Scottrade Center

Scottrade Center

Front of the building in 2016
Former names Kiel Center (1994–July 2000)
Savvis Center (August 2000–2006)
Address 1401 Clark Avenue
Location St. Louis, Missouri
Coordinates 38°37′36″N 90°12′9″W / 38.62667°N 90.20250°W / 38.62667; -90.20250Coordinates: 38°37′36″N 90°12′9″W / 38.62667°N 90.20250°W / 38.62667; -90.20250
Public transit Metrolink: Civic Center
Operator SLB Acquisition Holdings LLC.
Capacity Ice hockey: 19,150
Basketball and Concerts: 22,000
Indoor soccer: 10,000 (expandable to 19,150)[1]
Field size 665,000 square feet (61,800 m2)
Construction
Broke ground December 14, 1992 (December 14, 1992)[2]
Opened October 8, 1994 (October 8, 1994)
Construction cost $135 million
($216 million in 2016 dollars[3])
Architect Ellerbe Becket[4](Kansas City)
Structural engineer The Consulting Engineers Group, Inc.[5]
Services engineer William Tao & Associates, Inc.[6]
General contractor J.S. Alberici Construction[7]
Main contractors DKW Construction, Inc.[8]
Tenants
St. Louis Ambush (NPSL) (1994–2000)
Saint Louis Billikens (NCAA) (1994–2008)
St. Louis Blues (NHL) (1995–present)
St. Louis Stampede (AFL) (1995–1996)
St. Louis Vipers (RHI) (1995–1997, 1999)
St. Louis Steamers (MISL) (2004–2006)
River City Rage (NIFL) (2006)

Scottrade Center is a 19,150-seat arena located in downtown St. Louis, Missouri, United States. It is the home of the St. Louis Blues of the National Hockey League. The arena opened in 1994 and was known as Kiel Center until 2000 and Savvis Center from 2000 to 2006. The current name comes from financial firm Scottrade, based in St. Louis, who purchased naming rights in 2006. With the announced acquisition of Scottrade by TD Ameritrade, it is anticipated the arena will be renamed TD Ameritrade Center in late 2017.[9]

Besides ice hockey, the arena features a range of programming, including professional wrestling, concerts, ice shows, family shows, and other sporting events. It hosts approximately 175 events per year, drawing nearly 2 million guests annually. For the first quarter 2006, Scottrade Center ranked second among arenas in the United States and fourth worldwide in tickets sold. Industry trade publication Pollstar ranks Scottrade Center among the top ten arenas worldwide in tickets sold to non-team events.

The largest crowd to attend an event at the arena was 22,612, which happened twice during the 2007 Missouri Valley Conference Tournament, known as "Arch Madness".[10]

The arena is frequently selected by the NCAA for championship events, and played host to the NCAA Frozen Four Hockey Championships in April 2007, the NCAA Women’s Final Four Basketball Championships in 2009, and the NCAA Wrestling Championships in 2000, 2004, 2005, 2008, 2009, 2012, and 2015.

The building is operated by SLB Acquisition Holdings LLC, owner of the St. Louis Blues, under its chairman, Tom Stillman.[11]


History

Kiel Center opened in 1994 to replace Kiel Auditorium, where the Saint Louis University college basketball team had played, which was torn down in December 1992. The Blues had played in the St. Louis Arena prior to moving into Kiel Center in 1994; however, they would not play in the arena until January 1995 due to the lockout that delayed the start of the 1994-95 season. The building is currently known as Scottrade Center, after naming rights were sold in September 2006 to Scottrade. The Kiel name still exists on the adjoining parking structure and the building cornerstone. Signs for the nearby MetroLink stop have been changed to read "Civic Center", since the building has been renamed three times in its short history.

The Opera House portion of the building was not razed when the original Auditorium was but remained closed since 1992, as members of Civic Progress, Inc., who promised to pay for the renovation of the Opera House, reneged on that promise, while opposing all outside efforts to achieve that renovation. In June 2009, the St. Louis Board of Aldermen voted 25-1 to subsidize the renovation and reopening of the Opera House under the direction of its new owners, Sports Capital Partners (who also own the Blues). The subsidies were funded by municipal bonds and state/federal historic tax credits. On July 12, 2010, it was announced that the name of the opera house would be changed to the Peabody Opera House, named after the company Peabody Energy. On October 1, 2011, the Peabody Opera House opened for the first time since the $79 million renovation.

Blues management decried its former naming-rights deal with tech company SAVVIS, as much of the compensation was in Savvis shares, then riding high. However, when the tech bubble burst, the team was left with nearly worthless shares.[12]

In September 2006, Scottrade founder Rodger O. Riney announced a partnership with the St. Louis Blues hockey club and arena. The new name of the arena, Scottrade Center, was revealed in a joint press conference. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but were described as "long-term and significant." Both Scottrade and the Blues said the agreement was "equitable" to both parties. Most of the signage and other promotions were changed to Scottrade Center prior to the first home game of the Blues on October 12, 2006.

In Fall 2006, an integrated LED scoring, video and advertising system from Daktronics in Brookings, South Dakota was installed in the arena, along with 1,075 feet (328 m) of 360° ribbon display technology. The centerhung display is made up of 12 different video displays and four 15 feet (4.6 m)-long ribbon displays.[13]

On May 22, 2011, Bon Jovi set an attendance record for the venue with their Bon Jovi Live Tour with 20,648 in attendance.[14]

Scottrade announced on October 24, 2016 that it was being sold to TD Ameritrade for $4 billion. Once the deal is closed, Scottrade Center will become the TD Ameritrade Center. The naming rights deal runs until 2021.[9]

Seating capacity

The seating capacity for hockey has gone as follows:

Tenants

It is the home of the St. Louis Blues hockey franchise. A number of other events are scheduled throughout the year, such as concerts, ice shows, circuses and similar large gatherings.

Former tenants of Scottrade Center include the Saint Louis Billikens men's basketball team from Saint Louis University, St. Louis Vipers roller hockey team, St. Louis Ambush and St. Louis Steamers indoor soccer teams, the St. Louis Stampede arena football team, and the River City Rage indoor football team.

Events

Sports

Concerts

Wrestling

Many historic WWE moments have taken place at the Scottrade Center. Former WWE and World Heavyweight Champion Kane made his WWE debut at this arena in 1997 at the event Badd Blood: In Your House. At that same event, the very first Hell In A Cell match took place. The Rock won his very first WWE Championship in the building at the Survivor Series event in 1998. Chris Jericho won his first World Championship in this arena at the No Mercy event in 2001, and won his latest World Championship in the arena at the Elimination Chamber event in 2010. In 2005 John Cena was revealed here as the first draft pick for Monday Night Raw, where he would remain for most of his career. WWE Superstar Dave Batista won his second WWE Championship at the Elimination Chamber event in 2010. The 1000th episode of Monday Night Raw was also held there. At the 2014 Survivor Series Sting made his official debut in WWE. Arguably the most emotional wrestling card held at Scottrade was "Raw is Owen", held in the aftermath of Owen Hart's death the previous night at Over the Edge across the state in Kansas City. That night, ten matches were held with all booking put aside, and many wrestlers and fans paid tribute to the popular Hart.

The arena, alongside Madison Square Garden in New York City, the Staples Center in Los Angeles, Philadelphia's Wells Fargo Center and the Allstate Arena in Chicago, is known for having one of the best crowds in WWE. St. Louis native Randy Orton is particularly well-supported, much like how the Allstate Arena crowd was firmly behind Chicago native CM Punk. Often one can see fan signs saying the words "Orton Country", among others, whenever Orton is scheduled to compete.

References

  1. ↑ "Arena Specifications". Scottrade Center. Retrieved January 24, 2013.
  2. ↑ Kee-Montre, Lorraine (December 15, 1992). "Hull's 'Blast' Leads the Way to New Arena". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Retrieved September 16, 2011.
  3. ↑ Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis Community Development Project. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. Retrieved October 21, 2016.
  4. ↑ Scottrade Center - Ellerbe Becket
  5. ↑ Ted O'Shea - Experience
  6. ↑ William Tao & Associates, Inc. - Kiel Center
  7. ↑ Alberici Construction - Scottrade Center
  8. ↑ DKW Construction - Projects
  9. 1 2 Schaeffer, Brenden (October 24, 2016). "Scottrade Center to be renamed TD Ameritrade Center". KMOV. Retrieved October 25, 2016.
  10. ↑ "Creighton 75, Missouri St. 58". Yahoo! Sports. March 3, 2007. Retrieved March 3, 2007.
  11. ↑ Kurtovic, Amir (May 17, 2012). "Stillman's Blues Group Raised $72 Million to Buy Team". St. Louis Business Journal. Retrieved May 17, 2012.
  12. ↑ "Lessons Learned: Laurie Down $700,000 on Savvis Naming Rights Deal". St. Louis Business Journal. June 21, 2004. Retrieved May 17, 2012.
  13. ↑ "St. Louis Blues installs LED scoring and entertainment system".
  14. ↑ Byrum, John (May 23, 2011). "Bon Jovi keeps it real at Scottrade show". stltoday.com. Retrieved November 30, 2014.
  15. 1 2 "Attendance History". St. Louis Blues Hockey Club, L.P. Archived from the original on November 12, 2006. Retrieved February 27, 2013.
  16. ↑ Rutherford, Jeremy P. (January 6, 2008). "Blues Remain Powerless, but Shut Out Hurricanes". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. p. D1. Retrieved February 27, 2013.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Scottrade Center.
Events and tenants
Preceded by
St. Louis Arena		 Home of the
St. Louis Blues
1994 – present 		Succeeded by
current
Preceded by
Bradley Center
Milwaukee, Wisconsin		 Host of the
Frozen Four
2007 		Succeeded by
Pepsi Center
Denver, Colorado
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