Stadium Report Cards: American Airlines Arena

Our friend Nick, who has done places like Marlins Ballpark, and Citi Field went to a Heat game and hooked us up with a report card.

Team: Miami Heat
Location: Miami, FL
League: National Basketball Association(Eastern COnference)
Built: 1999
Capacity: 19,600
My event: Regular Season Game vs Atlanta Hawks

1. Outdoor Design

The arena was beautifully designed. I like the feature on the roof, although you can not see it, of the American Airlines plane with the lights. Miami chose a great location for the arena right along Biscayne Bay in downtown Miami. You have a tremendous view of the Miami skyline. What really impressed me was the media mesh on the window of the main entrance. It covers up 12 window panes so it's big and it's beautiful and also very clear quality. The palm trees also gave it that Miani feel. 9/10 

2. Indoor Design

The concourses were nice and easy to navigate. The team store was not that big but that wasn't a big deal to me. The lower bowl is what stuck out to me. The red and orange color scheme that creates a flame was very impressive. Not a bad view pretty much anywhere you sit since it is a small arena. Still nicely done.  9/10

3. Prices

Normal prices for a sporting event. My friends and I got our tickets from stubhub for $30 otherwise they would have been $48. Food prices were typical as well. Souveniers from the team shop were lower than usual which was nice. Overall average prices.  7/10

4. Food

The Triple A provides a variety of food and drink options. From your typical pizza, burgers and hot dogs to choices of latin food. Nice variety although I didn't get to try it all.   8/10

5. Staff

Staff was a hit or miss. Some were enthusiastic and nice but others just seemed like they did not want to be there. They opened the doors a little later than normal, arguing with each other over who was going to stand next to whom so that got annoying. The concession attendants were nice and helpful as was one of the ladies doing the surveys whom was very nice to me. As I was leaving though one staff member was rude to me. I wanted to take a picture of the bay at night and she was nasty about it. Put a small damper on my night.   6/10

6. Cleanliness

Really clean arena and well kept. No complaints whatsoever.  8/10

7. Parking

Parking wasn't too bad. Typical prices but very accomidating. The only down side was leaving due to heavy traffic it was hard to get out but it is afterall Downtown Miami. No major complaints.  7/10

8. Atmosphere

This was the element I was anticipating the most and man did Heat fans deliver. Even on a Monday night in December the fans turned out and I don't hold it against them for being a little late to the game, for the arena did not really fill till midway through the first quarter, due again to traffic but the fans still came out and boy were they loud. They let the Hawks have it and supported their team. A LeBron alley-oop sent the crowd into a frenzy. The crowd was also very encouraged to make noise and have fun. The Heat fans did not dissapoint. 10/10

9. Playing Surface

The court design was nice. No issues with the court.  8/10

10. Scoreboard
                               
A unique design to the scoreboard. It featured 4 big screens in a circle and 8 small screens above the big ones. In the center was a design that looked at first like an octopus but after a closer look was a sun with heat waves coming off of it that featured the lighting of the heat colors.  8/10

So overall that's a 80. I believe it, the Atmosphere should be nice, and the architecture is top notch.

Big things in Brooklyn

So the Nets opened up their shiny new home in central Brooklyn this past week. The team was supposed to play the Knicks, but Hurricane Sandy came through and pushed back the home opener to the Minnesota game tomorrow. The team has played a few preseason games, but nothing that counts

The arena has a weathered rust look, which I heard was actually stronger than a non weathered one due to the layers of metal(or something). I kind of think it's ugly, but it's a modern ugly. Also I love Brooklyn, so it's fine. All these scoreboards take up the nooks and cranies of the stadium.

BUT THATS NOT IT. The Islanders announced plans to move to Brooklyn in 2014. They figure, since their arena in Uniondale isn't good, moving to a place where current fans could still go is better than shipping to Seattle, or Kansas City. They didn't build the arena to fit hockey, so it'll be a bit weird. But this stadium will be a landmark in Brooklyn soon enough, and it looks way cooler than MSG. If anyone is in Brooklyn and goes to a game, feel free to do a report card. I would love to hear about it.

New Redwings Arena?

