"The Garden" | |
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.JPG) TD Garden in November 2009 | |
  TD Garden Location in Boston Show map of Boston TD Garden Location in Massachusetts Show map of Massachusetts TD Garden Location in the United States Show map of the United States | |
| Former names |
|
|---|---|
| Address | 100 Legends Way |
| Location | Boston, Massachusetts, United States |
| Coordinates | 42°21′58.69″N71°3′44.02″W / 42.3663028°N 71.0622278°W /42.3663028; -71.0622278 |
| Public transit |  Amtrak: MBTA: Green Line Orange Line Fitchburg Line Haverhill Line Lowell Line Newburyport/Rockport Line atNorth Station |
| Owner | Delaware North Companies |
| Operator | Delaware North |
| Capacity |
|
| Surface | Various |
| Construction | |
| Broke ground | April 29, 1993 (1993-04-29) |
| Opened | September 30, 1995 (1995-09-30) |
| Renovated | 2006, 2009, 2014, 2019 |
| Construction cost |
|
| Architect | Ellerbe Becket, Inc.[3] |
| Project manager | Upton & Partners[4] |
| Structural engineer | LeMessurier Consultants[5] |
| Services engineer | Flack + Kurtz[3] |
| General contractor | Morse Diesel International[6] |
| Tenants | |
| |
| Website | |
| tdgarden | |
TD Garden (named theFleetCenter from opening until 2005 andTD Banknorth Garden until 2009) is a multi-purposearena inBoston, Massachusetts, United States. It is located directly above theMBTA'sNorth Station, and replaced the originalBoston Garden upon opening in 1995.[7] It is the most visited sports and entertainment arena inNew England, with nearly 3.5 million people visiting the arena each year.[8]
TD Garden is the home arena for theBoston Bruins of theNational Hockey League (NHL) and theBoston Celtics of theNational Basketball Association (NBA). It is owned by food service and hospitality conglomerateDelaware North, whose CEO,Jeremy Jacobs, also owns the Bruins. It is the site of the annualBeanpot college hockey tournament, and hosts the annualHockey East Championships. The arena has also hosted many major national sporting events including various rounds of theNCAA Division I men's basketball tournament,NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament,NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament, the2014 United States Figure Skating Championships and the2016 World Figure Skating Championships. In addition, TD Garden has hosted the 2021Laver Cup, an international men's tennis tournament.
Besides sporting events, the TD Garden has also served as aconcert venue for numerous nationally touring acts in music and comedy.
Thenaming rights deal for the arena is scheduled to continue through June 2045, withTD Bank and Delaware North extending the agreement in January 2023.[9]
As early as the late 1970s, the Bruins were looking for a new arena. TheBoston Garden was approaching 50 years old at the time. The Jacobs family, who had bought the Bruins in 1975, was looking to build a 17,000-seat arena in suburban Boston after negotiations fell through with the city of Boston. The team nearly moved toSalem, New Hampshire around where theMall at Rockingham Park is today. That fell through and the Bruins continued to play at Boston Garden.[10] The Celtics, also looking for a new arena, considered moving toRevere.[11]
In 1985, Boston Garden ownerDelaware North was awarded the rights to construct a new arena by the Boston Redevelopment Authority and MayorRaymond Flynn. However, poor economic conditions delayed the project.[12][13]
On May 8, 1992, Delaware North announced that it had secured funding for a new arena in the form of $120 million worth of loans evenly split betweenBank of Boston,Fleet Bank of Massachusetts andShawmut National Corporation.[14] That December, a bill approving construction of the new arena was killed in theMassachusetts Senate bySenate PresidentWilliam M. Bulger. Legislative leaders and Delaware North attempted to reach an agreement on plans for the new arena, but in February 1993 Bruins ownerJeremy Jacobs announced that he was backing out of the project as a result of the legislature's demand that his company pay $3.5 million in "linkage payments".[15] Massachusetts governorBill Weld lent strong support to a "Chapter 15" piece of legislation that included a "Section 7" that explicitly required Delaware North to "administer, produce, promote and sponsor no less than three charitable events per year at the New Boston Garden" and pay the proceeds from such events to the Metropolitan District Commission (MDC), today known as the state'sDepartment of Conservation and Recreation.[16] Two weeks later, after a new series of negotiations, the two sides finally came to an agreement, and on February 26 the legislature passed a bill that allowed for construction of a new sports arena.[17]
