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![]() As seen from across the Arkansas River, 2020 | |
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Former names | Alltel Arena (1999–2009) Verizon Arena (2009–2019) |
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Location |
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Public transit |
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Owner | Pulaski County Multi-Purpose Civic Center Facilities Board |
Operator | Pulaski County Multi-Purpose Civic Center Facilities Board |
Capacity | Basketball: 18,000 Hockey: 17,000 Arena Football:16,000 |
Surface | Multi-surface |
Construction | |
Broke ground | August 22, 1997 [1] |
Opened | October 2, 1999 [2] |
Construction cost | $80 million ($146 million in 2023 dollars [3] ) |
Architect | Civic Center Design Team (CCDT): Burt Taggart & Associates, Architects/Engineers, The Wilcox Group, Garver & Garver Engineering and Rosser International of Atlanta |
Structural engineer | Geiger Engineers PC |
General contractor | Turner/Vratsinas [4] |
Tenants | |
Arkansas–Little Rock Trojans (NCAA) (1999–2005) Arkansas RiverBlades (ECHL) (1999–2003) Arkansas Twisters (AF2) (2000–2009) Arkansas RimRockers (ABA/NBA D-League) (2004–2007) | |
Website | |
simmonsbankarena.com |
Simmons Bank Arena (previously Verizon Arena and Alltel Arena) is an 18,000-seat multi-purpose arena in North Little Rock, Arkansas, directly across the Arkansas River from downtown Little Rock. Opened in October 1999, it is the main entertainment venue serving Central Arkansas.
The Little Rock Trojans, representing the University of Arkansas at Little Rock in NCAA Division I sports, played home basketball games at the arena from the time the arena opened until the team moved in 2005 to a new arena, the Jack Stephens Center, on the school's campus in Little Rock. The Arkansas RiverBlades, a defunct ice hockey team of the ECHL; the Arkansas RimRockers, a defunct minor league basketball team of the NBA Development League; and the Arkansas Twisters, a defunct af2 team, also played at the arena. The arena is also used for concerts, rodeos, auto racing, professional wrestling, and trade shows and conventions.
On August 1, 1995, Pulaski County, Arkansas, voters approved a one-year, one-cent sales tax for the purpose of building a multi-purpose arena, expanding the Statehouse Convention Center in Little Rock, and making renovations to the Main Street bridge between Little Rock and North Little Rock. $20 million of the sales tax proceeds went toward the Convention Center expansion, with the remainder used to build the arena.
That money—combined with a $20 million contribution from the State of Arkansas, $17 million from private sources, and $7 million from Little Rock-based Alltel Corporation—paid for the construction of the 377,000-square-foot (35,000 m2) arena, which cost nearly $80 million to build. When its doors opened in 1999, the facility was paid for, and there was no public indebtedness.
Two sites in North Little Rock drew interest from county officials for the proposed arena. The first was a 19.5-acre (79,000 m2) commercial site west of Interstate 30, which contained a strip mall, a Kroger, and an abandoned Kmart storefront (which in turn relocated to McCain Plaza in 1991, closing the Broadway Street location and closed in November 2000 as it was one of the 72 stores announced for closure that year [5] ). The second site was an 11.6-acre (47,000 m2) plot at the foot of the Broadway Bridge.
The Pulaski County Multipurpose Civic Center Facilities Board selected the larger site for the arena in 1996 and paid $3.7 million for the land, some of which was acquired through eminent domain, a move protested in court by several landowners.
The second site later would be chosen for the new baseball stadium, Dickey-Stephens Park, constructed for the Arkansas Travelers. The Class AA minor-league baseball team moved from the then 73-year-old Ray Winder Field in Little Rock to a new $28 million home in North Little Rock at the start of the 2007 season.
The arena was the home of the 2003, 2006, and 2009 Southeastern Conference women's basketball tournament and the 2000 Sun Belt Conference men's basketball tournament. The arena holds the all-time attendance record for an SEC Women's Tournament when 43,642 people attended the event in 2003.
The arena hosted portions of the first and second rounds of the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament in March 2008 and the SEC gymnastics championships in 2007.
The arena is also used for other events: concerts (seating capacity is between 15,000 and 18,000 for end-stage concerts; the arena has an 80-by-40-foot portable stage); rodeos and auto racing (seating capacity is 14,000); and trade shows and conventions (there are 28,000 square feet (2,600 m2) of arena floor space plus 7,050 square feet (655 m2) of meeting space and 2,580 square feet (240 m2) of pre-function space). As a concert venue, its location prompted Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band to play one of its most rarely performed numbers, 1973's "Mary Queen of Arkansas", during a March 2000 show on their Reunion Tour.