The Detroit Red Wings are moving ahead in their hopes of building a new downtown arena and have selected an architect, according to a report by Sports Business Journal.
SBJ's Don Muret cites three sources in saying the Red Wings have hired HKS, an international firm headquartered in Dallas. HKS will work with Chan Krieger NBBJ, a Boston architect specializing in urban developments, according to Sports Business Journal.
HKS officials did not comment and Karen Cullen, a corporate spokeswoman for the Red Wings, told Muret there was nothing new and added "our organization has been on record saying we’d like to have a new arena in downtown Detroit."
HKS was co-designer of American Airlines Arena in Dallas.
According to Sports Business Journal, the Red Wings would like their new arena to seat 18,000 and the team has explored multiple sites downtown.
Joe Louis Arena, owned by the city of Detroit, is 33 years old.

 So finally the Redwings can move into a new shiny arena, on the day I post a Redwings concept on my other blog. I posted about it before, so I'm happy they might move out of their old arena.

I copied the story from here.
http://www.mlive.com/redwings/index.ssf/2012/05/report_red_wings_choose_archit.html

New Scoreboard for the Bolts

The Lightning signed off on a new arena scoreboard at the Forum. In addition to the 42 million dollar renovations last summer, the Lightning will introduce a Jerry-World esque scoreboard for 5 million dollars. The length of the board will run along the ice, and the ends will have their own.

The system, developed by renowned industry-leader, Daktronics, will feature the largest high definition center-hung video displays in any U.S. or Canadian arena. The 28 foot high/50 foot long board will include a state-of-the-art control room, and allow for a true high definition signal with 1,296 lines of resolution.

The only other arena I know that has this is the Tulsa basketball arena, so this might be the future of scoreboards!

Read more here

Goodbye Amway Arena

The home of the Orlando Magic from 1989 to 2010 was imploded on Sunday. They began to take down the inside last fall, and then detonated the rest of it at 7:30 in the morning Sunday. The Magic moved into the new Amway Center which might be the best arena in the US, and it hosted the 2012 NBA All-Star Game.

But this is what you all wanted to see, the implosion video!

One guy actually got hit by debris and was injured! But there is no more eyesore arena next to the really cool one.

New Detroit Red Wings arena part of mall complex?

With a ton of real-estate activity at the rumored site of a new Detroit Red Wings (NHL) arena, the talk is a new facility could be part of a larger mall complex. The area between Woodward Avenue and Cass near Temple, a blighted area, has emerged as a hot real-estate market in recent months, with several properties changing hands or in the midst of negotiations for a sale. Red Wings coach Mike Babcock may have let the cat out of the bag during a radio interview with the local 97.1 The Ticket station:

 “If you want the city to come back, you got to revitalize downtown. A big part of that’s going to be the new arena, and the mall and the stuff going around it,” he said. “And that’s very important. That’s why we need the state to jump onside, and the sooner the better, if we’re going to revitalize Michigan. It’s got to start right here in Detroit.” 

 With developer Al Traubman rumored to be looking at a downtown shopping center, the outlines of the plan become clearer: a new arena as part of a much larger development. And this is the same site where a stop was added to light-rail plans several months ago, despite the lack of any current need for a stop.



I think that would be a great move. Detroit's downtown would get a boost with the best team in hockey for the last 20 years having a shiny new arena in the middle of downtown. I also think it would do justice, because Joe Louis Arena seems pretty crappy. It was opened in 1979, and Detroit is home to one of the nicest stadiums in the MLB and NFL. Also, the Pistons play about 25 miles away from downtown. Who knows? Maybe they can have all 4 teams together downtown.

Tulsa Basketball

Interesting find, but Tulsa's basketball arena's new scoreboard is different than any other arena I know of. The scoreboard is elongated along the length of the court. It resembles the scoreboards at Cowboys Stadium, and BC Place.

I'm willing to bet that this starts a new trend in arena scoreboards.

Report Card-less Venues

I'm up in Greensboro, NC visiting family for the holidays. My dad and I were driving around downtown and I wanted to go by the Greensboro Coliseum, because I'm a stadium nerd. He last lived up here in 1975, when he was at NC State, so he hasn't been to some newer stadiums. I asked him, "Have you ever been to a game there?" He told me he would go to basketball and hockey games when he lived here, and it sat about 8,000. Then I remembered, I've been to a game there! Obviously, it was a long ass time ago, so I can't remember much, but here are some stadiums that I haven't been since I've been really into stadiums.

