Winston-Salem is a city in and the county seat of Forsyth County, North Carolina, United States. At the 2020 census, the population was 249,545, making it the fifth-most populous city in North Carolina, and the 90th-most populous city in the United States. The population of the Winston-Salem metropolitan area was estimated to be 695,630 in 2023. It is the second-most populous city in North Carolina's Piedmont Triad region, home to about 1.7 million residents.
The Wheeling Nailers are a professional ECHL ice hockey team based in Wheeling, West Virginia. They are the ECHL affiliate of the Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League and the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins of the American Hockey League.
The Greensboro Coliseum Complex, commonly referred to as Greensboro Coliseum, is an entertainment and sports complex located in Greensboro, North Carolina. Opened in 1959, the complex holds eight venues that includes an amphitheater, arena, aquatic center, banquet hall, convention center, museum, theatre, and an indoor pavilion. It is the home of the UNC Greensboro Spartans men's basketball team, the Greensboro Swarm of the NBA G League, the Carolina Cobras of the National Arena League, as well as the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) with their Men's and Women's basketball tournaments.
Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum is a 14,870-seat multi-purpose indoor arena in Phoenix, Arizona, United States, located at the Arizona State Fairgrounds. It hosted the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association from 1968 to 1992, as well as indoor soccer, roller derby and major and minor league ice hockey teams.
The Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum is a 14,665-seat multi-purpose arena, in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Construction on the arena began on April 23, 1987, and it opened on August 28, 1989. It was named after Lawrence Joel, an Army medic from Winston-Salem who was awarded the Medal of Honor in 1967 for action in Vietnam on November 8, 1965. The memorial was designed by James Ford in New York, and includes the poem "The Fallen" engraved on an interior wall. It is home to the Wake Forest University Demon Deacons men's basketball and women's basketball teams, and is adjacent to the Carolina Classic Fairgrounds. The arena replaced the old Winston-Salem Memorial Coliseum, which was torn down for the LJVM Coliseum's construction.
Bojangles Coliseum is an 8,600-seat multi-purpose arena located in Charlotte, North Carolina. It is operated by the Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority, which also oversees nearby Ovens Auditorium and the uptown Charlotte Convention Center. The naming-rights sponsor is the Bojangles restaurant chain. The building's signature domed roof is made of tin, rather than steel or iron. The dome spans 332 feet in diameter and rises to 112 feet tall.
Tingley Coliseum is an 11,571-seat multi-purpose arena in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Originally built as a rodeo and horse show auditorium, it is located at 300 San Pedro Drive N.E.
The Blue Arena is a multi-purpose arena in Loveland, Colorado, 55 mi (89 km) northeast of Denver. It has 24 luxury suites, 777 club seats and 6,800 general admission seats. The arena is located on The Ranch Events Complex and is owned by Larimer County, Colorado. The facility and ticket sales are managed by OVG360. It is home to the AHL Colorado Eagles ice hockey team and is the former home of the Colorado Lightning indoor soccer team, the Colorado Chill women's basketball team, and the Denver Dream women's football team. It was also home to the Colorado Ice/Crush indoor football team from 2007 until 2017 and will serve as home of the Colorado Spartans starting in 2024.
The Winston-Salem Polar Twins were a minor league professional ice hockey team from Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The Polar Twins were launched in the 2004–05 season of the Southern Professional Hockey League, playing home games at the LJVM Coliseum Annex. The Polar Twins folded after the inaugural season.
The Atlantic Coast Hockey League (ACHL) was a minor league hockey organization that operated between 1981 and 1987. The league was founded by Bill Coffey. The Bob Payne Trophy was awarded to the team who won the league playoff championship.
The Carolina Thunderbirds were a professional ice hockey team located in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, United States. The Thunderbirds played their home games at the old Winston-Salem Memorial Coliseum before the arena was demolished in 1989. The team played in the Atlantic Coast Hockey League from 1981 to 1987, the All-American Hockey League during 1987–88 and finally moved into the newly created East Coast Hockey League in 1988.