The arena is owned by the Multi-Purpose Civic Center Facilities Board for Pulaski County. The arena was designed by the Civic Center Design Team (CCDT), Burt Taggart & Associates, Architects/Engineers, The Wilcox Group, Garver & Garver Engineering and Rosser International of Atlanta.
The arena held the 2004, 2007 and 2009 American Idols LIVE! Tour concerts on August 13, 2004, July 13, 2007, and July 25, 2009, respectively.
The arena's 20-year naming rights were part of a $28.1 billion sale of Alltel to Verizon Wireless, effective on June 30, 2009, with Alltel Arena renamed as Verizon Arena. [6]
Fleetwood Mac performed at the arena May 4, 2013, with surprise guests former president Bill Clinton and First Lady Hillary Clinton attending the show. Fleetwood Mac drummer Mick Fleetwood introduced the couple, who were seated in an arena suite, to the sold-out audience and dedicated the song "Don't Stop" to them, which was Bill Clinton's 1992 presidential election campaign song.
On October 5, 2016, the arena hosted the Kellogg's Tour of Gymnastics Champions. [7]
With expiration of initial naming rights due in 2019, new naming rights for the arena were purchased by Arkansas-based Simmons Bank in a deal announced on November 9, 2018; the name change became official on October 3, 2019. [8]
On January 29, 2022, Elton John performed at the arena for his Goodbye Yellow Brick Road farewell tour to a sold out audience.
Later in 2022, The Eagles played at Simmons Bank Arena on November 27 during their Hotel California tour. The show featured country star Vince Gill, Deacon Frey - son of founding band member Glenn Frey, the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra, and members of the Little Rock Saint Mark's Baptist Church choir. The concert was a sellout.
On July 17, 2024, the arena hosted the 250th episode of All Elite Wrestling's flagship show Dynamite . [9]
CFG Bank Arena is a multipurpose arena in Baltimore, Maryland. This venue is located about one block away from the Baltimore Convention Center on the corner of Baltimore Street and Hopkins Place in downtown Baltimore. With a seating capacity of up to 14,000 for concerts, CFG Bank Arena is owned by the City of Baltimore and managed by the Oak View Group, a global sports and entertainment company.
The Wells Fargo Center is a multi-purpose indoor arena located in Philadelphia. It serves as the home of the Philadelphia Flyers of the National Hockey League (NHL), the Philadelphia 76ers of the National Basketball Association (NBA), and the Philadelphia Wings of the National Lacrosse League (NLL). The arena lies at the southwest corner of the South Philadelphia Sports Complex, which includes Lincoln Financial Field, Citizens Bank Park, and Xfinity Live!.
Heritage Bank Center is an indoor arena located in downtown Cincinnati, next to the Great American Ball Park. It was completed in September 1975 and named Riverfront Coliseum because of its placement next to Riverfront Stadium. In 1997, the facility became known as The Crown, and in 1999, it changed its name again to Firstar Center after Firstar Bank assumed naming rights. In 2002, following Firstar's merger with U.S. Bank, the arena took on the name U.S. Bank Arena and kept that name until 2019.
Alltel was a landline, wireless and general telecommunications services provider, primarily based in the United States. Before its wireless division was acquired by Verizon Wireless and AT&T, Alltel provided cellular service to 34 states and had approximately 13 million subscribers. As a regulatory condition of the acquisition by Verizon, a small portion of Alltel was spun off and continued to operate under the same name in six states, mostly in rural areas. Following the merger, Alltel remained the ninth largest wireless telecommunications company in the United States, with approximately 800,000 customers. On January 22, 2013, AT&T announced they were acquiring what remained of Alltel from Atlantic Tele-Network for $780 million in cash.
The XL Center is a multi-purpose arena and convention center located in downtown Hartford, Connecticut. Owned by the City of Hartford, it is managed by the quasi-public Capital Region Development Authority (CRDA) under a lease with the city and operated by Spectra. In December 2007, the center was renamed when the arena's naming rights were sold to XL Group insurance company in a six-year agreement. The arena is ranked the 28th largest among college basketball arenas. It opened in 1975 as the Hartford Civic Center and was originally located adjacent to Civic Center Mall, which was demolished in 2004. It consists of two facilities: the Veterans Memorial Coliseum and the Exhibition Center.
The MassMutual Center is a multi-purpose arena and convention center complex located in downtown Springfield, Massachusetts, United States, in the city's Metro Center. The arena opened in 1972 and the convention center opened in 2005. It serves as a venue for meetings, conventions, exhibitions, sporting and entertainment events.
