Address | 200 West Nationwide Boulevard |
---|---|
Location | Columbus, Ohio, U.S. |
Coordinates | 39°58′9.42″N83°0′22.00″W / 39.9692833°N 83.0061111°W |
Public transit | 3, 6, 8, 9, 72, 74 CoGo |
Owner | Franklin County Convention Facilities Authority |
Operator | Columbus Arena Management |
Capacity | Basketball: 19,500 Concerts: 20,000 Ice hockey: 18,500 |
Construction | |
Broke ground | May 26, 1998 [1] |
Opened | September 9, 2000 |
Construction cost | $175 million ($327 million in 2023 dollars [2] ) |
Architect | |
Project manager | Miles-McClellan [3] |
Structural engineer | Thornton Tomasetti [3] |
Services engineer | M-E Engineers [3] |
General contractor | Turner Construction [3] |
Main contractors | Barton Malow [3] |
Tenants | |
Columbus Blue Jackets (NHL) (2000–present) Columbus Landsharks (NLL) (2001–2003) Columbus Destroyers (AFL) (2004–2008, 2019) Ohio Junior Blue Jackets (USHL) (2006–2008) Columbus Fury (PVF) (2024–present) |
Nationwide Arena is a multi-purpose arena in the Arena District of Columbus, Ohio. Since completion in 2000, the arena has served as the home of the Columbus Blue Jackets of the National Hockey League (NHL). It is one of two facilities in Columbus, along with Greater Columbus Convention Center, that hosts events during the annual Arnold Classic, a sports and fitness event hosted by actor, bodybuilder, and former Governor of California Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Nationwide Arena was built near the site of the former Ohio Penitentiary, which had an eastern border of West Street. The arena itself is built over the prison's former parking lot. The arena's parking lot and an apartment complex are built where the prison formerly stood. The arena was constructed in 2000.
On March 16, 2002, 13-year-old Brittanie Cecil was struck in the head by a deflected puck during the Blue Jackets' game against the Calgary Flames at Nationwide Arena. She died two days later, becoming the only NHL fan to be killed in a game-related accident. As a result of her death, the NHL mandated safety netting in all its arenas.
In May 2012, Columbus Mayor Michael B. Coleman made a pitch to the National Basketball Association (NBA) requesting an expansion or relocated team be moved to Nationwide Arena. [4]
The venue is named for the arena's original majority owner, Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company, whose world headquarters are located across the street. On March 30, 2012, arena owners Nationwide Insurance and the Dispatch Publishing Group sold the facility to the Franklin County Convention Facilities Authority (FCCFA). As part of the sale, Nationwide agreed to lend the FCCFA $43.3 million to finance the arena's purchase which will be paid back by 2039 with casino tax revenue collected by both the City of Columbus and Franklin County. In addition, the Ohio Department of Development agreed to a 10-year, $10 million loan to the FCCFA to assist with the facilities purchase. If the Blue Jackets meet annual roster payroll requirement, $500,000 of this loan per year will be forgiven. Nationwide Insurance will also pay the Blue Jackets $28 million to retain the arena's naming rights until 2022 as well as $58 million to purchase 30% ownership stake in the franchise. The Blue Jackets, in turn, agreed to remain in the city until 2039 or pay $36 million in damages. [5]
While the Blue Jackets held sole operational control of the arena from 2000 to 2012, the team contracted day-to-day operations and event booking to venue management corporation SMG from the arena's opening until June 30, 2010. On May 12, 2010, the Blue Jackets announced that SMG would not be retained as arena managers and further announced that a one-year, annually renewable, management contract had been signed with Ohio State University. [6] The contract called for the university to take over both day to day arena operations as well as booking non-athletic events, with the Blue Jackets booking athletic events and maintaining overall control of the arena. [7] This arrangement made Nationwide Arena a sister venue to OSU's on-campus arena, Value City Arena. The university started booking acts in May 2010 and assumed day to day control of the arena on July 1, 2010. [6] As part of the 2012 sale of Nationwide Arena, the Blue Jackets and OSU joined with Nationwide Insurance and the FCCFA to form Columbus Arena Management (CAM). Columbus Arena Management currently operates both Nationwide Arena and Value City Arena and oversees budgeting and event booking at both arenas. [5]
The arena is of a brick design and serves as the center of an entertainment district located about one-half of a mile north of the Ohio Statehouse. Seating capacity is approximately 18,500 [8] for hockey, 17,171 for arena football, 19,500 for basketball, and up to 21,000 for concerts. The death of Brittanie Cecil from injuries sustained from a hockey puck flying into the stands at a Blue Jackets game on March 16, 2002, led to the installation of nylon netting to catch pucks that fly over the acrylic glass at all professional ice hockey arenas in the NHL, AHL, IIHF, and ECHL.
The area surrounding Nationwide Arena, called the Arena District, is a mixed-use neighborhood developed by Nationwide Realty Investors featuring restaurants, bars, offices and residential buildings. The Columbus Clippers, a Triple-A baseball team of the International League, play in Huntington Park, also located in the Arena District and developed by Nationwide Realty Investors. Columbus uses the arena as a drawing point for the city with the other establishments feeding off of the foot traffic. The Express Live! concert venue adjacent to the Nationwide Arena property, completes the entertainment complex.
Nationwide Arena includes a smaller ice rink called the OhioHealth IceHaus, which serves as the practice rink for the Blue Jackets and is also used for youth hockey games and open skating times for the public. This facility made Nationwide Arena the first NHL arena with an on-site practice facility and, as of 2019, one of only four such facilities in the NHL, along with KeyBank Center in Buffalo, New York, Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, and Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Michigan.