Construction began on April 29, 1993. Though the new arena was intended to be situated slightly north of the old facility, there were only nine inches (23 cm) of space between the two buildings when construction was completed.[18] The site for the new arena occupied 3.2 acres (13,000 m2) and eventually cost $160 million. Construction was completed in 27 months, including seven weeks of delay caused by heavy snowfall.[18]
On the evening of September 29, 1995, a farewell event was held in the old Boston Garden hosted byWBZ-TV news personalityLiz Walker and CBS national news anchorDan Rather. Attendees included Bruins legends such asBobby Orr andPhil Esposito as well as Celtics greatsLarry Bird andRed Auerbach. The ceremony concluded with the release of thousands of balloons into the rafters to the music of theBoston Pops. The Boston Globe stated that "all New England has lost a friend."[19]
The following night, opening ceremonies were held at the FleetCenter, including performances by the Boston Pops,Walt Disney's World on Ice, Olympic figure skatersNancy Kerrigan andPaul Wylie, and musical actsJames Taylor,Patti LaBelle andUS3.[20]
The Boston Bruins played their first game in the new arena on October 7, a 4–4 tie with theNew York Islanders.[21] The Boston Celtics lost their first game at the FleetCenter by a score of 101–100 to theMilwaukee Bucks on November 3.[22]
TD Garden is named after its sponsor,TD Bank, a subsidiary of Canada'sToronto-Dominion Bank. During the construction phase, the naming rights to the "New Garden" were sold to Boston-based Shawmut Bank, and the arena was originally slated to open as the Shawmut Center. However, just as the arena was being completed, Shawmut merged with Fleet Financial Group, forcing every seat in the arena, which had all been stamped with the Shawmut logo, to be replaced. The interior color scheme also had to be adjusted from Shawmut's darker blue to Fleet's marginally lighter blue.[23]
The name of the arena was expected to change as a result of the April 1, 2004 merger ofFleetBoston Financial withBank of America. On January 5, 2005, Delaware North announced an agreement under which the bank made a payment to be released from the remaining six years on thenaming rights agreement. The agreement left Delaware North free to sell the naming rights to another sponsor. On March 3, 2005, Maine-basedTD Banknorth, a U.S. subsidiary of Toronto-Dominion Bank, announced its purchase of the naming rights for $6 million per year.[24] The first major event to be held after the announcement was the2005 Hockey East Men's Ice Hockey Tournament. On July 1, 2005, the facility was officially renamed the TD Banknorth Garden. Bill Ryan, the chairman and CEO of TD Banknorth and a passionatebooster of Boston sports, had specifically pursued the naming rights for TD Banknorth to restore the "Garden" monicker to the North Station edifice.[9]
In early 2005, while still searching for a long-term corporate sponsor, the FleetCenter conducted auctions oneBay to sell one-day naming rights.[25] From February 10 to March 13, the FleetCenter sold the naming rights 30 different times. The net proceeds of $150,633.22 generated during the auction were donated to charities in the greater Boston area. The FleetCenter also made private arrangements with a few companies for one-day naming rights, and offered one-day rights in an employeeraffle.
During the name auction, only twice were names reported to have been rejected. Kerry Konrad, a New York City lawyer andYankees fan, won naming rights for March 1 with a bid of $2,300. He proposed the name "Derek Jeter Center" after theNew York Yankees shortstop, a stab at fellowHarvard College alumnus andBoston Red Sox fan Jerry Rappaport Jr., with whom he had a 25-year-old rivalry. With the arena located in the home city of the Red Sox, the name did not sit well with the executives and was rejected. An agreement was reached in which Rappaport added $6,300 for a total bid of $8,600, representing the 86 years of theCurse of the Bambino, and named the arena "New Boston Garden, Home ofthe Jimmy Fund Champions".Fark.com founderDrew Curtis held a contest on his website to name the arena after he bought single-day rights. A user vote resulted in the name of "Fark.comUFIA Center", but the name was rejected because of its inappropriate meaning. The name eventually selected by Curtis and company was "Boston Garden".
