The Honda Center (formerly known as the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim) is an indoor arena located in Anaheim, California. The arena is home to the Anaheim Ducks of the National Hockey League.
Originally named the Anaheim Arena during construction, it was completed in 1993 at a cost of US$123 million. Arrowhead Water paid $15 million for the naming rights over 10 years in October 1993. In the short period of time between the enfranchisement of the Mighty Ducks and the naming rights deal with Arrowhead, Disney referred to the Arena as the Pond of Anaheim. In October 2006, Honda paid $60 million for the naming rights for over 15 years.
History
Video tour of the Honda Center - The Detroit Red Wings and Anaheim Ducks will kick off their playoff series tonight in Game 1 at the Honda Center.
The arena opened on June 19, 1993, with a Barry Manilow concert as its first event. Since then, it has been host to a number of events, such as the 2003 and 2007 Stanley Cup Finals. On June 6, 2007, the Anaheim Ducks defeated the Ottawa Senators, 6â€"2, in game five of the Final at Honda Center to clinch the franchise's first Stanley Cup championship.
Honda Center has hosted several UFC events, starting with UFC 59 in 2006. It hosted the 2005 IBF World Championships for badminton in 2005.
From 1994 to 1998, it served as a second home for the NBA's Los Angeles Clippers. It was the home arena for the Anaheim Bullfrogs of Roller Hockey International from 1994 to 1999 and for the Anaheim Piranhas of the Arena Football League from 1996 to 1997.
This arena has also hosted a PBR Bud Light Cup (later Built Ford Tough Series) event annually since 1998. Since 1994, the arena has hosted the annual John R. Wooden Classic.
In 2011, the arena began hosting the Big West Conference Men's and Women's Basketball tournaments. The arena has also hosted the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament six times, as the West Regional site â€" 1998, 2001, 2003, 2008, 2011, 2014 and 2016. It even hosted the Frozen Four, the semifinals and final of the NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Championship, in 1999, underscoring the popularity of hockey in the region.
On December 6, 2000, music legend Tina Turner played her last concert at the arena for the record breaking Twenty Four Seven Tour, but after popular demand, Turner returned to the arena before a sellout crowd on October 14, 2008, for her Tina!: 50th Anniversary Tour.
The Honda Center lies northeast across California State Route 57 from Angel Stadium (where Major League Baseball's Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim play) and roughly 3 miles (4.8Â km) from Disneyland Park. It is also across the street from Anaheim Regional Transportation Intermodal Center with service by Amtrak (Pacific Surfliner), Metrolink (Orange County Line), Anaheim Resort Transit, Orange County Transportation Authority and private transportation companies.
The arena seats up 17,174 for its primary tenant, the Ducks. It takes only five hours to convert Honda Center from a sporting arena to an 8,400-seat amphitheater. There are 84 luxury suites in the building, which has hosted 17.5 million people, as of 2003. In 2005, the arena became the first in the U.S. to have two full levels of 360° ribbon displays installed. Daktronics of Brookings, South Dakota, designed, manufactured and installed the 1,800 feet (550 m) of full-color LED technology. Outside the venue, the marquee was upgraded with two large video displays measuring 8 feet (2.4 m) high by 21 feet (6.4 m), and a new marquee was built with more LED video displays.
Broadcom chairman Henry Samueli owns the company that operates the arena, Anaheim Arena Management, LLC, and the arena's primary tenant, the Ducks, giving him great flexibility in scheduling events and recruiting new tenants. Samueli hopes to bring an NBA team to the arena. In 2015, Samueli purchased the Norfolk Admirals of the American Hockey League and, with the AHL incarnation of the Admirals relocating to San Diego to become the reactivated San Diego Gulls, it is anticipated that Samueli through Anaheim Arena Management will purchase Valley View Casino Center in that city in time for the 2015â€"16 AHL season. During the 2014â€"2015 NHL Season, it was announced that Honda Center would get a new scoreboard that will replace the one that was in place since its opening in 1993. The new scoreboard made its debut in a Ducks Preseason game against the Los Angeles Kings.
Notable events
Ice Hockey
- Games 3, 4, and 6 of the 2003 Stanley Cup Finals
- Games 1, 2, and 5 of the 2007 Stanley Cup Finals
MMA & Pro Wrestling
- Affliction: Banned was held in the Honda Center.
- UFC 59, UFC 63, UFC 76, UFC 121, UFC on Fox 1, UFC 157 and UFC 214 were held in the Honda Center.
- The arena has hosted a number of WWE events including WrestleMania XII, Royal Rumble 1999, WrestleMania 2000, as well as various episodes of Monday Night Raw and SmackDown.
Concerts
Honda Center has the second highest gross ticket sales from special events on the West Coast, following only Staples Center. These events have included the following over the years:
- Barbra Streisand recorded the final date here from her first tour in 30 years Barbra: The Concert in June 1994.
- Smashing Pumpkins performed on December 9th and December 10th in 1996 as part of their Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness tour.
- Rock band No Doubt, natives of Anaheim, recorded their two 1997 concert stops at Honda Center, releasing them as their first concert video, Live in the Tragic Kingdom.
- Janet Jackson performed for the first time at the arena during her The Velvet Rope Tour on August 23, 1998. She returned for her All for You Tour on September 29, 2001. On September 23, 2017, she performed again as part of her State of the World Tour.
- Britney Spears performed on 20 November 2001 during her Dream Within a Dream Tour. She returned in April 19 and 20, 2009 for her The Circus Starring Britney Spears and on June 24, 2011 with her Femme Fatale Tour.
- KIIS-FM's Jingle Ball â€" December 19, 2002, December 3, 2004, December 7, 2006, October 27, 2007 and December 6, 2008
- When No Doubt's lead singer, Gwen Stefani embarked on a solo venture, she filmed her two homecoming concerts at Honda Center in 2005. The DVD was released as Harajuku Lovers Live.
- Mariah Carey's latest DVD release, entitled The Adventures of Mimi was recorded at the Honda Center on October 8, 2006, during The Adventures of Mimi Tour.
- The Jonas Brothers recorded the companion album to their 3-D concert movie at the Honda Center.
- U2 performed at the arena five times: the first, the second and the third were on April 23, 24 and 26, 2001 during their Elevation Tour, in front of a total sold out crowd of 49,377 people. The fourth and the fifth were on April 1 and 2, 2005 during their Vertigo Tour, in front of a total sold out crowd of 33,535 people.
- Depeche Mode performed at the arena six times: the first and the second were on December 20 and 22, 1998 during their Singles Tour. The third and the fourth were on August 18 and 19, 2001 during their Exciter Tour. The fifth one was on November 23, 2005 during their Touring the Angel. The sixth one was on August 19, 2009 during their Tour of the Universe, in front of a crowd of 12,430 people. The 2009 show was recorded for the group's live albums project Recording the Universe.
- K-pop artists under S.M. Entertainment featuring BoA, TVXQ, Super Junior, Girls' Generation, SHINee, f(x) and EXO, performed the first show of their third world tour SMTown Live '12 World Tour making them the first Korean artists to perform at the arena. The May 20, 2012 show was an instant sell out. South Korean TV broadcast network MBC filmed and later aired an edited version of the concert.
- Jennifer Lopez brought her Dance Again World Tour to the arena on August 11, 2012.
- K-pop boy band BIGBANG performed their first concert in the U.S. at the arena on November 2 and 3, 2012 as part of their Alive Galaxy Tour. They returned to the arena on October 4, 2015 for their Made World Tour.
- Katy Perry brought The Prismatic World Tour to the arena on September 16 and 17, 2014.
- Miley Cyrus performed in the Center during her Bangerz World Tour on February 20, 2014 making it Cyrus' 3rd sold-out concert at the Honda Center after previously selling out the Center during her Best of Both Worlds Tour on November 3, 2007 and again during her Wonder World Tour on September 23, 2009.
- Ariana Grande brought The Honeymoon Tour to the arena on April 10, 2015. She returned to the arena on March 30, 2017 for the Dangerous Woman Tour.
- Chris Brown performed for a sold-out crowd during his One Hell Of a Night Tour on September 18, 2015.
- Selena Gomez brought her Revival Tour to the arena on July 9, 2016.
- Demi Lovato & Nick Jonas brought their Future Now Tour to the arena on August 17, 2016.
- Pentatonix brought their Pentatonix World Tour 2016 to the arena on October 20, 2016.
- Twenty One Pilots brought their Emotional Roadshow World Tour to the arena on February 15, 2017.
- BTS brought their 2017 BTS Live Trilogy Episode III: The Wings Tour to the arena on April 1 and 2, 2017.
- Live Nation will host their 2017 Southern California Country Megaticket at the center due to the lease being up at Irvine Meadows Amphitheater which has been demolished to make way for housing.
- Kendrick Lamar brought The Damn. Tour to the arena on August 11, 2017.
- Jay-Z brought his 4:44 Tour to the arena on October 27, 2017.
- Mayday brought their Life Tour to the arena on November 11, 2017.
- Imagine Dragons brought their Evolve Tour to the arena on November 16, 2017.
- Shakira will bring her El Dorado World Tour to the arena on August 31, 2018.
- Fall Out Boy will bring their Mania Tour to the arena on September 29, 2018.
2028 Summer Olympics
The arena will host indoor volleyball during the 2028 Summer Olympics.
In Film & TV
- Honda Center was used as the site of the fictional Junior Goodwill Games in the film D2: The Mighty Ducks.
- 2162 Votes, the West Wing season 6 finale, features the arena for interior shots of the Democratic National Convention.
Capacity
Largest Crowds
See also
- Anaheim Ducks
- Angel Stadium of Anaheim
References
External links
- Official website
