San Diego International Sports Arena (1966–70) San Diego Sports Arena (1970–2005; 2007–10) iPayOne Center (2005–07) Valley View Casino Center (2010–18)
In June 2023, Stan Kroenke's development group, the Kroenke Group, announced that it would be the chief investor for the redevelopment of the site; a project known as Midway Rising. The proposal includes a modern 16,000-seat arena, housing units, multi-acre urban park, and a mixed-use entertainment, arts, and cultural district.
History
The arena was built in 1966 for $6.4 million by Robert Breitbard, a local football player who played for the San Diego State Aztecs.[6][7] The arena seated 13,000 for hockey and 13,700 for basketball.[7] At 77 feet tall, the arena was built six years before the current 30 foot maximum height restriction was put into place by the State Coastal Commission in the Midway-Pacific Highway Community Plan.[8]
iPayOne, a real estate savings company based in Carlsbad, California, held the arena's naming rights from 2004 until 2007. The deal was worth $2.5 million over five years. In April 2007 the leasing rights holder Arena Group 2000 cancelled the remainder of the contract due to non-payment by iPayOne.[18]
On October 12, 2010, it was announced that the arena's name had been changed to the "Valley View Casino Center", under a $1.5 million, 5-year agreement between the arena operator AEG, the San Pasqual Band of Diegueno Mission Indians and the city of San Diego.[19]
Valley View Casino's naming rights expired November 30, 2018, leaving the arena without an official name until the city council announced on December 4, 2018,[10] that the Pechanga Band of Luiseño Indians, owners of Pechanga Resort Casino in Temecula, had acquired for $400,000 per year the naming rights to the arena, officially renaming it "Pechanga Arena". The agreement expired in May 2020.[20][21]
Events
Sports
San Diego Gulls pregame in October 2015 after renovations with arena in hockey configuration
The arena opened on November 17, 1966, with the San Diego Gulls (then a member of the Western Hockey League) winning their season opener, 4–1, against the Seattle Totems.[6] The Gulls were the arena's first tenant. The San Diego State Aztecs men's basketball team join the Gulls on a part-time basis soon afterwards; they played home games at the arena off-and-on to supplement their on-campus, much smaller venue, Peterson Gymnasium. The Aztecs played at the arena until 1997, when they opened their new on-campus venue, Viejas Arena.
On October 14, 1967, an NBA expansion team, the San Diego Rockets, became the arena's first professional basketball tenant when they played their season opener and first game in franchise history against the St. Louis Hawks, narrowly losing 98–99.[23]
At the conclusion of the 1970–71 NBA Season, the Rockets were sold and relocated to Houston. As a result, San Francisco Warriors owner Franklin Mieuli, who was looking for more support for his franchise, decided to make a play for the San Diego market (in addition to the Oakland market, where Oakland Arena had just received a renovation project). Mieuli changed his team's name to the Golden State Warriors for the upcoming season in order to target the state of California as a whole for a fanbase, instead of a single metropolitan area. The Warriors planned to split the season's home games between the San Francisco Bay Area and San Diego. The Warriors ultimately hosted just six regular season home games at the San Diego Sports Arena, one each month of the 1971–72 season (October–March). The remainder of the Warriors' home games that season were played at Oakland Arena, where the Warriors settled full-time the following season.[24]
As the Warriors returned to the Bay Area full-time after their brief experiment in San Diego, the NBA's primary competitor league, the American Basketball Association (ABA) awarded its first—and as it turned out, only—expansion team to San Diego. Dr. Leonard Bloom (President and CEO of the United States Capital Corporation) paid a $1 million expansion fee to the league to start the team. The San Diego Conquistadors began play in the 1972–73 ABA season; however, they were unable to use the Sports Arena for their first two seasons of existence due to a feud between Bloom and Peter Graham, manager of the city-owned 14,400-seat Sports Arena. The Conquistadors (or "Q's" as they were commonly known locally), played at Peterson Gymnasium on the campus of San Diego State University from 1972 until 1974 as a result of the feud.
In late 1974, the Q's were finally allowed to use the Sports Arena, but their first season at the arena would turn out to be their only full season there. In 1975, the ABA, facing mounting financial difficulties, was rumored to be discussing a merger with the NBA and the San Diego franchise was not to be included. The Conquistadors, freshly renamed the Sails, would cease operations just 11 games into the 1975–76 ABA season on November 12, 1975, when the ABA announced that it was folding the San Diego Sails franchise. The Sails were scheduled to host the Indiana Pacers on that day but the game was not played.
In 1972, the Republican Party considered the arena for its National Convention. With little warning, however, the GOP decided to hold the convention in Miami Beach. To compensate for this blow to local prestige, then-mayor (and future California governor) Pete Wilson gave San Diego the by-name of "America's Finest City",[25] which is still the city's official moniker.[26]
The arena was the host of the 1973 Muhammad Ali vs. Ken Norton boxing fight, which, by split decision, San Diego resident Norton won.
In 1978, less than three years after the Sails folded and the ABA's four surviving teams merged with the NBA, the NBA returned to San Diego with the relocation of the Buffalo Braves, which became the San Diego Clippers. In 1981, the Clippers were bought by Los Angeles-based developer Donald Sterling. Sterling, despite failing to gain approval from the NBA to relocate the team to Los Angeles in 1982 and again in 1984, did so anyway following the 1983–84 NBA season, which led to a lawsuit from the league. The team ultimately remained in Los Angeles, however, following a counter-lawsuit brought on by Sterling. The franchise has kept the Clippers name despite its reference being to the ships of San Diego Bay. San Diego has not hosted an NBA regular game since the Clippers' departure.
