Honda Center


The Honda Center 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 over 15 years.

History

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, 6–2, 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 1999, 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 event annually since 1998. Since 1994, the arena has hosted the annual Wooden Legacy basketball tournament.
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 seven times, as the West Regional site – 1998, 2001, 2003, 2008, 2011, 2014, 2016 and 2019. 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.
The Honda Center lies northeast across California State Route 57 from Angel Stadium and roughly from Disneyland Park. It is also across the street from Anaheim Regional Transportation Intermodal Center with service by Amtrak, Metrolink, Anaheim Resort Transit, Orange County Transportation Authority and private transportation companies.
The arena seats up to 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 of full-color LED technology. Outside the venue, the marquee was upgraded with two large video displays measuring high by, 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. During the 2014–2015 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 pre-season game against the Los Angeles Kings.

Notable events

Ice Hockey

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:
The arena will host indoor volleyball during the 2028 Summer Olympics.

In popular culture

YearsCapacity
1993–1994
17,200
1994–present
17,174
With standing roomAt least 17,610

YearsCapacity
1993–2000
18,200
2000–2011
17,608
2011–present
18,336
With standing roomAt least 18,521

EventCapacity
Concerts, center stage
18,900
Concerts, end stage
18,325
Theatre at the Honda Center
8,400

Largest Crowds