Tyson Events Center

Tyson Events Center

Tyson Events Center in 2025
Interactive map of Tyson Events Center
Former names	Gateway Arena (2003-2019)
Location	401 Gordon Drive, Sioux City, Iowa, U.S.
Coordinates	42°29′29″N96°24′26″W / 42.49146113935062°N 96.40723400273797°W / 42.49146113935062; -96.40723400273797
Owner	City of Sioux City
Operator	Oak View Group
Capacity	(Fleet Farm Arena): Concerts: 10,000 Basketball: 6,813, with standing room for at least 9,500 Hockey: 6,731, with standing room for at least 9,500 Indoor football: 6,941, with standing room for at least 9,500
Surface	Multi-surface
Construction
Groundbreaking	April 30, 2002 [1]
Opened	December 17, 2003 [2]
Cost	$53 million [2] ($92.8 million in 2025 dollars [3] )
Architects	Ellerbe Becket FEH Associates
Services engineers	KJWW Engineering Consultants, P.C. [4]
General contractor	Mortenson/Klinger [2]

Tyson Events Center is a multipurpose arena located in Sioux City, Iowa. The seating bowl of the facility is the Fleet Farm Arena, previously known as Gateway Arena. The venue was announced in September 2000 and broke ground in April 2002. The venue officially opened in December 2003. The arena has three spectator levels: one suite level and two general seating levels named the 100 level and the 200 level, respectively. Its listed maximum capacity is 10,000. The venue is owned by Sioux City and is operated by Oak View Group.

As part of its construction, the Tyson Events Center was built adjoining the Sioux City Municipal Auditorium, Sioux City's previous arena, which seated 3,500. ^[5] The two buildings are directly connected to each other and share some facilities. The northwest corner of the auditorium is inside of the seating bowl of the Tyson Events Center.

The venue is home to the Sioux City Musketeers of the United States Hockey League (USHL) and the Sioux City Bandits of the National Arena League (NAL). It is the host site of the NAIA National Championships for Women's Volleyball and Women's Basketball.

History

In September 2000, it was announced that Sioux City would be developing an arena to replace the Sioux City Municipal Auditorium. ^[6] Plans were later expanded in December, and the project was formally announced that same year. ^[7] In 2001, IBP, Inc. and its parent, Tyson Foods, purchased the naming rights for the event center. ^[8] Additionally the naming rights to the arena within the events center were purchased by Gateway, Inc. ^[9] The arena officially broke ground on April 30, 2002 with construction beginning shortly after. ^[10] The Tyson Events Center officially opened on December 17, 2003. ^[11]

In 2007, Acer Inc. acquired Gateway but retained the Gateway Arena naming rights until the rights expired in June 2019. ^{[12] [13]} On September 30, 2019, retail chain Fleet Farm took over as naming rights partner under an eight-year deal which would brand the arena as Fleet Farm Arena. ^[14]

In 2018, the venue, which had been operated by the City of Sioux City, went under management by Philadelphia-based venue management firm Spectra. ^[15] In November 2021, Spectra was acquired by Oak View Group, which continues to manage the facility. ^[16]

In 2026, Tyson Foods agreed to relinquish the naming rights of the venue, which it previously held in perpetuity. ^[17]

Notable events

Comedian Nate Bargatze performing at the Tyson Events Center, September 2025

Concerts

The arena has hosted numerous concerts, by artists such as Aerosmith, Dolly Parton, Elton John ^[18] ,Taylor Swift ^[19] , Britney Spears, Cher, Trace Adkins, Kenny Chesney, Rascal Flatts, Fleetwood Mac, Kiss, Cheap Trick, Alan Jackson, Nickelback, 311, Neil Diamond, Carrie Underwood, Little Big Town, Ozzy Osbourne, Rob Zombie, Buckcherry, The Offspring ^[20] , Brad Paisley, Miranda Lambert, Whitesnake, Papa Roach and Creed.

Comedians

The venue has hosted notable comedians such as Nate Bargatze ^[21] , Kevin Hart ^[22] , Gabriel Iglesias ^[23] , and Larry the Cable Guy.

Professional Wrestling

The site has hosted World Wrestling Entertainment on numerous occasions, including a live un-televised event on September 25, 2004, followed by a televised SmackDown on May 17, 2005; and four televised Raw programs on July 10, 2006, February 5, 2007, January 12, 2009 along with an ECW taping the same night, and Raw on July 1, 2013. There was another non-televised show on August 16, 2009. It has also hosted TNA Wrestling Live on June 4, 2010. In December 2014, there was a SmackDown televised event featuring the Immortal Hulk Hogan acting as an authority figure for the night.

In 2016 there was a WWE Live event (Smackdown) non-televised event featuring AJ Styles vs Dean Ambrose for the WWE Championship, The Usos vs Ryhno and Heath Slater for the Smackdown Tag Team Championships, The Hype Bros and American Alpha vs The Ascension and the Vaudevillians, Kalisto vs Tyler Brezze, The Miz vs Apollo Crews, Natalya and Carmela vs Emma and Naomi, Kane vs Bray Wyatt and Luke Harper and Alexa Bliss vs Becky Lynch for the Smackdown Women's Championship.