In both 1979 and 1981 at the San Diego Indoor Track Meet, Irish distance runner Eamonn Coghlan broke the world record for the indoor mile. A photo of him crossing the finish line appeared around the world including on the cover of Sports Illustrated. Coghlan's time for the 1981 race is still the world record for the indoor mile.[6]
Jimi Hendrix recorded his 13-minute jam version of "Red House" there, on May 24, 1969. The full concert was released in 1991 as part of the Stages box set.
Elvis Presley played there on November 15, 1970, and April 24, 1976. Attendance was 14,659 in 1970 and 17,500 in 1976.
Queen performed there four times to sold-out crowds. Their first concert was on March 12, 1976, for their A Night at the Opera Tour which was the band's first headline tour in the US. They next performed on March 5, 1977, as part of their A Day at the Races Tour.[38] Their next concert was during their News of the World Tour on December 16, 1977. The band's last performance was on July 5, 1980, while on The Game Tour.[39]
The gatefold photograph inside KISS' album Alive II was shot there in 1977.
Duran Duran played two nights there on April 16, 1984, and April 17, 1984, as part of their Sing Blue Silver World Tour. They played there again July 28, 1987, as part of their Strange Behaviour World Tour; also that night American all-female band The Bangles joined them on stage to sing their hit "If She Knew What She Wants". They also played there on February 25, 2005, as part of their Astronaut World Tour when they reformed the band to its original lineup.
The German heavy metal rock group The Scorpions performed there during their 1984 World Wide live tour.
Van Halen played two shows on May 20 and 21 on their 1984 Tour; two shows on their 1986 5150 Tour on June 28 and 29, 1986; a show on their 1988 OU812 tour on November 19, 1988; two shows on their For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge Tour on May 1 and 3, 1992; and finally on their 1995 The Balance "Ambulance" Tour on April 2, 1995.
Dio performed during their Sacred Heart Tour on December 6, 1985. The show was recorded and later released as a live album, entitled Intermission.
Gloria Estefan and the Miami Sound Machine played there on three separate occasions, first on July 17, 1991, during her “Into The Light World Tour,” second on July 31, 1996, during her “Evolution World Tour,” and third on August 19, 2004, during her “Live & Re-Wrapped Tour”.
Justin Bieber performed a sold-out show there on October 30, 2010, as part of his My World Tour; three years later he performed there again to a sold-out show on June 22, 2013, during his Believe Tour. Bieber returned there on March 29, 2016, to perform to a sold-out show as part of his Purpose World Tour, And On February 18, 2022, Bieber returned there for his Justice World Tour.
Madonna played a date there on October 29, 2015, becoming her first-ever performance in the arena, during her Rebel Heart Tour. The show sold 10,500 seats and grossed over $1.6 million with ticket prices ranging from $50 to $355, becoming one of the most expensive concerts.
Tyler, The Creator performed at the venue on February 2, 2018, as part of a run of headlining North American tour in support of his recently released album Flower Boy.
Country-pop singer Carrie Underwood has performed in the arena multiple times, first on October 1, 2010, during her Play On Tour; the second on October 20, 2012, during her Blown Away Tour; the third on September 16, 2016, during her Storyteller Tour: Stories in the Round; and the fourth on September 10, 2019, during her Cry Pretty Tour 360, making her one of the artists with the most performances in the arena.
Tame Impala played the first of their The Slow Rush tour concerts there on March 9, 2020, just prior to the shutdown due to the Coronavirus pandemic.
The 2011 version of Wrex the Halls was hosted here over two days with headliners Florence and the Machine and Blink-182 headlining respective nights. Both nights were sold out.
The arena has also been home to events of the original Roller Games league, featuring its flagship team, the Los Angeles Thunderbirds, as well as the alternating roller derby leagues of the time, featuring their flagship team, the San Francisco Bay Bombers.
The arena hosted Hot Wheels Monster Trucks Live in 2019.
Arena's future
As use of the arena for sports and entertainment declined during the 1990s and 2000s, the city considered plans to redevelop the property. A Request For Proposals (RFP) was issued, and in August 2020 Mayor Kevin Faulconer announced that the city had chosen a developer to convert the arena and its surrounding 48 acres into an entertainment district. The proposed plan would include a new sports arena, thousands of housing units, and retail and park space.[46]
In a November 2020 election, the city's voters removed a pre-existing height limit of 30 feet on structures in the area, giving developers more flexibility.[47] However, in June 2021 the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) notified the city that the plan violated the state's recently modified Surplus Land Act, which mandates that local governments must offer surplus land first to developers who will reserve 25% of housing units for low-income families. In July the city prepared to declare the property surplus, meaning not needed for the city's use, with the condition that any proposal should include refurbishing or replacing the sports arena as an entertainment venue. If the state HCD approves that condition, the city will issue a new RFP to a state-approved list of affordable housing developers.[48] The November 2022 election again has Measure E on the ballot for San Diego voters to remove or preserve the current height restrictions for the neighborhood zone west of the I-5 freeway and south of I-8 down to San Diego International Airport including Liberty Station and Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego.[49]
Three developers proposed a new mixed use arena with housing, shopping, and parks. The projects were titled "Midway Rising", "Hometown SD", and "Midway Village+", with Midway Rising eventually winning the bid.[50] In 2023, Stan Kroenke joined the Midway Rising group as a majority investor, bringing a massive boost as he had previously redeveloped the former Hollywood Park Racetrack in Inglewood.
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