Enterprise Center is an 18,096-seat[1]arena located indowntownSt. Louis, Missouri, United States. Its primary tenant is theSt. Louis Blues of theNational Hockey League, but it is also used for other functions, such asNCAAbasketball,NCAA hockey,concerts,professional wrestling and more. In a typical year, the facility hosts about 175 events. Industry trade publicationPollstar has previously ranked Enterprise Center among the top ten arenas worldwide in tickets sold to non-team events, but the facility has since fallen into the upper sixties, as of 2017.[9]
The arena opened in 1994 as theKiel Center.[10] It was known as theSavvis Center from 2000 to 2006, andScottrade Center from 2006 to 2018. On May 21, 2018, the St. Louis Blues and representatives ofEnterprise Holdings, based in St. Louis, announced that the naming rights had been acquired by Enterprise and that the facility's name, since July 1, 2018, adopted its current name.[11]
Interior of Enterprise Center during a Blues gameExterior of the then-Scottrade Center
The site was home toCharles H. Turpin's Booker T. Washington Theater, which was replaced by the Municipal Auditorium, a venue renamed for mayorHenry Kiel after his death in 1943.[12]
Originally named the Kiel Center, the arena was opened in 1994 to replaceKiel Auditorium, where the Saint Louis University college basketball team had played, which was torn down in December 1992. The Blues had played in theSt. Louis Arena prior to moving into Kiel Center in 1994; however, they would not play in the arena until January 1995 due to thelockout that delayed the start of the 1994–95 season. The first professional sports match was played by theSt. Louis Ambush, an indoor soccer team. The building is currently known as Enterprise Center, afternaming rights were sold in May 2018 to Enterprise Holdings. 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 four times in its 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 thePeabody 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. It is now known as theStifel Theatre after naming rights were purchased by the locally based investment bank.
Through its history, the arena has been known as Kiel Center until 2000, Savvis Center from 2000 to 2006, Scottrade Center from 2006 to 2018, and Enterprise Center since July 2018. For Blues games, Tom Calhoun serves as public address announcer andJeremy Boyer is the arena organist. National anthems are performed by a rotating group of local singers and musicians. Previous anthem singer Charles Glenn retired in 2018 due to health concerns and a relocation to San Diego, but he has returned to St. Louis to sing on multiple occasions including the 2019 Stanley Cup run. Two Building Operations/Ice Technicians, Jim Schmuke and Dave Grimes have been employed there since August 1994.
A three-phase renovation of the arena began in 2017 and was completed in 2019, with all building works being done in the hockey offseason to minimize schedule disruption. The first phase was largely composed of engineering upgrades (new lighting, sound, HVAC, and ice plant), improved IT infrastructure including free Wi-Fi for patrons, and rebuilt dressing rooms, as well as a new scoreboard and replacement of some lower-tier seating on the west end (where the Blues shoot twice) with "theater boxes". Phase two saw the replacement of all upper-tier seats, along with "theater boxes" being added to the east end, and a rebuilt lower-tier concourse with new club areas for premium ticketholders as well as a beer garden opening onto 14th Street. The third and final phase included the replacement of lower-tier seats and renovations to private boxes.
Blues management decried its former naming-rights deal with locally-based tech companySAVVIS, as much of the compensation was in Savvis shares, then riding high. However, when thetech bubble burst, the team was left with nearly worthless shares.[15]
In September 2006, locally-basedScottrade founderRodger O. Riney and chief marketing officer Chris Moloney 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", by Moloney. 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. The Sports Business Journal in March 2007 described it as "one of the fastest naming rights deals in history."
Scottrade announced on October 24, 2016, that it was being sold to TD Ameritrade for $4 billion. It was originally believed that once the deal closed, Scottrade Center would become the TD Ameritrade Center in a naming rights deal set to run until 2021.[16] However, less than a year later, TD Ameritrade announced that it would give back its naming rights upon the closure of the Scottrade acquisition.[17]
On May 21, 2018,Enterprise Holdings, based in St. Louis, and the St. Louis Blues announced that beginning July 1, the facility would be known as Enterprise Center.[11][18] The 15-year agreement calls for interior and exterior signage featuring the Enterprise logo.[19]
Enterprise Center also hosts a variety of non-sporting events each year, including concerts, ice shows, family events, professional wrestling, and other events. On average, the facility sees about 175 total events per year, drawing nearly two million guests annually to downtown St. Louis.
The facility is frequently chosen by the NCAA to host championship events, including its men's hockey "Frozen Four" in2007, the women's basketball Final Four in2001 and2009, wrestling championships in 2000, 2004, 2005, 2008, 2009, 2012, 2015, and2017, and several men's and women's basketball Midwest Regional tournament games. After the Missouri Tigers joined theSEC in2012, St. Louis was added to the list of cities that could serve as hosts for the men'sSEC men's basketball tournament, doing so for the first time inMarch 2018, at the completion of the 2017–2018 regular season.
Hosted the 2006 State Farm U.S.Figure Skating Championships in January 2006, which was used as the primary means to select the United States Figure Skating team for the2006 Winter Olympics.
2014,2016 (and future2026) NCAA men's basketball tournament Round of 64 and Round of 32
Hosted theCory Spinks vs.Zab Judah undisputed welterweight title fight in 2005, with more than 22,000 fans in attendance. Spinks and fellow St. Louis nativeDevon Alexander were regularly featured onDon King-promoted cards at Enterprise Center throughout the late 2000s. The last major pro boxing event at the arena was Alexander vs.Marcos Maidana in 2011.
Annually hosts the "Guns 'n' Hoses" amateur boxing/MMA show, where local police officers and firefighters fight to benefit the BackStoppers, a charity that supports families of first responders who have died in the line of duty. Held on the night before Thanksgiving, it traditionally draws a full house.
Many historic WWE moments have taken place at the Enterprise Center. Former WWE and World Heavyweight ChampionKane made his WWE debut at this arena in 1997 at the eventBadd Blood: In Your House. At that same event, the firstHell In A Cell match took place betweenShawn Michaels andThe Undertaker.The Rock won his 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 2005John Cena was revealed here as the firstdraft pick forMonday Night Raw, where he would remain for most of his career.Dave Batista won his second WWE Championship at the Elimination Chamber event in 2010. The1000th episode of Monday Night Raw was also held there. At the 2014 Survivor SeriesSting made his official debut in WWE. In November 2018 onSmackDown,Daniel Bryan won his fourth WWE Championship. Arguably the most emotional wrestling card held at the Enterprise Center was "Raw is Owen", held in the aftermath ofOwen Hart's death the previous night atOver the Edge across the state inKansas City. That night, ten matches were held with all booking put aside, and many wrestlers and fans paid tribute to the popular Hart.
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