Greensboro Coliseum- Greensboro Prowlers-Roanoke Steam 

 Victory Field x2- Indianapolis Indians- Rochester/Toledo

 Germain Arena- College Hockey Tournament/ BC-Cornell

Homestead-Miami Speedway- 2003 Ford 400

Daytona International Speedway x2- Daytona 500 qualifying, Pepsi 400 qualifying

 Capital City Stadium- Columbia Blowfish-Some team

I wish I could remember these enough to report! But those are the ones I've been to. I went to Wrigley one time, after 5th grade, but I didn't think I'd post it here because Bmac did a report card for us. 

Caesar's Palace

Yes, you're seeing that right. During the 1991 NHL Preseason, the Kings and Rangers faceoff'd at an outdoor rink at Ceasar's Palace. The Las Vegas strip provided the background for the first ever NHL exhibition game to be held outdoors. The Kings and the Rangers battled under the lights outside Caesars Palace - the first hockey game played in Las Vegas since 1968 - in mid-80 degree temperatures. The game drew a crowd of 13,000, most of whom wore shorts and t-shirts to take it all in.

I finally found pictures of this event, and that's why I'm showing you all. It all started with me posting my concept for a winter classic in Tampa, and people started discussing this. I knew about this, but I hadn't seen pictures. They had trouble with the ice cooling system, and had to slightly raise the temperature, and had to put water down and freeze it regularly.

But it wasn't the first event hosted at Caesar's Palace.

In 1981 and 1982, F1's American Grand Prix was on a circuit at the parking lot of the casino. Drivers hated the course because of the desert hear, and has been described as one of the worst F1 courses in history.

So that's just some quick history of Las Vegas's Caesars Palace sporting events. O fcourse they've had boxing and poker, but these are much cooler.

Renovated St. Pete Times Forum

Last month, I went to the newly renovated St Pete Times forum for the Tampa Bay Lightning-Philadelphia Flyers. Here is some photos, starting with banners!

 View from the new party deck

 The new pipe organ bar

 A view from the bar

 Just a picture from down low

 Post game

 And the piece-de-resistance, the Tesla Coils!

IT WORKS.

The Tesla Coils at the St. Pete Times Forum got hooked up last weekend when the Buffalo Sabres came into town. Here is a sweet picture of one of them going off.

On a related note, since the St. Pete Times is being renamed to the Tampa Bay Times, the arena will have a new name starting early next year.

MSG Looking sharp

Madison Square Garden's $850 million second renovation will take place mainly over three offseasons. The more significant portion of it was set to begin after the 2009-10 hockey/basketball seasons, but was delayed until after the 2010-11 seasons. New features include a larger entrance that will include interactive kiosks, retail, climate controlled space, and broadcast studio; larger concourses; new lighting and LED video systems with HDTV; new seating; two new pedestrian walkways suspended from the ceiling to allow fans to look directly down onto the games being played below; more dining options; and improved dressing rooms, locker rooms, green rooms, upgraded roof, and production offices, among other upgrades.

The in-arena walkways will be eliminated, and portals will be installed between each section. The lower bowl concourse (to be known as the Madison Concourse) will remain on the 6th floor. The upper bowl concourse will be relocated to the 8th floor, and will be known as the Garden Concourse. The seventh floor will house the new Madison Suites. The upper bowl will be built on top of these suites. Existing 300 and 400 level seating will be combined to create the new upper bowl.

Construction of the lower bowl (Phase One) was completed for the 2011-2012 NHL and NBA seasons. An extended off-season for the Garden permitted some advanced work to begin on the new upper bowl, which is scheduled to be completed for the 2012–2013 seasons. This advance work includes the West Balcony on the 10th floor, taking the place of sky-boxes, and new end-ice 300 level seating.

 Plans are underway to relocate systems in the periphery of the arena to permit city views. Renovation will be done in phases with the majority done in the summer months to minimize disruptions and will remain operational throughout the NHL and NBA seasons. While the Rangers and Knicks will not be displaced, the summer-competing Liberty are playing at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey during the renovation. Because of the renovation, the Rangers will start the 2011-12 season with seven games on the road before playing their first home game on October 27.

I just copied that from Wikipedia, because I just wanted to get it out there. I did notice some differences about updates that I knew about. Just the atmosphere is better on TV. I remember watching Lightning games and the arena just seemed bleak. Here, compare last night's video

To this game last season.

