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![]() Vibrant Arena in 2023 | |
Former names | The MARK of the Quad Cities (1993–2007) iWireless Center (2007–2017) TaxSlayer Center (2017–2022) |
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Address | 1201 River Dr Moline, IL 61265 |
Location | Quad Cities |
Coordinates | 41°30′28″N90°31′14″W / 41.507837°N 90.520437°W |
Public transit | ![]() |
Owner | Quad City Civic Center Authority |
Capacity | 12,000 (concerts) 3,000 (theater concerts) 6,000 (amphitheater concerts) 9,200 (hockey) |
Construction | |
Broke ground | October 17, 1991 [1] |
Opened | May 28, 1993 [2] |
Construction cost | $33.4 million [2] ($74.7 million in 2023 dollars [3] ) |
Architect | Ellerbe Becket [4] |
Project manager | National Sports Services [5] |
Services engineer | KJWW Engineering Consultants [6] |
General contractor | Huber Hunt & Nichols Inc. [7] |
Tenants | |
Quad City Thunder (CBA) (1993–2001) Quad City Mallards (CoHL/UHL) (1995–2007) The Summit League men's basketball tournament (1996–1999) Quad City Steamwheelers (AF2) (2000–2009) Quad City Flames (AHL) (2007–2009) Quad City Mallards (IHL/CHL/ECHL) (2009–2018) Quad City Steamwheelers (IFL) (2018–19, 2022–present) Quad City Storm (SPHL) (2018–present) | |
Website | |
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The Vibrant Arena at The MARK, formerly known as The MARK of the Quad Cities, the iWireless Center, and the TaxSlayer Center, is a 12,000-seat multi-purpose arena located in Moline, Illinois. The facility opened in May 1993, under the name The MARK of the Quad Cities with the singer Neil Diamond as the opening act. The facility was renamed as the TaxSlayer Center on October 1, 2017. The arena started using its current name on September 1, 2022. [8]
It is the home to the revived Quad City Steamwheelers of the Indoor Football League and the Quad City Storm in the SPHL. [9]
The arena has hosted NCAA Division I college basketball games (including the Mid-Continent Conference men's basketball tournament from 1996 to 1999) in addition to several NHL and NBA exhibition contests. The Missouri Valley Conference has hosted their Women's Basketball Tournament at the venue since 2016. The now-defunct Quad City Thunder basketball team played all their home games at the TaxSlayer Center from 1993 until the Continental Basketball Association folded eight years later.
Hockey has also been played at the arena since 1995. The Quad City Mallards of the United Hockey League played the first 12 years. They were replaced by the Quad City Flames of the American Hockey League for two seasons before moving to Abbotsford, British Columbia. After the Flames left, the Quad City Mallards were reincarnated in 2009 and played home games at the arena until 2018. In May 2018, two months after the Quad City Mallards ceased operations, TaxSlayer Center director Scott Mullen and former Mallards' owner Howard Cornfield announced a Southern Professional Hockey League team called the Quad City Storm would play the 2018–19 season.
In 2009, Western Illinois University's club hockey team, the Fighting Leathernecks, began playing there for four games per season.
From 2000 to 2009, the arena played host to arena football as the home of the af2's Quad City Steamwheelers, who won the first two Arena Cup championships in league history (the arena hosted both games at the time). The Steamwheelers came back in 2018 in Champions Indoor Football (CIF) before joining the Indoor Football League (IFL) for the 2019 season.
The arena seats up to 12,000 for end-stage concerts along with center-stage concerts. It takes only six hours to convert the center into a theater (called The Theater at the TaxSlayer Center). The seating capacity is 3,000 for theater shows, including Broadway shows, concerts and family shows; and 6,000 for amphitheater concerts.
The center has also hosted professional wrestling events, including the 1997 Great American Bash and 2015 King of the Ring pay-per-views, and numerous broadcasts of World Wrestling Entertainment programming, including Raw , ECW and SmackDown . The arena also hosted WWE The Shield's Final Chapter on April 21, 2019.
The arena contains 31,000 square feet (2,900 m2) of arena floor space, allowing the arena to be used for trade shows and conventions; adjacent is 20,000 square feet (2,000 m2) of meeting room space and an 11,000-square-foot (1,000 m2) lobby. The attendance record was set in 1996, when more than 12,000 people viewed Neil Diamond's concert.
