Glendale Arena

Glendale Arena is an arena located in Glendale, Arizona, a suburb of Phoenix, Arizona. It is home to the Phoenix Coyotes of the NHL and the Arizona Sting of the NLL. Completed in 2003, the arena cost States dollar|$" target="_blank" >^*180 million. It seats 17,500 for hockey and lacrosse. Glendale Arena sits across the street from Cardinals Stadium, which is currently under construction.

The arena replaced the America West Arena (now the US Airways Center) in downtown Phoenix, as the home for the Coyotes; the AWA was primarily designed for the NBA's Phoenix Suns. It was quickly retrofitted for hockey. However, the arena floor was not designed with a hockey rink in mind, unlike most modern arenas. Several seats had badly obstructed views. As a result, before the team's second season in Phoenix (after moving from Winnipeg in 1996), it had to be cut down from over 18,000 seats to just over 16,000--the second-smallest capacity in the NHL at the time, until the Colorado Avalanche moved into the Pepsi Center in 1999; after that point, America West Arena was the smallest NHL venue. Even then, it was obvious that America West Arena was a terrible place to watch a hockey game. A small section of seats on one end of the arena actually hung over the boards, obstructing the views from 3,000 seats. Some fans actually reported seeing locations where the original concrete was sheared off to create retractable seating for hockey. In addition, an unfavorable lease put the Coyotes on shaky financial ground.

When the Coyotes were sold to a partnership led by Steve Ellman, that group committed to building a new arena in suburban Glendale. Originally promised to open in 2001, Glendale Arena opened midway through the 2003-04 season, as the Coyotes dropped a 3-1 decision to the Nashville Predators on December 27, 2003.

Glendale Arena is expected to gain the 2009 NHL All-Star Game after losing the 2006 All-Star Game because of the new Collective Bargaining Agreement ratification in the National Hockey League. Under the terms of the new agreement, the All-Star Game would not be held during the year of the Winter Olympics for players to participate in the Winter Olympics. Philips Arena in Atlanta, which lost the All-Star Game in 2005 because of the lockout, has been awarded the 2008 All-Star Game.

Beginning in 2005, Glendale Arena has been host to the Arizona state high school basketball, wrestling and cheerleading tournaments in a mega-event called "February Frenzy", as the result of a formal agreement between the city of Glendale and the Arizona Interscholastic Association (AIA).

The arena is part of the larger Westgate development, which is going to be an entertainment and retail hub located around the arena; a 320-room Renaissance Hotel and Conference Center is planned for Westgate.

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