The CHI Health Center Omaha is an arena and convention center in the central United States, located in the North Downtown neighborhood of Omaha, Nebraska. Operated by the Metropolitan Entertainment & Convention Authority (MECA), the 1.1-million-square-foot (100,000 m2) facility has an 18,975-seat arena, a 194,000 sq ft (18,000 m2) exhibition hall, and 62,000 sq ft (5,800 m2) of meeting space.
The Donald L. Tucker Civic Center is a multi-purpose indoor arena located on the Florida State University campus in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. The arena has the biggest capacity of any arena in the Florida Panhandle. The arena opened in 1981 and was built at a cost of over $30 million, financed by the city. In 2013, the venue was purchased by the Florida State University Board of Trustees. The facility is located on the southeastern side of the university's campus, between the FSU College of Law and the future home of the FSU College of Business.
The Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center is a 5,280-seat multi-purpose arena in Mankato, Minnesota, built in 1994 and opened in early 1995. It is home to the Minnesota State Mavericks men's ice hockey team and women's ice hockey team, and also hosts musical performances, conventions and other events. Prior to its construction, the team played their home games at All Seasons Arena.
Omaha Civic Auditorium was a multi-purpose convention center located in Omaha, Nebraska. Opened in 1954, it surpassed the Ak-Sar-Ben Coliseum as the largest convention/entertainment complex in the city, until the completion of CHI Health Center Omaha in 2003. With the opening of the Ralston Arena in 2012, all teams that played at the Civic Auditorium moved, which reduced the venue's viability. The auditorium closed its doors in June 2014 and was demolished two years later.
The Charleston Coliseum & Convention Center is a municipal complex located in the downtown area of Charleston, West Virginia, United States. Originally completed in 1958, it consists of four main components: the Coliseum, the Theater, the Auditorium, and the Convention Center.
Mobile Civic Center is a multi-purpose facility located in Mobile, Alabama. Owned by the City of Mobile and operated by ASM Global, the facility consists of three venues: a theater, an expo hall, and an arena. It is suitable for large indoor events including sporting events and trade shows. The theater seats for 1,938, while the expo hall can seat 3,000. The largest venue of the Mobile Civic Center is the arena, which can seat 10,112.
Barton Coliseum is a 7,150-seat multi-purpose arena located within the Arkansas State Fairgrounds in Little Rock, Arkansas. The coliseum was dedicated on September 29, 1952, in honor of Thomas Harry Barton, founder of Lion Oil.
Jack Stephens Center is a 5,600-seat multi-purpose arena on the campus of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock in Little Rock, Arkansas, United States and was built in 2005. It is home to the school's men's basketball, women's basketball, men's wrestling, and women's volleyball teams, known as the Little Rock Trojans, and named in honor of billionaire philanthropist Jackson T. Stephens, who donated $22.4 million for the construction of the facility. The facility is located on the north end of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock campus, adjacent to the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture Cooperative Extension Service State Office.
The Bank OZK Arena, formerly known as Summit Arena and Bank of the Ozarks Arena, is a 6,300-seat multi-purpose arena in Hot Springs, Arkansas, USA.
Park Plaza Mall is an enclosed shopping mall located in the Midtown neighborhood of Little Rock, Arkansas. Originally opened in 1960 as Park Plaza Shopping Center, an open-air shopping center, the mall is home to two Dillard's flagship stores and merchants including H&M, Talbots, and Eddie Bauer. The structure contains 545,800 square feet (50,710 m2) of retail space, although Dillard's owns 284,165 square feet (26,399.8 m2) of that area for its flagship stores.
Little Rock is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The city's population was 202,591 as of the 2020 census. The six-county Little Rock metropolitan area is the 81st-most populous in the United States with 748,031 residents according to the 2020 census.
Jackson Thomas Stephens Sr was an oilman and investment banker. He was the CEO of Little Rock, Arkansas-based Stephens Inc., a privately owned financial services company.
The 2009 Arkansas Twisters season was the franchise's tenth season as a football franchise, last in the arenafootball2 league, and final season as the "Arkansas Twisters". The National Conference team, led by head coach Chris Siegfried, played their home games on Allstate Field at Alltel Arena in North Little Rock, Arkansas. The Diamonds finished the 2009 regular season with an 11-5 record and 2nd place in the Southwest Division. The team's playoff run ended with a 36-77 loss to the Boise Burn in the first round.
Verizon Center may refer to: