Summary
- American Airlines Center hosts major events and sports teams like the Dallas Mavericks and the Dallas Stars.
- United Center, home to the iconic basketball sculpture “The Spirit,” hosts the NBA’s Chicago Bulls and the NHL’s Chicago Blackhawks.
- Etihad Stadium features a groundbreaking toroidal roof and is home to Manchester City.
There have been many notable partnerships between sports teams and airlines. Many sports teams have to fly millions of miles, with some teams purchasing a private jet for their travel. But the relationship between carriers and sports teams has gone much further, with sporting venues also being named after carriers. In this article, we will look at the five sporting venues named after airlines.
1
American Airlines Center
This sporting and live event center has hosted names such as Beyoncé, Madonna, and more.
| Location | 2500 Victory Avenue, Dallas |
|---|---|
| Date of opening | 2001 |
| Capacity | Approximately 20,000 |
| Field size | 840,000 sq ft |
Photo: American Airlines Center
The American Airlines Center (AAC), which lies at the heart of Texas, is one of the top arenas in the US. Since opening its doors in 2001, it has hosted basketball tournaments, ice hockey matches, and entertainment events. Some big-name performers at the AAC include:
- The Eagles
- Elton John
- Bruno Mars
- Justin Timberlake
AAC was designed by David M. Schwarz and Dallas-based HKS, Inc. The retractable seating at AAC transforms “from a 20,000 seat basketball arena into an up-close, action-heavy 18,532 seat hockey rink.” The fans who enter the AAC can glimpse a combination of brick, granite, and limestone. AAC is home to the following:
- NBA Dallas Mavericks
- NHL Dallas Stars
The AAC have also said that many people confuse the AAC for American Airlines (AA)itself, with people working at the AAC getting calls from flyers who wish to connect with AA.
2
United Center
By capacity, the arena is the largest in the NBA and the second-largest in the NHL.
| Location | Chicago, Illinois |
|---|---|
| Date of opening | 1994 |
| Capacity | 19,000-23,500, depending upon the type of event |
| Field size | 960,000 sq ft |
United Center houses one of the iconic sculptures in basketball- “The Spirit”/ “Michael Jordan’s Spirit”/ The statue of Michael Jordan. Alongside sports such as basketball and hockey, United Center has also hosted WWE events. The construction of the United Center cost $175 million, which in 2023 dollars would amount to $365 million.
The arena oscillates between an icefield and a hardwood as the Chicago Blackhawks and the Chicago Bulls play their home games at the United Center. If the matches of these clubs occur on back-to-back nights, the hardwood floor for the Bulls games is put on the ice surface as demanded by Blackhawks’ hockey games. The flooring for the Chicago Bulls is put together like a puzzle. The flooring is then taken apart for the Blackhawks game.
3
Alaska Airlines Arena at Hec Edmundson Pavilion
Named after the great basketball coach Hec Edmundson, the arena has hosted more than 12,000 people at the highest.
| Location | University of Seattle, Washington |
|---|---|
| Date of opening | 1927 |
| Capacity | 10,000 |
Alaska Airlines Arena at Hec Edmundson Pavilion was opened in 1927 and was renovated in 2000. The arena serves as home to the intercollegiate athletic teams known as the Washington Huskies. It was originally named the University of Washington Pavilion but was later renamed the Hec Edmundson Pavilion in honor of an American basketball and track coach, Clarence Sinclair “Hec” Edmundson.
Photo: ECTran71 via Wikimedia commons
It has often been said that there’s history at each corner of the Alaska Airlines Arena at Hec Edmundson Pavillion and that it has:
“ elements of the Tudor Gothic style found in buildings on the upper campus. Distinctive Husky gargoyles are prominent on the Montlake Boulevard side of the building. They are surrounded by a checkerboard pattern of tiles that is repeated on every Husky championship banner.”
4
Emirates Stadium
The stadium cost $495 (£390) million to build and is one of the largest football stadiums in England.
| Location | 75 Drayton Park, London |
|---|---|
| Date of opening | 2006 |
| Capacity | Approximately 60,000 |
| Field size | 105 meters by 68 meters |
The Emirates has a lot of sporting partnerships with some of the most iconic football clubs around the world, such as Real Madrid, AC Milan, Benfica, among others. One of the most notable clubs on this list is the club with the most FA Cup titles: Arsenal. Even the home of this giant of an English club is named after the Emirates.
Arsenal managing director Keith Edelman commented on the occasion when the club’s stadium would be named after the largest operator of the Airbus A380 – Emirates. (This was also the time when Emirates became the sponsor of Arsenal’s shirt):
“The sheer size of this deal is an amazing opportunity..The combined value of both elements of the sponsorship is by far the biggest deal ever undertaken in English football.”
5
Etihad Stadium
The roof of this stadium is toroidal and has been hailed as “ground-breaking”.
| Location | Etihad Campus, Manchester |
|---|---|
| Date of opening | 2003 |
| Capacity | Approximately 53,000 for football/ 60,000 for music concerts. |
| Field size | 105 meters by 68 meters |
Etihad Stadium is home to the only club with four EPL wins in a row – Manchester City. Some of the most notable matches in this arena include:
- a boxing world title fight between Ricky Hatton vs Juan Lazcano (IBO light-welterweight title, 2008)
- 2008 UEFA Cup final between Zenit Saint Petersburg of Russia and Rangers of Scotland
- England football internationals
The roof of the stadium is one of the most recognizable in the world, with Sir John Armitt, who delivered the London 2012 Olympics, commenting:
“ The stadium’s roof, with its masts and cable stays, gives the stadium a striking appearance. Apart from the innovative roof design, which made economical use of materials, the stadium is notable for its attention to such details as crowd comfort, ease of access (via those eight great spirals that flank the stadium), and provision for a diverse audience”