Most recently on April 22, 2019, the arena hosted non-televised WWE Live: Smackdown. The event featured 7 Matches including Charlotte Flair defeating Bayley via her signature Figure 8, Roman Reigns defeating Elias, WWE Intercontinental Champion Finn Balor defeating Mustafa Ali. The main event featured WWE Champion Kofi Kingston defeating Randy Orton to retain thanks to assistance from Kevin Owens who gave Orton a Stone Cold Stunner while the referee was knocked out and Kingston finished with his signature Trouble in Paradise.

WWE was scheduled to return to the arena on December 17, 2019 for a RAW taping that would air on December 23, 2019 but was cancelled by WWE for “scheduling conflicts” but was actually due to low ticket sales. ^[24]

Bull Riding

The venue regularly hosts rodeos and bull rides, including PRCA-sanctioned Rodeos and Cinch World's Toughest Rodeo. ^{[25] [26]}

Motorsports

The venue has hosted many monster truck events, including Hot Wheels Monster Trucks Live ^[27] and multiple occurrences of Monster Truck Nationals. ^{[28] [29]}

It has also hosted ice racing. ^[30]

Other events

President George W. Bush spoke at the Tyson Events Center during his re-election campaign in 2004.

See also

• Sioux City Municipal Auditorium

References

1. Tullis, Nate (May 1, 2002). "Proud City Breaks Ground for Events Center". Sioux City Journal . Retrieved November 19, 2011.
2. Muret, Don (December 1, 2003). "Gateway Arena Anchors Sioux City Complex". SportsBusiness Journal. Retrieved November 19, 2011.
3. 1634–1699: McCusker, J. J. (1997). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States: Addenda et Corrigenda (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1700–1799: McCusker, J. J. (1992). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1800–present: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–" . Retrieved February 29, 2024.
4. KJWW Engineering - Tyson Event Center
5. "Tyson Events Center". FEH Design. Retrieved October 16, 2026.
6. center, event (September 16, 2000). "Public forum on Monday will focus on plans for city arena". The Sioux City Journal. p. 1. Retrieved August 22, 2025.
7. "Sioux City envisions major event center". The Des Moines Register. December 7, 2000. p. 12. Retrieved August 22, 2025.
8. "IBP to name Sioux City event center". The Daily Nonpareil. October 17, 2001. p. 6. Retrieved August 22, 2025.
9. "Gordon returns with new perspective". Lincoln Journal Star. December 31, 2003. p. 39. Retrieved August 22, 2025.
10. "Proud city breaks ground for events center". The Sioux City Journal. May 1, 2002. p. 1. Retrieved August 22, 2025.
11. "PHOTOS: The history of the Tyson Events Center". Sioux City Journal. January 17, 2021. Retrieved July 29, 2026.
12. "Acer-Gateway Merger Complete". www.notebookreview.com. Archived from the original on December 11, 2019. Retrieved November 9, 2019.
13. "Fleet Farm obtains naming rights to Tyson Events Center". September 30, 2019. Retrieved November 9, 2019.
14. Dreeszen, Dave (September 30, 2019). "Spectra, Fleet Farm unveil naming rights deal for Tyson Events Center". Sioux City Journal . Retrieved November 9, 2019.
15. "The Tyson and Orpheum are Under New Management". January 4, 2018.
16. "OVG FACILITIES & SPECTRA OFFICIALLY UNITE AS 'OVG360'".
17. Yamada, Caitlin (September 22, 2026). "Oak View Group updates city council on Tyson Events Center, Orpheum Theatre, convention center". Sioux City Journal. Retrieved October 16, 2026.
18. "Photos: Elton John Concert". Sioux City Journal. May 3, 2011. Retrieved July 29, 2026.
19. Miller, Bruce (July 20, 2023). "FLASHBACK REVIEW: When Taylor Swift played the Tyson Events Center". Sioux City Journal. Retrieved July 29, 2026.
20. Basselman, Owen (October 9, 2025). "Tyson Events Center announces two upcoming events". ktiv. Retrieved July 29, 2026.
21. Reyna-Rodriguez, Victoria. "Nate Bargatze's 'Big Dumb Eyes' tour coming to Iowa. Here's when to see the comedian". The Des Moines Register. Retrieved July 29, 2026.
22. Kuhns, Ben KuhnsBen (October 16, 2017). "Kevin Hart Brings Comedy Tour to Sioux City". Hot 104.7. Retrieved July 29, 2026.
23. "Gabriel "Fluffy" Iglesias". Downtown Partners Sioux City. Retrieved July 29, 2026.
24. "WWE Raw at Tyson Events Center Cancelled". The Inquisitr. November 9, 2019.
25. "Sioux City Stampede PRCA Rodeo coming to the Tyson Events Center". KCAU 9. October 13, 2023. Retrieved July 29, 2026.
26. Hoffmann, Matt (January 20, 2022). "How the Tyson Events Center goes from hockey to a rodeo". ktiv. Retrieved July 29, 2026.
27. "Hot Wheels Monster Trucks Live!". Downtown Partners Sioux City. Retrieved July 29, 2026.
28. Nebraskan, BILLY DEFRAIN / Daily (March 1, 2005). "Monster truck show revved up by friendly competition, crowd". The Daily Nebraskan. Retrieved July 29, 2026.
29. "Monster Truck Nationals at Tyson this weekend". Sioux City Journal. February 16, 2011. Retrieved July 29, 2026.
30. "World Championship Ice Racing". Downtown Partners Sioux City. Retrieved July 29, 2026.

External links

• Tyson Event Center official website