In August 2005, iWireless (formerly Iowa Wireless, a T-Mobile affiliate), announced a 10-year agreement with The MARK (former name) and the Illinois Quad City Civic Center Authority to secure naming rights to the arena. The name change to the "iWireless Center" occurred July 19, 2007. The naming rights agreement with iWireless was intended to be extended for two more years in July 2017. [10] However, a new sponsor, TaxSlayer, an online tax and finance firm, bought the rights in 2017. In September of that same year, TaxSlayer Chief Marketing Officer Chris Moloney announced at a press conference that the company had signed a long-term agreement to be the title sponsor of the venue, which would now be called the TaxSlayer Center beginning on October 1, 2017. [11] On August 17, 2022, the arena announced a new naming rights deal with Vibrant Credit Union. The new name of the arena, Vibrant Arena at The MARK, took effect on September 1, 2022. [12]
The Quad Cities is a region of cities in the U.S. states of Iowa and Illinois: Davenport and Bettendorf in southeastern Iowa, and Rock Island, Moline and East Moline in northwestern Illinois. These cities are the center of the Quad Cities metropolitan area, a region within the Mississippi River Valley, which as of 2023 had a population estimate of 467,817 and a Combined Statistical Area (CSA) population of 474,019, making it the 90th-largest CSA in the nation.
Moline is a city located in Rock Island County, Illinois, United States. With a population of 42,985 in 2020, it is the largest city in Rock Island County. Moline is one of the Quad Cities at the confluence of the Rock and Mississippi rivers, along with neighboring East Moline and Rock Island in Illinois and the cities of Davenport and Bettendorf in Iowa. The Quad Cities had a population of 384,324 in 2020. The city is the ninth-most populous in Illinois outside the Chicago metropolitan area.
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The Quad City Mallards were a minor professional ice hockey team in the United Hockey League. The Mallards played their home games at The MARK of the Quad Cities in Moline, Illinois. They won the Colonial Cup playoff championship in 1997, 1998, and 2001, as well as the Tarry Cup regular season championship in 1998, 2000, 2001, and 2002. The Mallards won 50 or more games in six consecutive seasons, from 1996–97 to 2001–02, a professional hockey record. They were also known for never having missed the playoffs in their years of existence. Historically, the Mallards enjoyed spirited rivalries with the Flint Generals, Muskegon Fury, and Rockford IceHogs.
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The Quad City Flames was an American professional ice hockey team that played in the American Hockey League from 2007 to 2009. They were owned by QC Sports Ventures Inc., an ownership group based out of the Quad Cities. The Flames played at the iWireless Center in Moline, Illinois, serving as the top minor league affiliate of the National Hockey League's Calgary Flames. The move to the Quad Cities was confirmed on May 24, 2007. As a result, the arena's previous hockey tenant, the Quad City Mallards of the United Hockey League ceased operations.
Sports in Omaha, Nebraska are supported by a high attendance at events and tax support from the City of Omaha. Omaha, Nebraska is home to several professional sports teams and modern sports venues.
The Quad City Mallards were a minor league professional ice hockey team based in the Quad Cities area of Illinois and Iowa that competed in the International Hockey League, Central Hockey League and ECHL. They were named after the Mallards team that played in the United Hockey League from 1995 to 2007, this Mallards franchise marked their debut in 2009 in the International Hockey League. The Mallards played their home games at TaxSlayer Center in Moline, Illinois.
TaxSlayer LLC is a privately held tax preparation and tax software company based in Augusta, Georgia. The company offers online tax preparation technology for American consumers and tax professionals, allowing them to electronically file state and/or federal returns. TaxSlayer also offers business technology products and services for legal, bookkeeping and HR/payroll.
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The Quad City Steamwheelers are an indoor American football team that began play in 2018. They played their first season as part of the Champions Indoor Football, and then joined the Indoor Football League prior to their second season. Based in Moline, Illinois, the Steamwheelers play their home games at the Vibrant Arena at The MARK. The team announced it would be dormant for the 2021 season due to the arena capacity restrictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, but returned to play in 2022.
The Quad City Storm is a professional minor league hockey team to begin play in the 2018–19 season as a member of the SPHL. The team is based in the Quad Cities area of Illinois and Iowa, with home games at the Vibrant Arena at The MARK in Moline, Illinois. The team replaced the ECHL's Quad City Mallards after the ownership ceased operations of the team in 2018. Due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Storm was one of several SPHL teams to not participate in the 2020–21 season.