The Greensboro Monarchs were a professional ice hockey team based in Greensboro, North Carolina. The Monarchs joined the East Coast Hockey League (ECHL) as an expansion franchise prior to the start of the 1989–90 season and surrendered the franchise back to the league when the Monarchs ownership obtained an expansion franchise in the American Hockey League (AHL) at the conclusion of the 1994–95 ECHL season.
Winston-Salem War Memorial Coliseum was a multi-purpose arena in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The arena, which opened in 1955, held 8,200 people and was eventually replaced by the Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum in 1989. It was home to the Wake Forest Demon Deacons men's basketball team from 1956 to 1989, though from 1959 onward the Deacons played many of their games at the Greensboro Coliseum as well.
The Carolina Monarchs were a short-lived ice hockey team in the American Hockey League. They played in Greensboro, North Carolina, at the Greensboro Coliseum, succeeding the ECHL Greensboro Monarchs, some of whose owners accepted an expansion proposal from the AHL to start play in the 1995-96 season.
Athletes and sports teams from North Carolina compete across an array of professional and amateur levels of competition, along with athletes who compete at the World and Olympic levels in their respective sport. Major league professional teams based in North Carolina include teams that compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA), National Football League (NFL), National Hockey League (NHL), Major League Soccer (MLS), and National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). The state is also home to NASCAR Cup Series races. At the collegiate and university level, there are several North Carolina schools in various conferences across an array of divisions. North Carolina also has many minor league baseball teams. There are also a number of indoor football, indoor soccer, minor league basketball, and minor league ice hockey teams based throughout the state.
The Carolina Classic Fair, formerly the Dixie Classic Fair, is an annual fair held in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The fair takes place every autumn on the Winston-Salem Fairgrounds, which is part of the Winston-Salem Entertainment-Sports Complex; the grounds are next to the Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum. In 2007, 371,219 people attended, setting a record that ranked the fair as the 50th-best-attended in North America. In the state, it has been second only to the North Carolina State Fair in attendance for many years.
The Winston-Salem Entertainment-Sports Complex is a group of arenas, sports venues, and entertainment venues in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, United States. The complex consists of six structures, five of which are found in the same area along Deacon Boulevard in the city's North Ward. The complex is championed by the Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum and its own complex, which includes the LJVM Coliseum Annex and Education Building. The Winston-Salem Fairgrounds are intertwined with LJVM Complex. Across the road from the LJVM Coliseum lies BB&T Field, a football stadium, and Gene Hooks Field, a baseball stadium. Bowman Gray Stadium, a race track and football field, is considered part of the Winston-Salem Entertainment-Sports Complex, but it is not found in the vicinity of the other venues. It is found along Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard southeast of downtown. BB&T Ballpark is also part of the complex and is located in downtown at the intersection of Business 40 and North Carolina Highway 150.
The Dayton Demonz were a professional ice hockey team based in Dayton, Ohio, in the Federal Hockey League. After the Dayton Gems of the Central Hockey League ceased operations, the Demonz were created as an expansion team in the FHL. The team played their home games at the Hara Arena in nearby Trotwood. The team was originally known as the Dayton Devils before changing names prior to their inaugural season. The Demonz were an affiliate of the ECHL's Fort Wayne Komets.
The Winston Wildcats were an indoor football team based in Piedmont Triad region of North Carolina. The Wildcats joined the professional American Indoor Football (AIF) as an expansion team in 2015. Following the 2016 season, the AIF ceased operations, leaving the Wildcats without a league. The Wildcats have periodically played as an independent against various teams in the local market. When they were in the AIF, their home games were at the LJVM Coliseum Annex in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Since the 2019 season, they are based out of High Point, North Carolina, operating as a travel team called the High Point Wildcats in the Southern Steam's Elite Indoor Football, a league composed of a variety of professional to semi-professional indoor football teams. During the 2019 season, the team announced that coaches Malachi King, Dale Glossenger, and John Burns had purchased the team from Roderick Hinton and rebranded as the Carolina Wildcats.
The Carolina Thunderbirds are a minor league professional hockey team located in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and play in the Federal Prospects Hockey League. Their home games are played at the Winston-Salem Fairgrounds Annex.