So lets see, they redid the lower bowl, fixed the lighting, and redid the concourses!

St Pete Times Forum Update

Monday is the Lightning's home opener against the Florida Panthers. Well, other than being my team, the renovations are looking like they're coming along nicely. There's more to it on the inside, but where the ice is, that whole part should be done. They replaced every seat, redid the boxes, and took out a few sections for a pipe organ. OH YEAH. They also have f'ing Tesla Coils that will shoot off lightning every home goal.

They were saying how they might not be ready, and they want it to be perfectly completed instead of risking safety. The video above is a test. Imagine the goal horn and lightning going off at the same time. It should be a great atmosphere.

Stadium Report Cards: Consol Energy Center

Tex from hockeyconceptcentral.blogspot.com contacted me and offered to do some report cards. He said he could do Pittsburgh's stadiums, and the Horseshoe at Ohio State.

Team: Consol Energy Center
Location: Pittsburgh, PA
League: National Hockey League(Atlantic Division)
Built: 2010
Capacity: 18,087
My event: Regular Season game, New York Rangers

1. Outdoor Design

The CEC has a beautiful, modern glass front and is in a very nice, well kept area of Pittsburgh.
9/10

2. Indoor Design

Inside, the concourse is larger than two at the Mellon arena. The open design is a welcome change. Great view almost anywhere, even in the upper bowl, you have a great view of the game. The Mario Mosaic was really cool, and the rest of the arena was very high-tech.
10/10

3. Prices
About normal for a hockey game, candy was a rip-off, but other than that pretty average.
6/10

4. Food
Great selection of food, from normal stadium food to The Smokehouse, and Primanti Bros. There is a wide variety of choices.
8/10

5. Staff
The staff was friendly and helpful, as should be expected.
8/10

6. Cleanliness
Extremely clean, inside and out, even the sidewalk outside was very clean. Not one speck of dirt, the cleanest stadium I’ve been to.
10/10

7. Parking
It took a long time to find a place to park, and when we got there it wasn‘t cheap. Wish they would put in a parking deck close to the arena.
6/10

8. Atmosphere
An incredible atmosphere, very loud and passionate fans. The building shook when the Pens scored, and the chanting for Fleury was great.
9/10

9. Playing Surface
By the time I got there, they had fixed all the ice problems, so the ice looked great, and there were no issues.
8/10

10. Scoreboard

One of the best scoreboard in the league, HUGE display and phenominal graphics. Provided an excellent look at replays n'at. Awesome screen!
8/10

So that gives the Penguin's new arena an 84, up their with the class of the list. Look forward to more report cards soon.

Stadium Report Cards: Amway Center

Our friend Nick offered to do some Report Cards, for the Amway Center, Citi Field, and Shea Stadium

Team: Orlando Magic
Location: Orlando, FL
League: National Basketball Association(Eastern Conference)
Built: 2010
Capacity: 18,846
My event: Regular Season game, Los Angeles Clippers

1. Outdoor Design

The outside is amazing. A portion of the outside by the main entrance is made of glass. Still nice looking though. It is so much bigger that Amway Arena and so much nicer looking even if it is new and it adds spark to Downtown.
9/10

2. Indoor Design

Can you say jaw dropping. The concourses are very nice and include paintings of current and former players. The arena itself really has the feel of the team with the seats all in the team colors and the O-Zone located in the upper level. The view is incredible and I have not seen anything better this so far in my sporting ventures.
9/10

3. Prices
The prices were a little more expensive than your average NBA ticket but still fair. My seat was $50 and we were in the lower rows of the upper bowl which was still a great seat.
7/10

4. Food
A variety of choices. Your traditional Hot Dogs, popcorn and burgers, and Papa John’s Pizza. There are other choices on the different levels of the arena from tacos to Chinese pan noodles to what they call a Magic Burger and even Deli Sandwiches. It all seems good.
8/10

5. Staff
Staff was very friendly and out-going. One staff member was a friend of mine from high school. The staff members always had a smile on their face and had no problem helping fans.
8/10

6. Cleanliness
No problems here considering it is a brand new arena. I don’t see cleanliness being an issue here but we will see over time.
8/10

7. Parking
Downtown Orlando has many lots within walking distance and there is also a lot attached to Amway. It’s $20 for that garage and $10 for the others so we parked within walking distance. Getting in was no problem but getting out was a pain.
7/10

