Center is an arena located in Downtown Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States. It opened in 2002 and since 2008 has served as the home venue for the National Basketball Association (NBA)'s Oklahoma City Thunder. Previously, the arena was home to the Oklahoma City Blazers of the Central Hockey League (CHL) from 2002 until the team folded in July 2009, and the Oklahoma City Yard Dawgz of AF2 from 2004 to 2009 when the team moved to the Cox Convention Center. In addition to its use as a sports venue, Paycom Center hosts concerts, family and social events, conventions, ice shows, and civic events. The arena is owned by the city and operated by the SMG property management company and has 18,203 seats in the basketball configuration, 15,152 for hockey, and can seat up to 16,591 for concerts.
Total Mortgage Arena is a 10,000-seat multi-purpose arena in downtown Bridgeport, Connecticut, United States. It is the home venue of the Bridgeport Islanders of the American Hockey League (AHL). Managed by the Oak View Group, the arena was built alongside the Hartford HealthCare Amphitheater and opened on October 10, 2001. Webster Bank entered into a 10-year $3.5 million agreement on January 6, 2011, with the City of Bridgeport for the arena naming rights. When this agreement ended, the City entered into a new one on March 8, 2022, that granted the naming rights to Total Mortgage of Milford, Connecticut.
The Arena District is a mixed-use planned development and neighborhood in Columbus, Ohio. The site was developed through a partnership between Nationwide Realty Investors, Ltd., the City of Columbus and private investors. Interpretation of the boundaries of the district are evolving as the neighboring blocks around the original 75-acre (300,000 m2) site have seen additional commercial and residential development. The Arena District is named for Nationwide Arena.
Downtown Athens is the oldest of the main commercial and residential centers in Athens, Georgia, United States. Downtown is generally considered to be the area bounded by Dougherty Street on the north, Broad Street and the University of Georgia campus on the south, Pulaski Street on the west, and Foundry Street by the east.
James Brown Arena was a multi-purpose complex located in Augusta, Georgia. It was managed by Spectra Experiences.
The Huntington Center is an 8,000-seat multi-purpose arena in downtown Toledo, Ohio. It was completed in 2009 and cost $105 million to build. It replaced the Toledo Sports Arena, which has since been demolished.
The Ford Center is a multi-use indoor arena in downtown Evansville, Indiana, with a maximum seating capacity of 11,000. It officially opened in November 2011 and is mainly used for basketball, ice hockey, and music concerts. It is home to the Evansville Thunderbolts minor league hockey team in the SPHL and the Evansville Purple Aces men's basketball team, representing the University of Evansville. The UE women's basketball team also played at Ford Center from the venue's opening, but moved its home games back to its campus starting with the 2017–18 season.
The Adirondack Phantoms were a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL), who began play in the 2009–10 AHL season. The Phantoms were based in Glens Falls, New York, playing home games at the Glens Falls Civic Center and were the AHL affiliate of the NHL's Philadelphia Flyers. The franchise moved to Glens Falls from Philadelphia, where they were known as the Philadelphia Phantoms from 1996 to 2009 in the Flyers' former arena, the Spectrum.
The Federal Prospects Hockey League (FPHL) is a professional ice hockey independent minor league with teams in the Midwestern, Southern, and Northeastern United States. The FPHL began operations in November 2010 as the Federal Hockey League. Don Kirnan is the league's commissioner. The league also occasionally branded itself as the Federal Professional Hockey League from 2015 to 2018 until it began using the name Federal Prospects Hockey League and completing the rebrand in 2019.
The Danville Dashers are a hockey team from Danville, Illinois, in the Federal Prospects Hockey League. The team is now known as Dashers Hockey during their second incarnation from 2024. The Dashers were named in honor of the original Danville Dashers. From 2011 to 2020, the team played their home games at David S. Palmer Arena, which was also home to the original Dashers that played in the Continental Hockey League from 1981 to 1986, but were voted out of the arena in 2021. On February 28, 2024, it was announced that the David S. Palmer Arena board had accepted the lease from Barry Soskin and Diane Short to bring the Danville Dashers back for the 2024-25 season.
Fiserv Forum is a multi-purpose arena located in downtown Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It is the home of the Milwaukee Bucks of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the Marquette Golden Eagles men's basketball team of Marquette University.
The Classic Center is a convention center in Athens, Georgia, United States. It was opened in 1995. Located within is Akins Ford Arena at The Classic Center, a large event hall that also serves as a 2,000-seat arena. The arena is home to the UGA Ice Dawgs hockey team and formerly the Peach State Cats arena football team. The Classic Center also contains a 2,122-seat theatre.
The Coachella Valley Firebirds are a professional ice hockey team based in the Coachella Valley. They are members of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference of the American Hockey League (AHL). The Firebirds began play in the 2022–23 season. The team is an owned-and-operated affiliate of the National Hockey League (NHL)'s Seattle Kraken. The team plays their home games at Acrisure Arena in the city of Palm Desert, California.
Acrisure Arena is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the city of Palm Desert in Riverside County, California, United States. The arena opened in December 2022 on 43.35 acres (17.54 ha) of land in the Coachella Valley between Interstate 10 and the Classic Club golf course. It is the home arena for the American Hockey League's Coachella Valley Firebirds, and is a primary venue for events in the Greater Palm Springs area. The venue's namesake is the eponoymous financial technology and insurance company Acrisure, which purchased the naming rights for an undisclosed amount over a 10-year lease.
Lee's Family Forum is a multi-purpose indoor arena in Henderson, Nevada. Built on the site of the former Henderson Pavilion, it is the home of the Henderson Silver Knights of the American Hockey League, the Vegas Knight Hawks of the Indoor Football League, the Vegas Thrill of the Pro Volleyball Federation, the home of the Las Vegas Desert Dogs of the National Lacrosse League, and the former home of the NBA G League Ignite of the NBA G League. The City of Henderson is the building owner with the National Hockey League's Vegas Golden Knights as its operator.
The Athens Rock Lobsters are a professional ice hockey team based in Athens, Georgia. Their home is at the Akins Ford Arena and they are a member of the Federal Prospects Hockey League. Their inaugural season is the 2024–25 season.