Sports venues bearing airline names are not uncommon. Five airlines in the US have their names on sports arenas, and several countries worldwide have the same. In the US, each of the Big Three airlines has at least one venue bearing their names, and this article will look at a few of them.
5
United Center
Chicago, Illinois / basketball & hockey
Perhaps one of the most famous venues with an airline name in the US, the United Center is home to the Chicago Bulls basketball team and the Chicago Blackhawks hockey team. According to the NBA, the United Center is the largest arena in North America and has a seating capacity of 20,917 spectators.
The arena opened on August 18, 1994, one year after the Bulls had won the first of their two three-peats in the 1990s. Construction began two years prior and cost $175 million. Building the new venue required demolishing homes in the area, which upset locals.
According to an interview with Chicago Business, Chicago Bulls Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf said,
“When we first surfaced the idea, the community was up in arms that a bunch of people were going to come in and take away their homes and they weren’t going to get anything for it. We ended up with a 14-point agreement with the community that included building replacement houses that were worth far more than the houses were that we were replacing.”
Commenting on the naming rights, Reinsdorf said that when they figured out that they could make money from having a name on the building, United Airlines was the first and only company to be approached. The desire was to have an iconic company name on the building and United as the first thought. He believes that more money could be earned from other companies but that the relationship with United is so good that they do not want to entertain other options.
Over the years, the United Center has been part of some iconic moments. On November 1, 1994, Michael Jordan’s jersey was retired, and a statue of him was unveiled. After Jordan returned from his retirement to play baseball, one of the six titles Jordan won with the Bulls was clinched at the United Center. This was the second title of the second three-peat.
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4
American Airlines Center
Dallas, Texas / basketball & hockey
The American Airlines Center is located in Dallas, near American’s headquarters in Fort Worth. Like the United Center, the American Airlines Center is home to both a basketball team and a hockey team. The arena is home to the Dallas Mavericks and the Dallas Stars.
The arena opened in 2001 and has donned the American Airlines name since then. At one time, it was one of two venues in the US with the AA name, as the Miami Heat played in the American Airlines Arena. According to the NBA, the AA Center has a seating capacity of 19,200.
Of course, the arena is not just used for sporting events. The American Airlines Center is one of the busiest arenas in the world and has welcomed names like:
- Justin Timberlake
- Elton John
- Fleetwood Max
- Madonna
The arena was designed by Walter P. Moore, who has worked on several iconic projects. According to the company, the arena’s “standout design feature is an iconic cross-vault roof form, showcasing two intersecting barrel vaults.”
The year after the arena opened, it won several awards:
- 2002 ACEC National Honor Award for Structural Engineering Excellence
- 2002 Consulting Engineers Council – Texas Eminent Conceptor Award
- 2002 Consulting Engineers Council – Structural Engineering Excellence
Although the Dallas Mavericks have won one NBA championship since the opening of the new arena, the title was clinched at the American Airlines Arena in Miami. After the Mavericks had won a few games in Dallas, Game 6 of the 2011 Finals was in Miami.
The Dallas Stars have won one NHL championship, but it was before the American Airlines Center was opened. The team has reached the Stanley Cup Finals since then, but it was in 2020, in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic. That year, the entire series was played behind closed doors in Edmonton, Canada.
3
Allegiant Stadium
Allegiant Stadium is the newest on this list and one of the most expensive stadiums in the world. It also is one of the newest stadiums in the US. The stadium opened in 2020 and is home to the Las Vegas Raiders and the football team for the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
Some stats about the stadium are below:
- 28,000 tons of structural steel – heavier than the Statue of Liberty
- 12 miles of concrete driller shaft that support the stadium – 3x longer than the Las Vegas Strip
- 44 escalators
- 2,300+ TVs throughout the stadium
- 75,000 square feet of video boards
- 10+ event spaces
-
Sliding field tray
- 19 million pounds
- 72 motors
- 95,000 square feet
- 105,000 cubic yards of concrete
- 425 trees planted
The stadium cost $1.9 billion to build, making it one of the most expensive stadiums in the world. It was planned after the Raiders announced they would relocate from Oakland, California, to Las Vegas. From the outside, the stadium looks extremely modern and was nicknamed ‘Death Star’ by Mark Davis, the team’s owner.
In 2020, right before the team’s first scrimmage at the stadium, Davis said,
“Welcome to the Death Star, where our opponents’ dreams come to die.”
Former coach Jon Gruden, said,
“I think it’s a cool name for our stadium. I don’t give a damn about Star Wars. That’s what we’re calling our stadium and I don’t care what anybody else thinks. It’s a cool stadium, it’s a great name and we just have to play good when we’re in there.”
Since the team moved to Las Vegas, it has played 81 games, 57 of which have resulted in a loss. Its record each year was:
- 2020 – 8-8
- 2021 – 10-7
- 2022 – 6-11
- 2023 – 8-9
- 2024 – 2-12 (season not over)
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2
Delta Center
Salt Lake City, Utah / basketball
The Delta Center is home to the Utah Jazz basketball team. The arena opened in October 1991, with the first Utah Jazz game taking place on October 23rd. Although the arena now bears the Delta name, that has not always been the case.
When the arena first opened, it was called Delta Center, but that changed on November 20, 2006, when the venue was renamed Energy Solutions Arena. Nine years later, it was renamed Vivint Smart Home Arena, and in 2020, it was again renamed Vivint Arena. Finally, in July 2023, the name was changed back to Delta Center.
Construction on the arena took just 15 months and 24 days and only cost $66 million. It was initially built with three million pounds of structural steel and 7.6 million pounds of rebar. In 2017, it underwent a $125 million renovation.
The original owners of the Delta Center were Larry H. Miller and Gail Miller. They also owned the Jazz, the G League team, and other entities and sold them to Ryan and Ashley Smith in 2020. Today, the arena has a capacity for 18,206 people during Jazz games and 13,898 during concerts.
“Delta Center has hosted iconic events such as the 1993 and 2023 NBA All-Star Weekends, two NBA Finals, and the 1999 U.S. Figure Skating Championships, as well as figure skating and short track speed skating events at the 2002 Olympic Winter Games. Delta Center has also featured some of the biggest names in the entertainment world with Garth Brooks, Taylor Swift, U2, and The Rolling Stones among its most prominent concert draws.”
In 2021, when Delta announced the arena would once again bear the airline name, CEO Ed Bastian, said,
“We’re proud to partner with the Utah Jazz to serve a community that 5,000 Delta people call home and more than 26 million customers travel through each year. Through this expanded engagement, we’ll have an even stronger presence in Salt Lake City to foster an elevated community experience and cement it as the premier entertainment and leisure destination in the region.”
1
Alaska Airlines Center
Anchorage, Alaska / multi-sport, collegiate
The Alaska Airlines Center is located on the campus of the University of Alaska, Anchorage. The arena has a capacity to seat 5,000+ people and was built to host college sporting events. According to Hastings + Chivetta, the venue also has a “…800-seat auxiliary gym, a state-of-the-art sports medicine suite, an indoor two-lane walking and jogging track, an athletic fitness center, a gymnastics training and competition gym, a 1,500 SF divisible meeting room and a separate training and strength conditioning facility for athletes.”
The Alaska Airlines Center also hosts concerts and family shows. Opened in 2014, the 196,000 square-foot facility was created to replace the Wells Fargo Sports Complex which was built in 1978.