8. Atmosphere
I can never question the loyalty of Magic fans. They were into the game from start to finish even early when the Clippers were controlling the game. The fans rallied the team and Orlando ruled the 2nd half to win. The fans in Orlando love this team.
9/10

9. Playing Surface
Very nice design on the floor surface and no issues occurred with it.
7/10

10. Scoreboard

The tallest scoreboard in NBA history and one of the nicest I have ever seen. This thing is huge. It has more than 10 screens and all of them provide crystal clear quality on replays, scores, etc.
10/10


That would be an 83! Very nice score for a very nice stadium. Up there with Wembley Stadium.

Stadium Report Cards: Xcel Energy Center

I got a chance to attend a Minnesota Wild game at the Xcel Energy Center a year ago after crossing paths with a bar owner from Brainerd, Minnesota. The seats were amazing, but the arena was even better. Here is my report.


Team: Minnesota Wild
Location: St. Paul, Minnesota
League: National Hockey League (Western Conference)
Built: 2000
Capacity: 18,064
My event: Regular season game, vs Ottawa Senators

1. Outdoor Design

It has a typical arena/event center look outside. The large window section in the front is pretty cool, though. The building fits in nicely with the beautiful city of St. Paul.
8/10

2. Indoor Design

I don’t think it gets much better than this. Everything is perfect. The view from inside is incredible, both from the seats and the concourses. There are so many cool things around the arena, it is a very unique experience.
10/10

3. Prices
The prices were fine for an NHL game. Not as cheap as St. Louis, for example, but respectable.
7/10

4. Food
The food around the arena was great. I ate in the restaurant at the main entrance and it was excellent. It was above average for stadium food.
8/10

5. Staff
The people at the Xcel were great. Everyone was very helpful and friendly.
7/10

6. Cleanliness
It was very clean and well kept.
7/10

7. Parking
There were numerous parking garages around the arena, but there was a good deal of walking to be done from our spot. That isn’t the greatest in freezing Minnesota cold.
7/10

8. Atmosphere
The atmosphere was incredible. The fans proved why Minnesota is the state of hockey, even though the Wild lost. Everyone was into the game the entire time, every detail end everything.
10/10

9. Playing Surface
The ice looked great and the logo at center ice was nicely done.
8/10

10. Scoreboard

The hanging scoreboard at the Xcel Energy Center is great. Multiple high quality screens with great graphics. Plus the cool trees around the bottom. It is easy to see all around the arena. I’d say it was an excellent scoreboard for a hockey arena.
10/10

According to my calculations, that is an 82.

A Magical Opening

The Orlando Magic began play in their new state of the art arena this week. They played a Preseason game against the Hornets, then a regular season opener against the Wizards. But it was kind of a long road.

The stadium plan included building a new arena, updating the Citrus Bowl, AND remodling the performing arts center. On September 29, 2006, after years of on-and-off negotiations, Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer and the Magic announced an agreement on Amway Center, a new arena in downtown Orlando. The arena received its final approval on July 26, 2007. The new 18,500-seat arena will be located at the southwest corner of Church Street and Hughey Avenue, with construction starting in early 2008 and is estimated to cost around $480 million.

I say off and on because the project fell into debt, which is never good. But ultimately they got it fixed. On May 4, 2010, NBA Commissioner David Stern announced that Orlando would host the 2012 All-Star Weekend in the new Amway Center



I've driven past the arena a few times, and that was when they were constructing it. The pictures of it do look pretty cool though

Silver State Arena

In Las Vegas, there are plans down to build a new arena to maybe draw a sports team there. The project is called the Silver State Arena, and would be located where the closed Wet 'n' Wild is. What they're saying is that it would bring 10,000 new jobs to Nevada which would help a lot. The stadium would be 844,306 square feet, and would hold up to 23,014 for basketball games. Here is an aerial view of the model.

Some teams that could possibly move there are the Sacramento Kings, or maybe a hockey team down on their luck. The Kings' had the second lowest attendance in the NBA last season, and the owners of the team own a hotel in Las Vegas already. Several years ago, the NBA's All-Star Game was hosted at the UNLV basketball arena. I think that if this does get built, some team would be loured there. Plus, the video board is 360 degrees.

Thoughts? I think it'd be very cool. Here is the site for the plans.