ESPN The Magazine declared it "the No. 2 stadium experience in professional sports." [25] The Ultimate Sports Road Trip rated it the best arena in the NHL saying "This newer arena in downtown Columbus is the anchor for the emerging Arena District, already burgeoning with shops, restaurants and hotels. The venue is spectacular, from its nostalgic brick and stone veneer to its sweeping concourses with blue mood lighting and modern amenities. The arena bowl has state of the art scoreboards and surround LED graphics boards which look 21st century high tech. With a separate practice rink built right in the facility, theme restaurants and great food selection, not to mention a raucous hockey atmosphere, this NHL venue is a must see!" [26]
The Columbus Blue Jackets are a professional ice hockey team based in Columbus, Ohio. The Blue Jackets compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference, and began play as an expansion team in 2000.
Bell Centre formerly known as Molson Centre, is a multi-purpose arena located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Opened on March 16, 1996, it is the home arena of the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League (NHL), replacing the Montreal Forum. It is owned by the Molson family via the team's ownership group Groupe CH, and managed via Groupe CH subsidiary Evenko.
FedExForum is a multi-purpose indoor arena located in Downtown Memphis, Tennessee. It is the home of the Memphis Grizzlies of the NBA and the NCAA Division I men's basketball program of the University of Memphis, both of whom previously played home games at the Memphis Pyramid. The venue also has the capability of hosting ice hockey games, concerts, and family shows.
Marián Gáborík is a Slovak former professional ice hockey right winger. He began his playing career in the Slovak Extraliga with Dukla Trenčín for two seasons before being drafted third overall in the 2000 NHL Entry Draft by the Minnesota Wild, becoming the highest-drafted Slovak player in National Hockey League (NHL) history until Juraj Slafkovský, who was drafted 1st overall by the Montreal Canadiens in the 2022 NHL Entry Draft. He was the Wild's first-ever draft pick and would score the team's first-ever regular season goal.
Rogers Arena is a multi-purpose arena located at 800 Griffiths Way in the downtown area of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Opened in 1995, the arena was known as General Motors Place from its opening until July 6, 2010, when General Motors Canada ended its naming rights sponsorship and a new agreement for those rights was reached with Rogers Communications. Rogers Arena was built to replace Pacific Coliseum as Vancouver's primary indoor sports facility and in part due to the National Basketball Association (NBA) 1995 expansion into Canada, when Vancouver and Toronto were given expansion teams.
Espen Knutsen is a Norwegian former professional ice hockey player and currently the general manager of Vålerenga in the Norwegian GET-ligaen. He played five seasons in the North American-based National Hockey League (NHL), and is to date the only Norwegian to have played in the NHL All-Star Game. In his native Norway, Knutsen is also known by the nickname "Shampoo" because his father is a hairdresser, and also a former hockey player whose nickname was "The Soap".
Jody Shelley is a Canadian former professional ice hockey left winger. During his National Hockey League (NHL) career he played for the Columbus Blue Jackets, San Jose Sharks, New York Rangers and the Philadelphia Flyers.
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.
Rostislav "Rusty" Klesla is a Czech former professional ice hockey defenceman. Klesla was selected fourth overall by the Columbus Blue Jackets in the 2000 NHL Entry Draft, making him the first ever pick in an entry draft by the Blue Jackets. He has also played in the NHL with the Phoenix Coyotes.
Brittanie Nichole Cecil was a hockey fan who died from injuries suffered when a puck was deflected into the stands and struck her in the left temple at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio, on March 16, 2002. It was the first and currently only fan fatality in the NHL's history. Because of Cecil's death, the league implemented mandatory netting at both ends of the rink in every arena at the beginning of the next NHL season in 2002–03 to protect spectators from errant pucks.
Value City Arena is a multi-purpose arena, located on the campus of Ohio State University, in Columbus, Ohio, United States. The arena opened in 1998 and is currently the largest by seating capacity in the Big Ten Conference, with 19,049 seats, which is reduced to 18,809 for Ohio State men's and women’s basketball games.
The Columbus Chill were a professional ice hockey team that played in the East Coast Hockey League from October 1991 through the 1998–99 season. They played at the Ohio Expo Center Coliseum in Columbus, Ohio. The Chill left Columbus in 1999 and relocated to Reading, Pennsylvania, with the impending arrival of the Columbus Blue Jackets in the National Hockey League. The Columbus Chill are now known as the Reading Royals.
The 2000–01 Columbus Blue Jackets season was the Blue Jackets' first season in the National Hockey League (NHL) after the city of Columbus, Ohio, was awarded an expansion team in 1997. The Blue Jackets finished 13th in the Conference and fifth in the Division. Thus, they were unable to qualify for the 2001 Stanley Cup playoffs.
The 2001–02 Columbus Blue Jackets season was the Blue Jackets' second season in the National Hockey League (NHL), as the team was coming off a 28–39–9–6 record in their expansion season, earning 71 points and missing the 2001 Stanley Cup playoffs. The Blue Jackets did not qualify for the 2002 playoffs.
The 2010–11 NHL season was the 94th season of operation of the National Hockey League (NHL). The Boston Bruins defeated the Vancouver Canucks in the Stanley Cup Finals four games to three, being the sixth Cup win in Bruins' franchise history. For the fourth consecutive season, the season started with games in Europe. The 58th All-Star Game was held at RBC Center in Raleigh, North Carolina, home arena of the Carolina Hurricanes, on January 30, 2011.
The 2011–12 Columbus Blue Jackets season was the team's 12th season in the National Hockey League (NHL). The Blue Jackets' record of 29–46–7 was the worst record in the NHL for 2011–12 and the first time in franchise history they finished in last place. It also marked the third straight year that they missed the playoffs. Consequently, they had the best chance to receive the first overall selection in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft lottery, but lost out to the Edmonton Oilers and received the second pick instead.