In April 2008,TD Banknorth becameTD Bank, after a merger withCommerce Bancorp, a New Jersey–based bank. Owner Delaware North Companies announced on April 15, 2009, that the building would be renamed TD Garden in July 2009.[26][27]
Delaware North and TD Bank announced the extension of the naming rights deal on January 12, 2023, with the rights now extending until June 30, 2045, which would keep the arena's name stable for forty years. The same agreement also saw TD Bank extend their helmet advertising rights for the Bruins acquired at the start of the 2020–21 NHL season, until the end of the 2044–45 NHL season.[9]
Before the 2006–07 season, the TD Garden underwent a major overhaul, installing a newHD entertainment board, with video panels replacing the sideboard scrolling panels when the arena hosted the2006 Women's Final Four, and see-through shot clocks on the basket stancions, joining theFedExForum,Wells Fargo Center,State Farm Arena,Talking Stick Resort Arena,United Center,Rocket Arena, and theSpectrum (this was done before the NBA mandate was installed in 2011). In addition, a vintagesiren, just as the originalBoston Garden had used, was added to replace the end-of-period horn for hockey only, a feature of theMontreal Canadiens, theBruins' arch-rivals, at theMontreal Forum (now the Pepsi Forum shopping centre) and theCentre Bell. In 2009, anLED energy efficient lighting system was added to the exterior of the building. TheBoston Globe announced a $70 million project upgrade to TD Garden's concourses and Legends Club restaurant, along with technology upgrades and the relocation of a retail shop. Construction occurred in two phases, summer 2014 and then summer 2015.[28]
On January 25, 2013, during a Celtics vs. Knicks game at the Garden, television announcerMarv Albert accused the TD Garden production crew for being one of those arenas that "constantly" use false sound effects andartificial crowd noise to intensify the crowd reactions on nationally televised games (which is very similar to "sweetening" on television); however, the officialTwitter account of the Boston Celtics stated that the Celtics have never partaken in the practice.[29] Following their2011 Stanley Cup Finals win, the Bruins changed their previous Stanley Cup banners to reflect the changes in the team's main jersey logo through time during their past five Cup wins, as the logo adorns the 2011 Cup win's banner.[30]
Just before the2018–19 series of pre-season NHL games began for the Bruins at TD Garden, the arena's interior overhead lighting was switched to a new LED system which also includes color elements at appropriate times.[31]
Before the2021–22 NHL season, TD Garden underwent more renovations, adding a new center scoreboard/video screen, along with a new audio system. The new "Hub Vision" system is above4K UHD resolution, and the main replay screen sizes are almost double of the old ones, at 18 feet by 32.5 feet wide. The unit also features auxiliary screens beneath to allow court/rinkside viewers to look at the board, which measure at 6.5 feet tall by 23 feet wide to cater to those sitting in the first few rows. Above the main boards, are 2 new ring displays. Each ring is 3.5 feet tall, and has a circumference of 179 feet. Hub Vision only has 2 rings above the main screens, unlike the old jumbotron with 2 at the top, and one at the bottom. TD Garden partnered with Clair Global Integration to add Cohesion Series CO10 loudspeakers to help improve the sound system.
This renovation was an extension of TD Garden's Legendary Transformation, which was a $100 million investment from theJeremy Jacobs family.[32]
Among the non-sporting events hosted by the Garden are concerts, shows, graduations, seminars,Disney on Ice, the circus, andcommencement exercises forNortheastern University.
The arena is primarily the home venue for theNBA'sBoston Celtics and theNHL'sBoston Bruins. It has hosted the following events:
While dominant in their previous arena, Boston Garden, the Celtics and Bruins were initially much less successful in their new home as both teams missed the playoffs numerous times and failed to make their league's finals until 2008. Since then, the Celtics made four NBA Finals appearances and won two championships, while the Bruins made three Stanley Cup Finals appearances and won one championship.
Eddie Palladino is the public address announcer for Celtics games, while Steve Forni is the public address announcer for Bruins games. Jim Martin is the former PA announcer for the Bruins as he formerly served for them between 1992 and 2020.Ron Poster is the arena organist.
As the former Boston Garden had from 1954 through 1995 - and the still-standingMatthews Arena had for its start in 1952 - the TD Garden is the home of the annualBeanpot college hockey tournament between theBoston University Terriers,Boston College Eagles,Harvard UniversityCrimson andNortheastern UniversityHuskies. The facility has hosted the 2001 U.S. Figure Skating Championships, the 1996 and 2000 US Gymnastics Trials, and the1998,2004,2015 and2022 NCAA Men'sFrozen Four.
High school championships and tournaments for theMassachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association are annually hosted at the TD Garden. Events include ice hockey and basketball championships. TheSuper 8 is one of the popular events that fans and students attend.
The TD Garden, along with theBell Centre inMontreal, will be a host venue for theNHL 4 Nations Face-Off, an international ice hockey tournament featuring national teams representing the United States, Canada, Sweden and Finland, which will be held from February 12 to 20, 2025.[33]
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TD Garden is one of two NBA arenas (along withKia Center, home of theOrlando Magic) withparquet floors. The Celtics are best known for the tradition of the parquet floor from their Boston Garden years, originally built after World War II because of cost and the scarcity of lumber in that time. The original floor, first used inBoston Arena and later the Boston Garden, was brought over to the then-FleetCenter and remained there for four seasons. A newly refurbished parquet floor, featuring a combination of old and new sections, was then unveiled during the1999–2000 season, before it was replaced with a new floor prior to the2015–16 season.[34] Since the2007–08 season, a signature of long-time Celtics coachRed Auerbach was added to the floor, and prior to the2022–23 season,Bill Russell's jersey #6 was also added.[35] The Celtics are also the only NBA team to use anoak floor, whereas the other 29 teams usemaple floors.[34] In 2023, the Celtics used an alternate court design specific for theNBA in-season tournament, which is a traditional maple floor painted mostly dark green except for the middle strip which is painted light brown. The free-throw lanes and center circle incorporated the NBA Cup trophy for the tournament.[36] For the2024 NBA Cup, the court used was based on the team's "Statement" alternate uniform, this time incorporating a green gradient painted surface inspired by the iconic parquet floor.[37]
A traditional floor was used in the2006 NCAA Women's Final Four, the2009 NCAA Men's East Regional and the2018 NCAA Men's East Regional (NCAA rules require a special NCAA-specification floor be used for all tournament games). While not yet confirmed, it is likely that the2024 NCAA Men's East Regional will also use a traditional floor. When the2012 NCAA Men's East Regional was held at TD Garden, a maple parquet floor was used with the same NCAA-specific design.
From March 28 to April 3, 2016, TD Garden hosted the2016 World Figure Skating Championships.[38]
In 2021, TD Garden hosted the2021 Laver Cup in September. TheLaver Cup is a men's tennis tournament between teams from Europe and the rest of the world. It was held from 24 until 26 September with Team Europe winning the tournament for the fourth consecutive year.[39]
In June 2024, the Celtics won their NBA-record 18th championship at TD Garden, beating theDallas Mavericks and celebrating on the home floor.[40]
TD Garden hosted its firstWNBA game on August 20, 2024, when theConnecticut Sun played theLos Angeles Sparks.[41] The WNBA returned to TD Garden on July 15, 2025, when the Connecticut Sun played theIndiana Fever.[42]
Ricky Hatton began his "American dream" here on May 13, 2006, stepping up to welterweight to fightWBA world championLuis Collazo.[43]
On November 13, 2016, the arena hosted the Kellogg's Tour of Gymnastics Champions.[44]
In August 2010, the TD Garden hostedUFC 118: Edgar vs. Penn 2, which was the first time that theUFC held an event in Boston.[45] UFC president Dana White confirmed that the UFC would return to The Garden on August 17, 2013.[46][47] The TD Garden hostedUFC Fight Night: Shogun vs. Sonnen, the launch of the new Fox Sports 1 cable channel, on August 17, 2013. This was the second UFC event to take place at the TD Garden. The UFC returned on January 18, 2015, forUFC Fight Night: McGregor vs. Siver,[48] and again on January 17, 2016, forUFC Fight Night: Dillashaw vs. Cruz.[49] On January 20, 2018, the TD Garden hostedUFC 220: Miocic vs. Ngannou.[50] On October 18, 2019, the arena hostedUFC on ESPN: Reyes vs. Weidman.[51] On August 19, 2023, the TD Garden hostedUFC 292: Sterling vs. O'Malley.[52]
The TD Garden has been seen/mentioned in movies such asThe Town (2010),Knight and Day (2010),Zookeeper (2011),What's Your Number?[53] (2011) andTed (2012). Parts of the concert footage from the documentary filmCeline: Through the Eyes of the World[54] were filmed at TD Garden during Canadian singerCeline Dion’s 2008 shows of herTaking Chances World Tour.
Comedians such asBill Burr,Denis Leary,Chris Rock andLouis C.K., among many others, have all performed at the TD Garden during their nationwide tours. Dane Cook did two sellout shows.
WWE professional wrestling events are held in the Garden, which frequently hosts itsRaw andSmackDown shows. In addition, the arena has hosted severalpay-per-views includingWrestleMania XIV,Royal Rumble in2003 and2011,SummerSlam in2006,Survivor Series in2008,2013 and 2022'sSurvivor Series: WarGames (Which introduced theWarGames match to WWE's main roster),Money in the Bank in2014,TLC in2015,Hell in a Cell in2016, andClash of Champions in2017. In addition, rival promotionAll Elite Wrestling (AEW) held theirBlood & Guts and Royal Rampage special episodes ofDynamite andRampage respectively at the Garden in2023, as well asBig Business, another special episode ofDynamite, in 2024.
From July 26 to 29, 2004, the TD Garden (then the FleetCenter) was the host of the2004 Democratic National Convention, in which Massachusetts SenatorJohn Kerry was nominated as the Democratic candidate for the2004 presidential election. The convention was also famous for then Senator and future PresidentBarack Obama'skeynote speech which began the speculation of his running for president in the2008 presidential election.
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In May 2013,Delaware North Companies andBoston Properties proposed plans to construct a multi-purpose 3 tower structure on the former site of the originalBoston Garden. The complex would encompass 1.87 million square feet (174,000 m2), of which 300,000 square feet (28,000 m2) will be allotted for retail space and 600,000 square feet (56,000 m2) for commercial offices. It will also include 500 residential units, a 200-room hotel (CitizenM Boston North Station), and an 800-space underground parking garage. Construction began in late 2015. The project is being completed in three stages. The first stage is the podium that includes shopping, entertainment, dining, new access to the MBTA North Station Green Line and Orange Line, and a new entrance to the TD Garden and North Station. It also includes an expansion to the existing North Station Garage that sits underneath North Station and the TD Garden. The second phase includes two buildings built on top of the west side of the podium. One building will be apartments, the other a hotel. The third phase is an office building that will sit on top of the east side of the podium.[55]
In the spring of 2017, a group of local teenagers from the Hyde Square Task Force group investigated the terms of TD Garden's original development agreement, and concluded that its owners had never satisfied a legal requirement to host three fundraisers a year to benefit the agency that oversees Boston's recreational facilities.[56] By mid-August 2017, the Massachusetts governor at the time of the TD Garden's original construction,Bill Weld, reminded Jeremy Jacobs about the deal he had made with the state's government in 1993 concerning the agreement.[16] As a result, in August 2017, the TD Garden agreed to pay the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation nearly $2 million.[57]
In May 2010, abronze statue of Bruins defensemanBobby Orr, in aflying pose celebrating "The Goal", was unveiled outside the stadium.[58]
Located in TD Garden is The Sports Museum (also known as "The Sports Museum ofNew England"). The museum's exhibits focus on the history of various sports in the Boston area, including the Boston Bruins, the Boston Celtics, the New England Patriots, the Boston Red Sox and many more.
Just as theBoston Garden was, the TD Garden is built on top of Boston'sNorth Station, a major transportation hub. TheCommuter Rail waiting area becomes crowded during events due to this design: the fans shared a relatively small area with commuters and several fast food concessions. (There is a concourse on the second floor which is about the same size as the former main ground floor concourse, but this is utilized only as an entryway for the arena.) Work finished on the expanded North Station concourse in early 2007. A new, larger, railway concourse gives railway passengers a waiting area which does not interfere with patrons entering or leaving the Garden.
Connections to theOrange Line andGreen Line are near the eastern entrance to the Garden. On January 6, 2019, the North Station pedestrian tunnel was completed which connects North Station to the MBTA, Green and Orange Line Stations. The entrance is located by the North Station East entrance. The Green Line ran on theCauseway Street Elevated in front of the building until a tunnel under it was opened in June 2004. The then-disused Elevated was used as a platform for security forces during the 2004Democratic National Convention, then demolished slightly afterwards.[59]
Bill Weld to Jeremy Jacobs: Do the right thing and live up to the agreement you made with the state of Massachusetts when you got the go-ahead to build a new Boston Garden...Back in 1993, then-governor Weld championed legislation that allowed Jacobs, the wealthy owner of the Garden and the Boston Bruins, to obtain air rights and property easements needed to build a new arena. The final product involved a flurry of last-minute horse-trading. That's how Chapter 15 — An Act Furthering the Establishment of a Multi-Purpose Arena and Transportation Center — came to include Section 7, a provision requiring Jacobs to "administer, produce, promote and sponsor no less than three charitable events per year at the New Boston Garden" and pay the net proceeds to the Metropolitan District Commission (MDC), now the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR).
Along with arenas in San Jose, Dallas, Tampa and Colorado, TD Garden added LED lighting in the offseason...Bruins captainZdeno Chára said the changes were obvious as soon as the players took the ice.
